Social and economic changes are steadily making graded education even less appropriate. America's population becomes more heterogeneous with each passing year. Job opportunities for the undereducated vanish. Employers seek employees with problem-solving and teamwork skills, technical knowledge, and, above all, the ability to adapt and learn as changing conditions make old information obsolete. These assumptions, the most important of which are summarized below, have emerged from decades of research in various fields of study.
Children vary in intellectual, social, and emotional development just as they differ physically.
They may progress in spurts, hit plateaus, and even regress at times in any of these areas, rather than progressing at a steady, predictable rate. Not only do children develop differently from same-age peers, but individuals may develop at different rates in different areas of functioning. In addition, individuals with different learning styles rely to varying degrees on auditory, visual, and kinesthetic cues. Therefore, teachers should use a variety of instructional methods and materials and present open-ended learning opportunities that are accessible to children at different levels of ability and readiness. They have a great need for physical activity and are fatigued by long periods of inactivity.