Age segregation in schools, age grading, or graded education is the separation of
student
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
s into years of education (
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
s,
form
Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens.
Form also refers to:
*Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data
...
s) by approximately the same
age
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
. It is based on the theory that learners of the same age at the same level of
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and intellectual maturity should be taught at the same pace.
Here, schools classify learners according to age cohorts with the expectation that those with similar age share needs, abilities, and interests.
It also forms part of the standardized learning organized in stages and progresses in predictable and known ways.
History
The concept of age-segregated school is considered a recent historical development, with scholars noting that during the late eighteenth century students of widely varying ages in many European countries attend school together, a practice that was also adopted in the United States. In colonial America, it was customary to teach students of various ages in one classroom by one teacher.
The graded education was only introduced from 1848 to 1870 after several American educators such as
Horace Mann
Horace Mann (May 4, 1796August 2, 1859) was an American educational reformer, slavery abolitionist and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. In 1848, after public service as Secretary of the Massachusetts Sta ...
were impressed and, thereafter, adopted the
Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
graded school model.
The first American graded school was the
Quincy Grammar School
The Quincy Grammar School is a historic former school building at 88-90 Tyler Street in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is a three-story red brick building, designed by Gridley James Fox Bryant. It was built in 1859, a r ...
in
Boston, Massachusetts.
Age grading in schools has significant impact on
age segregation
Age segregation is the separation of people based on their age, and may be observed in many aspects of some societies. Examples of institutionalized age segregation include age segregation in schools, and age-segregated housing. There are studies ...
among
adolescent peer group
In sociology, a peer group is both a social group and a Primary and secondary groups, primary group of people who have similar interests (homophily), age, background, or social status. The members of this group are likely to influence the person's ...
s.
SpringerLink - Journal Article
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See also
*Multi-age classroom
Multi-age classrooms or composite classes are classrooms with students from more than one grade level. They are created because of a pedagogical choice of a school or school district. They are different from split classes which are formed when ther ...
*Ungraded school
An ungraded school is a school that does not formally organize students according to age-based grade levels. Students' achievements are assessed by teachers, and each student is individually assigned to one of several fluid groups, according to wh ...
*Sudbury schools
A Sudbury school is a type of school, usually for the K-12 age range, where students have complete responsibility for their own education, and the school is run by a direct democracy in which students and staff are equal citizens. Students use the ...
, schools that are completely age-mixed from age 4 through high school. No age-groupings.
*Single-sex education
Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...
*Mixed-sex education
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
References
Educational years
{{Education-stub