ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the conceptual and practical issues involved in providing instruction that is adaptive to differences among students and that results in the effective allocation and use of school time. It explains the design of and rationale for an educational programme known as the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM). The chapter also discusses the results of a study of the programme's impact on classroom processes, student achievement, and the allocation and use of school time. It provides the discussion of the programme in terms of other approaches to effective classroom instruction. The attention and memory are limiting factors that must be considered in the provision of adaptive instruction. Effective implementation of the self-schedule system is expected to decrease the information overload that is bound to occur in the implementation of adaptive instruction programmes in general, and the ALEM in particular. Multi-age grouping is a classroom organizational pattern that facilitates effective allocation and use of school time.
