• The major advantage of whole group instruction is that more students can be educated within a graded class- room in which the teacher prepares lessons based on a single ability or readiness level (Goodlad, 1984).

• The major disadvantage is that students move through the curriculum without regard to their prior knowledge, interests, or levels of readiness (Good & Power, 1976).

•  the temporary nature of the grouping arrangement. Most modern cross-grade grouping plans are single- subject oriented and closely tied to a specific skill.

This arrangement allows students to move into and out of groups
 based on their current demonstrated achievement (Kulik & Kulik, 1982;Slavin, 1987).

• the curricular adjustment made among groups. The teacher must
   develop curriculum according to the unique needs of the group, rather than utilize a "one size fits all" approach to curriculum development. Students use textbooks from different grades based on their level of readiness (Kulik, 1992).
• A third major advantage of A between-class, cross-grade grouping plans is the admirable goal of reducing heterogeneity in the classroom without adversely affecting the self-esteem of those students in the lowest achieving groups (Begle, 1975; Goodlad,
   1966; Slavin, 1987).