CHRONICLE ARTICLE ON ABILITY GROUPING IN THE KATY PLAN:

Ability Grouping Hot Point of Katy Plan

By Stephanie Johnson

This Week Correspondent

March 11, 1996

Despite concerns from parents that the Katy ISD Plan's proposed "ability grouping" would be bad for students, the academic blueprint for the district's future appears headed for school board approval later this month.

However, Trustee Joe Kimmel said trustees probably only will approve district goals and "high-level" Katy Plan targets, saving ability grouping issues for another discussion.

Kimmel chaired the Katy ISD Plan's Steering Committee.  Among other things, the Katy Plan proposes ability grouping primarily in the fourth and fifth grades by reading ability.

Trustees and district officials met with approximately 175 members of the public to unveil the Katy Plan at a special meeting at Taylor High School on March 5.

Kimmel said overall, the public was very receptive to the plan's many suggestions, and "were generally impressed with the level of detail and the amount of work that went in to the plan.

Charles Rogers, public information officer for the district, said the 13 parents who spoke expressed concern that ability grouping would deny their children "socialization" opportunities with students of different ability levels and backgrounds.

Kimmel offered his take on the parents.

"They're expressing concerns about the average and special-needs children, about their ability to interact with the whole cross section of students at a school," he said.  "I think that's the issue.  If you isolate children by ability group, they don't get to interact with the full cross-section of students."

Both trustees Mary McGarr, who chaired the Katy ISD Plan's Benchmarking Committee, and Kimmel said after the meeting that Katy already practices some form of ability grouping.

McGarr said flexible ability grouping within classrooms is based on students' reading levels.  And, Kimmel said honors classes and the district's Challenge gifted-an-talented program constitute another form of ability grouping.

"There appeared to be a concerted effort by a group of people that were associated with one of our programs, Project TYKE, and those parents had some concerns about the ability program, and I understand very well what their conerns are and understand why they have those," McGarr said.

Project TYKE is for special-needs preschoolers.  McGarr said the Katy Plan does not propose eliminating the so-called "inclusion" program, which places special-needs students in regular education classrooms.

McGarr said her committee felt very strongly all students deserve a challenging curriculum -- not just gifted students. She said ability grouping actually will enhance the curriculum of so-called average students, for whom, "It's like OK, you're regular, let's sit here and look out the window together."

"We need to improve on that," she said.

Under the guidelines presented by the Benchmarking Committee, students would be able to move from one ability grouping to another at either their or their parents' or teachers' suggestion, McGarr said.  This safeguard would prevent "labeling" that would trap students at one level or another.

"I don't know what the objection can be," she said.  "Teachers, in my opinion, want to see this."

Additionally teacher would be rotated between ability groups so the district's best teachers can teach "those who have the most difficulty learning."

She faulted the district for focusing only on students at both ends of the academic spectrum.  While 85% of students in the district say they want to attend college, only 25% of those actually finish four-year programs.

"There's something wrong when you've got the student body that we've got in this school district and larger numbers of students from Katy are not graduating from college." she said.

The Katy ISD Plan, she said, "benefits all children.  They need help at all levels, and this plan addresses that."

https://www.google.com/#q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chron.com%2Fcontent%2Fhouston%2Fyourtown%2Fzone18%2F96%2F03%2F13%2FKISDplan-xl.html

[In my opinion the Chronicle writer was trying to sandbag my efforts to get ability grouping back in the KISD schools after it had been taken out in 1992. That was also, in my opinlon, Joe Kimmel's goal too.  When I left the school board, nothing else was ever done about returning ability grouping to the Katy ISD schools! We still don't have it. MM]