ABSTRACT
The issues in this chapter emerge from the data taken from a study which followed six students who experienced problems with literacy over a two year period at Key Stage 3. The investigation took place while the students were in Years 8 and 9 and considered their experiences in the history classroom during these two years. In Year 8 the students were taught in mixed ability tutor groups and were then taught in homogeneous ability groupings in Year 9 for humanities subjects. The school in which the study took place has two populations within each year group and the students were in two different foundation groups within Year 9.
