The Effects of Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Grouping Methods on Student Reading Attitudes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the reading attitude scores of students in homogeneous reading groups to the reading attitude scores of students in heterogeneous reading groups. The subjects were forty-six fourth grade students who attended two schools in the same suburban school district located in Western New York. One school in the district began heterogeneously grouping students for reading instruction during this 1993-1994 school year. The other school in the district homogeneously grouped students for reading instruction for many years. Each student tested spent at least one quarter (eight weeks) in a homogeneous or in a heterogeneous reading group. The homogeneously grouped students had always been grouped this way throughout their schooling. The heterogeneously grouped students were new to this type of grouping and spent approximately three months in a heterogeneous group. Both groups use a combination of basal readers and literature in their reading classes. The heterogeneous reading group used a literature-based basal reading series and the homogeneous reading group used a more traditional, short-story type basal reader. After the first quarter of the 1993-1994 school year was completed, the teachers in both schools gave their homeroom students the Estes' Reading Attitude Scale. These scales were anonymously completed by the students and students were told that only the researcher would see their scales. The researcher used a t-test for independent samples to analyze and compare the results of the homogeneous reading group and of the heterogeneous reading group. The results showed that a significant difference did not exist between the mean attitude scores of the homogeneous group and the mean attitude scores of the heterogeneous group.