In this case study, we investigate upper elementary teachers’ decision-making practices regarding grouping configurations and purposes set for small group instruction (SGI) across content areas. Five experienced teachers working in linguistically and culturally diverse settings participated in this study. Data analyses with regard to student grouping revealed that, depending on the subject area, tasks, and “nonacademic” considerations, teachers navigated among multiple SGI setups, including similar- and mixed-ability groups, performance- or current-needs-based groups, and—unique to one teacher—a fluid-stable configuration. Data analyses with regard to purposes for SGI instruction revealed that although targeting disciplinary literacy was the main reason for SGI, it also served as a tool for (a) gauging students’ needs and how students responded to instruction, (b) “hitting” multiple within- and cross-disciplinary targets, and (c) building students’ social skills. We refer to these teacher decision-making practices as “organizational fluidity” and “focal fluidity,” respectively. Implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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有经验的高年级教师在小组教学中的决策实践以支持英语学习者

在本案例研究中，我们调查了高年级教师关于跨内容领域的小组教学 (SGI) 的分组配置和目的设置的决策实践。五位在语言和文化多样化环境中工作的经验丰富的教师参与了这项研究。关于学生分组的数据分析显示，根据学科领域、任务和“非学术”考虑，教师在多个 SGI 设置之间导航，包括相似和混合能力组、基于表现或当前需求的组，并且——对于一位老师来说是独一无二的——一种流体稳定的配置。关于 SGI 教学目的的数据分析表明，尽管针对学科素养是 SGI 的主要原因，它还作为一种工具，用于 (a) 衡量学生的需求以及学生对教学的反应，(b) “达到”多个学科内和跨学科目标，以及 (c) 培养学生的社交技能。我们将这些教师决策实践分别称为“组织流动性”和“焦点流动性”。影响进行了讨论。