In Kansas City, mastery of content will determine advancement

Districts from Alaska to Maine are choosing a different approach to moving kids from grade to grade as they get older:  they are grouping by ability. Once students master a subject, they move up a level. The practice has been around for decades, but was generally used in individual grades, subjects, or schools.

This fall, the Kansas City, Missouri, School District will become what reform experts say is the largest district to try the approach and will begin switching 17,000 students to the new system this fall. Read more in this article by Heather Hollingworth of the Associated Press.