Small group instruction is a great way to address the academic needs of students, particularly those who have deficiencies that hinder them from making progress. However, knowing how often to use them as an intervention is key. The idea of using small groups seems like a very simple concept, but results actually depend on the amount of planning that occurs prior to actually facilitating small groups. Being proactive about learning students’ strengths and weaknesses early on is helpful when trying to determine how frequently they should be used as an intervention. Having a “frequency plan” is advantageous for both students and teachers because it sets students up for future academic success and it gives teachers insight on how they can make adjustments to better serve those that they teach.

Personally, I have learned that it will not be a one-size-fits-all situation for every teacher. There are so many questions to consider that make it impossible for every teacher to take the exact same course of action. Will it be most effective to have small group instruction weekly to check students understanding due to evidence of ineptitude? Are bi-weekly small groups most appropriate because students have difficulty with specific units of the subject being taught? Do students best respond to small group instruction when it is done intermittently because the need for support is not as great? As a teacher of English Language Learners, I found that it was important to be mindful of such question prior to moving forward with instruction. Despite the fact that there was no exemplar that could be the model for all instructional settings, being considerate of the points mentioned helped me to ensure that students were in a position to obtain a better understanding prior to learning new information. Below are some tips that I used during my planning process that can possibly serve as a catalyst for how you may want to plan for small groups. They are as follows:

• Pre-determine what mastery looks like: Before considering how often you should have small groups, consider contemplating what student mastery should look like for concepts being learned. Using formative assessments makes it pretty easy to progress monitor. For example, if students are required to give an open-ended response on an Exit Ticket to check their understanding prior to leaving class, it will be fairly simple to decipher who has grasped what was taught and who did not based on their output. However, it will still be important to think about mastery as a whole. Will mastery be 85% or more of the class doing well, or is 70% or more sufficient? Starting here will help you to determine what to look for in the data after formative assessments are completed.

• Monitor Formative Assessment Data: Once students complete a formative assessment, you will have the information needed to determine which TEKS, or state standards, that were not mastered as well as the percentage of students who did not master them. Remember that formative assessments are quick, low stakes activities that provide just enough insight on how well students understand what has been taught. These activities can be a 4-5 question Exit Ticket, a graphic organizer that students completed to differentiate between two concepts, or even a SIOP strategy that requires students to quickly review what was covered before moving to the next topic. The data collected can be quantitative or qualitative. Though quantitative data is great, qualitative is also helpful. Obtaining qualitative data gives you opportunities to evaluate student learning in ways that do not intimidate students.

• Narrow down the TEK or Skill Focus: After data has been collected, narrow down the TEK or skill focus that was not mastered. Perhaps the skill focus that you determined was not mastered was their ability to justify, summarize, or compare. Maybe students did not master a specific TEK that they are expected to have an understanding of prior to moving to the next grade level. Identifying the skill focus or TEK can help to determine how often small groups should be used to support student learning.

Small group instruction is one way to keep students’ learner needs a priority. A significant amount of planning and preparation is necessary, but students can benefit a great deal. There is lots to consider when trying to determine how frequently teachers should use small groups, but it is not necessary to overthink. The process will become clear after taking time to understand students, their strengths, weaknesses, and how they learn best.