The Small-Group Status Practical Measure (SGS-PM) is a measure of students’ perceptions of small-group interactions. Specifically, it attends to student participation in small-group work and how the actions (or inactions) of group members impact their sense of their own mathematical ideas. These beliefs about the worthiness of one’s own mathematical ideas based on the behaviors of group members may point to a student’s position in a status hierarchy.
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WestEd/CARE Network’s Small-Group Status Practical Measure (SGS-PM) [Select “Make a copy” to view.]
Measure of...
Measurement instrument overview
The SGS-PM is a short survey (2–3 minutes) administered to students after completing a small-group mathematics task. The survey begins with the question “Did your team think you had good ideas today?” and uses branch logic to customize follow-up questions based on the students’ initial response. Open-ended responses also allow students to elaborate on previous responses. Following survey administration, teachers should review the data independently and present results to students in a timely manner (within 2 weeks). Data review discussions are intended to highlight collective strengths and areas of concern and to generate ideas to improve small-group interactions among students. Teachers are also encouraged to collaborate with colleagues in data sense-making conversations that spark actionable efforts to level status hierarchies in the classroom.
Connection to student learning
A status order in a math classroom is defined as the hierarchical social ranking that happens between students based on their perceptions of who is competent and who is not (Cohen, 1994). Small-group work—where students are collectively oriented toward a shared goal—is ripe with status issues. This practical measure is focused on small-group work. As students work together in small groups, they bring and continue to form perceptions related to who has the knowledge and skills (i.e., competence) needed to contribute to the group’s success. Students’ perceptions of their peers’ competence can be based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, popularity, and more (Cohen, 1994; Featherstone et al., 2011). Status hierarchies shape equity and justice in math classrooms because they impact how students work together and whose ideas are valued. In small groups, those who are positioned as higher status may dominate discussion and decision-making, own most of the work and learning, and/or limit the participation and sense-making of others. When this happens within group work, teachers may have less visibility into the interactions that create inequitable status hierarchies. The SGS-PM was designed to help teachers identify and address status issues that emerge in students’ small-group interactions (Takahashi et al., in press).
What we know about how well this measure works for its intended use
SGS-PM was co-developed between WestEd and the High Tech High Graduate School of Education, based on existing research on status hierarchies in math classrooms. The tool has been through a few rounds of testing, including cognitive interviews with a diverse group of middle school students, and teachers’ use across several classrooms. This practical measure was designed to support measurement routines that enable equity and justice in small-group interactions. During early testing of the tool, the creators found substantial evidence of its capacity to support teams of teachers in enacting the following measurement routines: (a) attend to and reflect on the day-to-day practices and processes that constrain and/or enable equity in classrooms, (b) brainstorm and generate instructional moves they can test to advance equity, and (c) position students to take ownership over the learning environment (Takahashi et al., in press).
Frequency
Teachers have used this tool on consecutive instances of small-group work in a short span of time (e.g., three times in 2 weeks). These “spurts” of use can be spread out over the course of the year to check on how small-group work is going. When data are shared back with students, it can be valuable for them to have another chance to practice group work behaviors in a timely manner and be able to report back their experiences right away.
Measurement routine details
The SGS-PM is designed to take a very short amount of time to administer—most students can complete this survey in 2 or 3 minutes. It is designed to be administered after students have had a small-group work experience in their math class. As an electronic survey, students will need access to a device to complete it. This may require additional time for students to access a device if they are not already using one.
The survey is currently in Google Forms, which can link to a Google spreadsheet. Through the use of formulas, the latest data can auto-populate graphs in the Google sheet so that teachers can debrief students on the next day. An example is attached in “Other tools and resources to support measurement enactment.”
If teachers use the same survey link over time for a given class, they can track changes in survey responses over time in a single graph.
Teachers can provide background for students on the purpose and use of the data: to support improved small-group work and not to judge or evaluate the students. We found that sharing the data back with students can be an impactful experience, engaging students in a conversation about what they learn from the data and how they believe they can improve small-group work for all students. Teachers should review data independently before sharing with students so they are prepared to guide students in a sense-making conversation.
Data analysis details
The following data displays can be used to present the survey results:
During testing, the designers found substantial evidence that reviewing data, such as the displays shown above, can support teachers in the following:
1. Teachers can attend to and reflect on the day-to-day practices and processes that constrain and/or enable equity in classrooms. It is recommended that teachers take time to review the data independently and quickly before sharing with others, so they can more readily and honestly recall the conditions that may have contributed to the results they see. From there, teachers can make sense of the data and draw inferences about why they might be seeing certain results.
2. Teachers can brainstorm and generate instructional moves they can test to advance equity. Once teachers have made sense of the data, they can then ideate around changes they can test to help advance equity. This routine is optimized by collaborating with colleagues who may provide support in data sense-making and idea generation. Collaborating with colleagues also creates opportunities to test multiple changes simultaneously so that teachers can learn more quickly.
3. Teachers position students to take ownership over the learning environment. This routine is optimized by reviewing and discussing survey results with students as soon as possible; having students interpret results, empathize with each other, and hold each other accountable in improving outcomes centers their voices and enables them to change undesirable outcomes.
