If you had walked into the classrooms at my Rockford, Illinois, elementary school a few years ago, you would have seen something very different from what happens there today. Back then, like many schools, students stayed in their grade-level classrooms throughout the day, and we delivered reading instruction accordingly.
On paper, that seemed like the right approach. But in reality, it left too many students behind — and failed to challenge others who were ready to move forward.
So, we decided to do something bold.
Ellis Elementary, followed by several other Rockford schools, started grouping students by reading ability instead of by grade. It wasn’t seamless. It wasn’t easy. But it was necessary. And the results have been worth every bit of effort.
Coming out of COVID, our students’ learning gaps were wide — and getting wider. The urgency was impossible to ignore. As teachers, we were trying everything we could to meet the needs of all our students, but our one-size-fits-all structure just wasn’t working.
Teaching whole-group lessons to a class of students who varied drastically in their reading skills meant instruction often landed in the middle — reaching few, if any, with the depth they needed.
It became clear: Our diverse learners needed diverse instruction. That shift in mindset was the beginning of everything.
As we began exploring the science of reading, we saw the potential to align our practices with how children actually learn to read. But more importantly, our teachers were ready. There was an energy and openness at Ellis that I’ll never forget. Everyone understood that what we had been doing wasn’t enough — and they were eager for change.
You may have heard about this strategy on a recent episode of the popular podcast “Sold a Story,” which highlights East Elementary in Steubenville, Ohio.
Here’s how it works at my school: Every morning, for 45 minutes, all students in grades K–2 receive Tier 1 instruction using Reading Horizons. That’s 14 classrooms running simultaneously, including general education teachers and interventionists.
To begin, we administer a spelling inventory aligned to the Reading Horizons scope and sequence. Based on those results, we create skill-based groups — regardless of students’ ages or grade levels. Groups range from letters and sounds coupled with phonemic awareness (more foundational), all the way to multisyllabic decoding and comprehension strategies (more advanced).
If your school isn’t ready to jump right into grouping by skill-level across grades, a possible first step is grouping by skill-level across same-grade classrooms, e.g., re-arrange all 1st grade students for foundational reading instruction. In this model, first-grade classrooms would “shuffle” to one classroom that focuses on more foundational concepts and moves slower, while another moves faster and brings in more authentic text.
But, at Ellis Elementary, we’ve gone all in on regrouping by skill level, regardless of grade. We have 5-year-olds and 7-year-olds learning side by side, because that’s where they are in their reading journey.
Nobody learns at exactly the same pace. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s powerful.
As the instructional coach, I coordinate our skill groups, support teachers during instruction, and lead progress monitoring. We developed RH Checkpoints: simple assessments where students read and write words after each lesson to demonstrate their understanding.
We don’t move on if a group isn’t showing mastery. We pause. We support. And sometimes, we shift students into a group that’s a better fit.
This model has been a game-changer for our teachers. When they step into their English Language Arts block, they teach skills that every student in the room is ready for. There’s no guessing. No watering down instruction. It’s focused, intentional, and impactful.
And the students? They now see themselves as readers. They’re more confident, more engaged, and more successful.Teachers are happier. Students are thriving.
Grouping by ability isn’t without its challenges. Yes, it was messy at first. Yes, there were growing pains. But we committed to flexibility and collaboration. We moved beyond the idea that a teacher is responsible only for the students assigned to their classroom. Instead, we adopted a collective mentality:
All Ellis students are our students. With enough time, we found a rhythm.
There are some logistical hurdles when you mix age groups, especially for our most vulnerable learners. To address this, we try to keep groups small and ensure we have strong behavior support in place. But in four years of doing this work, we’ve never encountered a problem we couldn’t solve with a little creativity and a team mindset.
The results we’re seeing go beyond test scores, though those have improved as well. Since the post-COVID low point in 2021, third-grade, end-of-year oral reading proficiency has risen by 18 percentage points, including an 8-point gain this school year alone. The number of students identified as at-risk has dropped by 25 points, with 19 of those points occurring this year.
Even more compelling: In one class, 72% of students who began the year labeled “at-risk” have reached or exceeded the end-of-year proficiency benchmark. While that outcome represents a single class, we’re seeing similar outcomes across the board.
Here’s what I’d tell any school thinking about making this shift:
It will feel chaotic at first. Stick with it.
Rules and procedures are critical. Set them early.
Everyone must be on board. From students to administration
Be ready to regroup. Mid-year reassessment is key.
Let the data guide you. Not assumptions. Not classrooms. Not grade levels.
This approach has created a culture where every adult is responsible for every student’s success, where no child is held back or left behind because of their age and where reading instruction is the best part of the day.
We’ve made ability-based grouping our new normal. And we’ve never looked back.
Jessica Berg is an instructional coach at Ellis Elementary School in Rockford, Illinois.
