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NMC lab school to adopt mutli-grade approach
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Posted on May 05 1999
Scheduled to include grade five this coming school year with limited resources, the Northern Marianas College Lab School will adopt the multi-age and multi-grade approach in the classroom.
In a proposal presented to the Board of Regents last week, acting principal Chas Algaier explained the approach will enable the College Lab School to add grade five next year while maintaining the same number of teachers.
“While we can expand into fifth grade, we do not have the funds available to hire an additional CLS teacher. Yet the Teacher Preparation Program needs to continue incorporating higher grades into its model lab school,” he said.
As contained in its five year plan, CLS is scheduled to include grade five for school year 1999-2000.
Even with its limited enrollment, the CLS has been the training ground for students enrolled in education at NMC and some teachers of the Public School System. It serves as a model for teachers-in-training on multi-age lessons, units and other best practices in education.
“A key feature of the CLS is it is a single program entity rather than a series of separate years,” he said.
Based on the proposal, CLS has been practicing the multi-graded approach and its official adoption will formalize its implementation.
It cited older days’ one-room school, like the house of the prairie, as an example of the early multi-age setting, while Maria Montessori will use a class of students who were aged three to seven, the proposal said.
However, some parents would consider its benefit for the younger students and a drawback for the older pupils.
In defending the approach, Algaier cited the many benefits of a multi-age class including peer-to-peer cooperative interaction, empathy, self-reliance and responsibility.
