Are Classroom Reading Groups the Best Way to Teach Reading? Maybe Not.

Educators and researchers are looking to update one of the oldest, most popular—and at times one of the most controversial—methods of targeting instruction: the elementary reading circle.

Grouping students of similar reading skills—think "bluebirds" or "redbirds," for example—has become ubiquitous in American classrooms as a way to target instruction to students' learning needs, spreading from 68 percent of classrooms in 1992 to more than 90 percent by 2015. But evidence suggests that the practice may be less beneficial than teachers think: It can exacerbate achievement gaps and even slow reading growth for some children unless the groups are fluid and focused on skills rather than overall achievement.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/08/29/are-classroom-reading-groups-the-best-way.html