Ability Grouping and Student Friendships

Abstract

This study examines the effects of membership in the same ability group on student friendships. We argue that assignment to the same instructional group increases opportunities for student interaction, underscores student similarities, and produces new similarities, and that these factors foster friendship. The relationship between grouping and friendship is examined in a longitudinal data set containing information on students in 110 reading groups in 32 classrooms of fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. The results show that the density of best friend choices within ability groups increases over time, the overlap between ability groups and cliques increases over time, and membership in the same ability group has a positive effect on the probability that a student will choose a peer as best friend.