Conditions that support use
Supporting factors that help facilitate the uptake of this measure include the following:
- leadership support in enacting continuous improvement efforts; includes providing teachers ample time and resources to review and make sense of data, engage in collective inquiry, and brainstorm and test potential changes to practice
- teacher and leader knowledge of what status hierarchies are and how they might show up in math classrooms
- regular use of small-group tasks as an instructional routine prior to the first survey administration and between subsequent administrations
- intentional selection of small-group tasks that are rigorous enough to generate multiple problem-solving strategies
- an environment where teachers and students have established behavioral norms for small-group work and communication
Challenges
- Survey administration requires additional time; although the survey itself is short (2–3 minutes), it takes time for students to retrieve devices such as tablets and computers to access the survey. Teachers should plan survey administration to be as efficient as possible in the flow of the class.
- This survey is not anonymous, so it may be difficult for students to express themselves honestly; teachers should make every effort to establish psychological safety so students are honest and results are trustworthy.
Other tools and resources to support use
Click this link to make a copy of our document, Teacher Guidance for Administering the Small Group Status Practical Measure (SGS-PM), which provides talking points on how to introduce this tool to students.
Gabriela and Mazie, two middle school mathematics teachers, supported the tool designers in refining this practical measure by testing this tool in their classrooms. Gabriela and Mazie frequently work together, and they are both part of a larger network of math educators called the CARE Network, led by the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. The network aims to improve student learning through student-centered math teaching practices. More broadly, the network strives to “increase the number of 8th grade students who have a strong academic identity and are on track for success in middle school, high school, college, and beyond” (High Tech High Graduate School of Education, 2008–24). Mazie and Gabriela administered the survey to their students in fall 2023 and spring 2024.
Before administering the survey for the first time, it was important to the teachers that they established a routine of working in small groups. To maximize the value of small-group work, the teachers believed choosing a rigorous task would generate a richer discussion. Gabriela shared with the design team that before assigning a group task, she would discourage her students from just copying someone else’s idea. “You have to … muddl[e] … through [what] may … not be the right idea for right now, but those wrong ideas are gonna lead you to the right idea or to the right strategy,” she told them. Assigning participation roles—such as an illustrator to draw diagrams or a resource manager to call the teacher for support—also facilitated more constructive small-group conversations: “When I have asked students to just … work in a group and have not given specific roles, it’s not as successful,” Gabriela shared.
Once Mazie and Gabriela established routines to better engage students in small group work, they administered the survey. Following survey administration, they would debrief with the SGS-PM design team. During debrief conversations, the survey designers noticed that by administering the surveys and examining the results, teachers were engaging in several measurement routines that enabled them to better attend to equity in their math classrooms. As noted above, those routines included (a) attending to and reflecting on the day-to-day practices and processes that constrain and/or enable equity in classrooms, (b) brainstorming and generating instructional moves they can test to advance equity, and (c) positioning students to take ownership over the learning environment. Below are some examples of how these measurement routines surfaced in debrief conversations:
a. Attending to and reflecting on the day-to-day practices and processes that constrain and/or enable equity in classrooms
When looking at their individual classroom data together and comparing results, Gabriela and Mazie engaged in collective sense-making that allowed them to reflect on what might be contributing to the results they were observing. Mazie came to the conclusion that “rapport building really helps with team acceptance and sharing of ideas.” She came to this conclusion by examining the results and drawing on her experience with particular student groups: “…the teams that didn’t have that rapport and didn’t have that connection with each other were the ones who said I didn’t enjoy working in teams.”
b. Brainstorming and generating instructional moves they can test to advance equity
During the same conversation, Mazie and Gabriela were discussing a particular student who responded in the survey that they didn’t get to share their ideas. This data point sparked a conversation on more inclusive group work practices, and Mazie wondered what it might look like to use a 2-minute timer with students so that “everybody has the same amount of time to share their problem.”
c. Positioning students to take ownership over the learning environment
Mazie found the survey to be a useful tool because students “are more honest with their opinion because they’re typing their answers rather than if I were to ask them. … It definitely gives [me] more insight on how the students are truly feeling.” Gabriela also believed that “sharing the data [with students] … makes it that much more valuable. Having these structured discussions is important.” During these conversations, students would generate their own ideas for improving small-group interactions, and they would all hold each other accountable to participate in ways that allowed each other to feel more seen and heard. The teachers would also receive feedback they could use to inform changes to instructional routines. For example, Mazie’s students shared that they wanted more team experiences as opposed to partner work. Mazie responded, saying, “Yes, we’ll definitely do more team activities.”
Gabriela and Mazie were two of several teachers from the CARE Network who tested SGS-PM in their classrooms. While there is still more to learn about the use of this tool across a broader network of teachers and classrooms, these teachers’ experiences suggest that in a well-supported context, this tool can add value to small-group routines in math classrooms.
Cohen, E. G. (1994). Restructuring the classroom: Conditions for productive small groups. Review of educational research, 64(1), 1–35.
Featherstone, H., Crespo, S., Jilk, L. M., Oslund, J. A., Parks, A. N., & Wood, M. B. (2011). Smarter Together! Collaboration and Equity in the Elementary Math Classroom. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
High Tech High Graduate School of Education. (2008–24). About the CARE Network. CARE Network. https://sdcarenetwork.org/about/
Takahashi, S., Sandoval, Jr., C., Jackson, B., Cunningham, J., & Taylor, C. (in press). Practical measurement for equity and justice. Frontiers in Education.
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