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Session 4. Tiered Tasks and Flexible Grouping
Objective. Write a tiered task with three levels that lead to the same evidence, and plan flexible groups with clear moves between them.
A single worksheet fits some pupils and fails others, and three separate worksheets can turn into three labels. Tiered tasks and flexible groups aim for a middle road: one objective, versions of the task at different levels of challenge, and groups that change as pupils learn. Done well, nobody feels sorted, the teacher gets time for pupils who need it, and everybody works on something worth thinking about. This session shows how to build tiers and how to move pupils between them.
Key ideas
What a good tiered task looks like
- All tiers have the same objective and finish with the same evidence, such as the same kind of answer written in a full sentence.
- Tiers differ in challenge or support: numbers, steps, amount of help, or how open the question is.
- Every tier is respectable and interesting. Avoid names such as Easy and Hard; use neutral names, such as colours, shapes or plant names.
Build tiers in four moves
- 1. Write the core task first: the one most of the class can do with normal help.
- 2. Make the support version: smaller numbers or fewer steps, plus a model or a frame. Keep the final answer the same kind.
- 3. Make the stretch version: less guidance, an extra condition, or a question that asks pupils to create or explain.
- 4. Try the three versions yourself in a few minutes each to check they lead to the same evidence.
Flexible grouping: purpose, evidence, change
- Form groups for a purpose: pre-teaching a word, practising a step, or extending an idea. Say the purpose aloud.
- Use fresh evidence: the entry ticket, a quick check after 10 minutes, or the last exit ticket. Allow pupils to move.
- Sometimes use mixed-readiness pairs with clear roles, such as one explains and one checks, and change the roles.
Avoid the traps
- Do not run the same groups all year. Fixed groups turn into labels that pupils and parents believe.
- Do not give the most interesting tasks to the stretch group only. Everyone deserves a meaningful problem.
- Do not create ten groups. Two or three is the most one teacher can manage.
The flexible grouping cycle
Ways to vary a task without changing the goal
You can vary challenge in several simple ways. Change the numbers or the text length. Change the number of steps, or give some steps already done. Change how much help is on the page: a worked example, a sentence frame, a hint on the back of the card. Or change how open the question is: 'find the area of this garden' is closed, while 'a garden has area 96 square metres; design two possible shapes' is open.
Every tier should end with the same kind of answer, for example a number with its unit and one sentence. Give tiers neutral names such as cotton, apricot and pomegranate. A choice board, where pupils pick one of three or four paper tasks that all serve the objective, is a gentle start.
Moving pupils: rules, roles and honest limits
Flexible grouping only works if pupils really move. Decide your rule before the lesson: for example, a pupil who solves the quick-check problem correctly without the frame may try the next tier, and a pupil who gets two wrong may use the support card or join the teacher for a short visit. Tell the class the rule, so moving feels normal and not like a promotion or a demotion.
Grouping by current attainment for a short task can help, but the evidence summarised by the Education Endowment Foundation is limited, and permanent sorting can lock expectations in. So use groups for specific purposes: pre-teaching a word, practising a step, extending an idea. Mix readiness in pairs with clear roles, such as one explains and one checks, then swap. Nobody should stay in the same role or group all year.
Examples from the classroom
Grade 5 maths in Samarkand: three tiers of area
Scene. Dilnoza prepares three cards for the area of a rectangle. Cotton has a rectangle on squared paper to count and then calculate. Apricot has a school garden 12 m by 8 m. Pomegranate asks for the missing side of a 96 m2 bed and for a second rectangle with the same area. All end with a unit and a sentence. After ten minutes she shows one new rectangle on the board and pupils move.
Insight. Three tiers, one kind of answer, and a quick check for moving made the groups flexible.
Grade 7 Uzbek language: pre-teaching a word group
Scene. Before a text about irrigation canals, Jasur in Bukhara meets six pupils for four minutes at the front of the room with ten word cards and pictures, while the others begin an anchor task. The six then join their partners to read the text. Next week a different six come, chosen by a new quick check. Nobody is told they are the 'weak group'.
Insight. A group formed for one purpose, then disbanded, supports pupils without becoming a label.
Grade 4 maths: mixed-readiness pairs with roles
Scene. Malika in Fergana pairs Nodira, who is quick, with Bobur, who is unsure. The roles are written on a card: Explainer says the next step in one sentence, Checker repeats it in his own words and tries it. After five minutes they swap. Bobur at first only listens, but by the second round he explains a step. Malika sees the pair's work and learns what Bobur can already do.
Insight. Clear roles that swap protect both pupils and make mixed pairs worthwhile.
Common pitfalls
- Naming tiers Easy, Medium and Hard, so pupils quickly learn what the names mean about them.
- Giving each tier a different type of final answer, so that evidence cannot be compared.
- Assigning groups in September and never moving anyone.
- Making the stretch tier interesting and the support tier dull, instead of giving every group a worthwhile problem.
Write the Tiers, Plan the Moves
- Read the core task and its evidence in your Activity Kit (Grade 5 mathematics, area of a rectangle). Note the evidence: area with a unit and one sentence explaining the method.
- In pairs (15 min): write the support version and the stretch version of the task. Give your three tiers neutral names. Check that both end with the same kind of answer.
- Swap and solve (10 min): another pair solves your tiers as pupils. Where did they need more help or find it too easy? Improve the tier.
- Plan the groups (15 min): fill the grouping plan. Decide who starts where (use the sample results), what the quick check after 10 minutes will be, and the rule for moving up or down.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Did your support tier ask for the same kind of answer as the others? What could you add so that it does?
- What is your rule for letting a pupil move to another tier, and how will pupils know about it?
- Which tier names did you choose, and why are they neutral?
Reflect
- Which task you already use could become a tiered task with small changes?
- When did a pupil last surprise you by doing better than the group they were in?
- What simple signal could pupils use to say 'I want to try the next tier'?
Try it tomorrow
- Take a worksheet you already use and add a support card (one worked example or hint) and a stretch card (one extra condition or a create-your-own problem).
- Write a one-line rule for moving up or down a tier, and tell your class what it is.
- Try one mixed-readiness pair task with written roles and swap the roles halfway.
Further reading and links
Build tiers that lead to the same evidence, name them neutrally, and move pupils between groups using fresh evidence.