Most work equally well with single-age and multiage groups, and all ultimately connect and overlap. Organization can also be changed gradually. Teachers of different grade levels often introduce multiage grouping by mingling their students for occasional projects. Some schools have successfully made the change in one great leap, but as Miller reports, this takes a heavy toll on teachers. Sufficient time and money are essential ingredients in creating and maintaining the multiage classroom.
Multiage teaching takes years to master, and long-term staff development is expensive.
So is hiring substitutes to enable teachers to attend workshops and plan changes with their colleagues. Other expenses include developmentally appropriate instructional materials for children, books and videotapes for adult learners, and outreach efforts to build community support. Creative scheduling can free up some time, but hiring additional teachers or paraprofessionals will likely be necessary. Teachers often donate immense amounts of unpaid personal time during implementation, but few can maintain such sacrifice on a long-term basis, nor should they be asked to. Administrators must accept the challenge of communicating to the public that educational quality cannot exist without adequate financial support, and enlist their aid in providing these resources.