ABSTRACT
Cluster grouping is a widely recommended and often used strategy for meeting the needs of high achieving students in the regular elementary classroom. Its use has gained popularity in recent years because of the move toward inclusive education, budget cuts, and heterogeneous grouping policies that have eliminated programs for gifted students. In educational settings across the country, meeting the needs of high achieving students is a perpetual struggle. Staff, budget, and resource restraints frequently limit or exhaust the possibility of programming for the highest achievers. Cluster grouping has been found to be beneficial to students in that it allows students of like achievement levels to work together and challenge each other. For high-ability learners, cluster grouping also allows them the opportunity to not always be the best.
