A case study: Principal perspectives of the strengths and weaknesses of looping and multiage education

Looping is an instructional practice that allows the teacher to keep the same students over a two-year period. Multiage grouping is a more complex form of the multiyear configuration where the same teacher instructs students from two or three grade levels until they have completed the highest grade represented in that classroom. Both configurations present a logical approach toward developing long-term relationships which benefit students, teachers, parents, and administrators. Looping and multiage instruction beginnings go back to the one room schoolhouse long before the Common School Reform Movement which introduced the graded school system of the 1860's. Even though the graded school system is over 150 years old, it still remains entrenched today. Consequently, looping and multiage instruction represent practices that require a paradigm shift from the graded school system.;While there are philosophical differences between looping and multiage instruction, there are also many similarities. Perhaps the most significant similarity is the long-term relationship that is developed between the child, teacher and parent when the teacher has the same child for two years or two grade levels. This distinction develops many benefits such as curriculum coherence, safety, continuity, and student confidence. Two years with the same child also provides administrators and principals with many benefits. There is a tremendous savings of time because the students do not have to learn new routines and classroom management is easier. And there is a tremendous amount of professional development benefits for the teachers since the teachers become better acquainted with the child and the curriculum.;Principals have indicated several concerns regarding the implementation of looping and multiage instruction since it is a change from the standard graded school system. These concerns include the issues of more developmentally appropriate means for educating children, blending the curricula for two grade levels, and identifying staff members willing to undertake this paradigm shift.;The purpose of this study is to identify principal perspectives of the strengths and weaknesses of looping and multiage instruction from principals and lead teachers who have implemented them successfully. A multiple-case study design is used to investigate looping and multiage practices and provide a comparison of sites or cases so a range of generality or conditions is established. These sites include a wealthy, suburban elementary school using multiage practices, an integrated, middle class, urban elementary school using looping, and a low-income, urban middle school using looping. Different information gathered from multiple sites and principal perspectives establishes a range of aspects or a conceptual framework that can assist principals in understanding these multiyear practices better. It is anticipated that this conceptual framework will be of value to those principals and administrators interested in implementing looping and multiage practices in their own schools or school districts.