Valerie Ritland participates in Multiage Study Tour to Australia

Dr. Valerie Ritland, School of Teaching and Learning, recently participated in a twelve day Multiage Study Tour to Australia. She joined 17 other educators from across the United States and Canada, along with two instructors from Northern State University, Flagstaff, Arizona. Participants visited two private schools in Sydney, Australia, and two public schools in Brisbane, Australia. The purpose of the Study Tour was to observe and dialogue with Australian teachers and administrators about the strategies, challenges and advantages to multiage instruction. Schools in Australia have a tradition of offering non-graded environments and their students typically rank in the top three in the world for literacy and math scores. These results are particularly impressive considering the high incidence of ELL students in their country. Since her return from Australia, Dr. Ritland has formed an alliance with the teachers in Manitoba, Canada, who have established a state multiage organization for networking and training.