| One current push for school reform is reflected in the resurgent acceptance of nongradedness as a school structure. The school district of study, an urban-suburban district with a diverse population concluded that major changes in the way children were educated were necessary.;The teachers and principal for a new elementary school were selected due to their interest and acceptance of educational innovation. The building opened in September, 1992 with a traditional K-5 graded organization. A push from the central office towards restructuring the schools into age bands for instruction and a mandate that in-grade retention would no longer be accepted led many teachers to look at nongradedness to address these issues. Increasing student diversity helped to propel the effort toward nongradedness.;Nongradedness was attempted under difficult conditions. For the time of this study, there was no labor agreement between the School Board and the teacher's union. This resulted in unavailability of time to plan programs and learn about nongradedness. The assistant superintendent who was brought in to facilitate these changes left the district when a new superintendent was hired whose philosophies endorsed traditional educational models. This left the nongraded pilot programs unsupported at the district level.;This study describes the events which lead up to the implementation of nongraded classes in pilot projects at the Groveside Elementary School during the period from January 1993 to September 1994. The events of the implementation are described. The assistant superintendent's efforts are scrutinized for characteristics and methodologies. The effects of the district's change in philosophy on nongradedness are explored. An outcome is noted that under such adverse conditions, only practitioners with the most powerfully internalized congruence with the tenets of nongradedness will be able to maintain such a program in isolation.;Recommendations for practice include (1) insuring that the school building is designed to facilitate collaborative practice, (2) offering an intensive inservice program for teachers and administrators which focuses on the connection between modern learning theory and the tenets/practices of nongradedness, (3) obtaining administrative support, and (4) insuring congenial labor relations before attempting to formally institute nongradedness. |
