The needs groups in middle school, set up this year in 6th and 5th grade, will only be partially extended next year in 4th and 3rd grade, with “one hour per week, either in math or French”announced the Minister of National Education Anne Genetet, Tuesday November 12, as she unveiled “Act 2 of the clash of knowledge”.
Originally, this system, which was highly criticized by part of the educational community, was to be extended to 4th and 3rd grades next year. To date, the solutions found in establishments vary greatly from one college to another.
In this small rural college in Haute-Loire, the students of the two 6th grade classes and two 5th grade classes have each time been divided into three groups for mathematics and French hours and there are few of them, because the French teacher teaches the ten most struggling students. “These are students to whom I offered adapted, accessible work. I offered these 12 year old students a text that publishers classify for 6 to 8 year olds”she tells franceinfo.
Difficult, for the moment, to see real progress on skills, but at least they are more active, welcomes the teacher: “They are at work! This is already huge for these students who used to be so passive. They can no longer hide behind the active and dynamic participation of the head of the class“.
“They feel more confident and it’s also very encouraging to have the opportunity to be able to move from one group to another.”
A French teacherat franceinfo
A rather positive first assessment, therefore, for this professor… who still evokes a “huge” extra work to agree with other teachers and move forward at the same time. She also knows very well that her opinion is far from being the majority in the educational community.
A teacher in a college in Lyon, Claire Piolti-Lamorthe chairs, for her part, the association of mathematics teachers. According to her, 10 to 20% of colleges have simply not set up groups and only see negative points in these systems. “It’s really the complexity of timetables with learning conditions for students that are less relevant. It’s difficult to do class projects with another discipline”she points.
“Relationships with families can also sometimes be complicated when it comes to choosing the group for their child. And then, we really have significant difficulties in monitoring the students.”
Claire Piolti-Lamortheat franceinfo
On the side of school leaders, skepticism is also in order. “I’m not convinced at this stage.”confides Aurore Métenier, principal of a school in Paris and member of the SNPDEN union.
While some colleges have benefited from additional resources to create these groups, this is not the case for this establishment. “No additional resources from the rectorate, so we were forced to cut back on projects. It’s not that simple”she assures. After two and a half months of implementation, these groups still encounter strong hostility.
