Looping Resources
Looping is the practice of advancing a teacher from one grade level to the next along
with his or her class. At the end of a “loop” of two or more years, the teacher begins
the cycle again with a new group of students. (“Implementing Looping,” ©1998, see below)
Looping is an educational practice in which a single graded class of children stays with a teacher
for two or more years or grade levels. The children and the teacher remain together as the class
is promoted. At the end of the second (or third) year in the pattern, the children move on to a
new teacher while the looping teacher returns to the lower grade level to receive a new group of
students. Although looping is not used in multiage grouping (because a multiage group does not
comprise a single class grade), many schools that are considering implementation of a multiage
program use looping as a first step. (NCREL, www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/instrctn/in5lk10.htm, undated)
For students, the benefits of looping include reduced apprehension at starting a new school year,
increased continuity, and more in-depth relationships with teacher and with peers.
For teachers, the benefits of looping consist of becoming familiar with other developmental stages of
children, and working with students and parents for longer periods of time.
The long-term relationships established through looping have been shown to support student learning.
(NCREL, ibid)
Here are several dozen online resources regarding looping, found via a
Google
search on 29 July 2009, listed chronologically (with undated resources at the bottom of the list).
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- “In the Loop: Students and Teachers Progressing Together” – An Education World article for administrators (2004, updated 2009)
www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin120.shtml
- “The Power of Looping with Students” – A teacher’s blog entry (2009)
teacherleaders.typepad.com/shoulders_of_giants/2009/04/the-power-of-looping-with-students-test-scores-included.html
- “To Loop or Not to Loop” – Another teacher’s blog entry (2009)
chetscreek.blogspot.com/2009/04/to-loop-or-not-to-loop.html
- “Looping and changing grade levels” – A teacher’s post, with two responses, at teachers.net (2009)
teachers.net/mentors/fifth-grade/topic26037/6.16.09.03.11.47.html
- “Oak Point Principal discusses looping” – An article about looping at a school in Eden Prarie (MN) (June 2008)
www.edenprairienews.com/news/city-news/oak-point-principal-discusses-looping-5495
- “Eden Prairie parents feel out of the loop over looping” – An earlier article from Eden Prarie (MN),
discussing parent concerns (March 2008)
www.startribune.com/local/west/16715606.html
- “Student looping plan gaining momentum” – An article about looping in a Marlborough (MA) elementary school (2008)
www.wickedlocal.com/marlborough/homepage/x603848094
- “Final Project Summary” – A class report for a pre-service ed class at Bowling Green (OH) State University (2008)
(71 KB pdf)
edhd.bgsu.edu/~sbanist/611/final/tracybryan/tracybryansum.pdf
- “Looping in Education - Time to Make It a Fundamental Practice?” – An article at OpenEducation.net (2008)
www.openeducation.net/2008/01/06/looping-in-education-time-to-make-it-a-fundamental-practice/
- “Is a Looping Classroom Right for Your Child? A Parents' Guide to an Educational Alternative” – A brief article for parents (2008)
www.associatedcontent.com/article/691965/is_a_looping_classroom_right_for_your.html
- “The Effects of Looping on Perceived Values and Academic Achievement” – A 2-page document from ERS,
Educational Research Service (VA) (2007)
(93 KB pdf)
portal.ers.org/content/657/preview-spec_summer07_looping.pdf
- “Looping” from Saving our students, saving our schools – A GoogleBooks online book (2007)
books.google.com/books?id=qTUcu...
- “Looping” from Best practices of award-winning secondary school principals – Another GoogleBooks online book (2006)
books.google.com/books?id=ZN0_01EXsk4C...
- “Looping” – A trifold brochure from Tinton Falls (NJ) School District (2006)
(250 KB pdf)
www.tfs.k12.nj.us/723373418103259/lib/723373418103259/_files/Looping_2006.pdf
- “The Pros and Cons of Looping” – An article from Scholastic (2006)
www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7635
- “Looping” – A brief article at Education World (2005)
www.education-world.com/a_issues/readit/readit013.shtml
- “Looping: An Inquiry” – A 7-page document from Greenbrier Elementary School (GA) (2004)
(198 KB pdf)
www.aug.edu/~tdevwww/inquiry/GreenbrierElementary.pdf
- “Looping With Students from 6th to 7th Grade as a Social Worker and Determining
What Can be Done to Build Positive Relationships With Students” – A 25-page document from
Madison (WI) Municipal School District (2004)
(61 KB pdf)
www.madison.k12.wi.us/sod/car/abstracts/526.pdf
- “Looping: An Empirical Evaluation” – Abstract (not full text) of an article published in The International
Journal of Educational Policy, Research, and Practice: Reconceptualizing Childhood Studies, at ERIC (2004)
www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal...
- “Looping” – An Ask Eric Q&A (2003)
www.eduref.org/Virtual/Qa/archives/Educational_Levels/K-12_Education/Grouping/looping.html
- “Looping” – A definition, with pros and cons, from everything.com (2003)
everything2.com/title/Looping
- “The gift of time: multi-age teaching and curriculum design, or looping, work to provide a continuum that maximizes learning”
– An article at findarticles.com (2003)
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HUL/is_2_33/ai_111616036
- “Looping for Better Performance in the Middle Grades” – A 5-page article from Middle School Journal (2002)
(631 KB pdf)
southern-lehigh-2020.wikispaces.com/file/view/Looping+for+Better+Performance+in+the+Middle+Grades.pdf
- “The Effects of a Kindergarten-First Grade Looping Program on Academic Achievement and Self-Esteem” –
An 87-page Ed.D. Doctoral dissertation at University of North Texas (2002)
(309 KB pdf)
digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-3327:1
- “Looping” – A definition article at encyclopedia.com, with rationale and evidence supporting its use (2002)
www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403200382.html
- “The Best Kind of Deja Vu: Teachers —and Students— Love to Loop” – An article at Edutopia, the website of
GLEF, the George Lucas Education Foundation (2001)
www.edutopia.org/best-kind-deja-vu
- “More Schools Getting in the Loop” – An article about looping (2001)
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28148-2001Mar19
- “Looping as a Class Placement Approach” – Adapted from an article published in Parent News,
titled “Same Teacher, Different Years: Facts about Looping” (2000)
www.salmonbay.seattleschools.org/fac/Looping.htm
- “Schoolteachers Are Getting in the Loop” – A brief article about looping (2000)
articles.latimes.com/2000/jul/23/local/me-57728
- “In the Loop” – A 5-page document from Williston (VT) schools (2000)
(31 KB pdf)
www.williston.k12.vt.us/QuickLinks/Frameworks/Research/InTheLoop.pdf
- “ ‘Looping’ allows teachers to move on along with pupils” – An article in the Pittsburgh (PA) Post Gazette (2000)
www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20001003loop3.asp
- “Looping: Two Years With the Same Class” – A 4-page article from the NEA (1998)
(104 KB pdf)
www.fremont.lake.k12.il.us/elementary/documents/NEA_Today_InsideScoop_Looping.pdf
- “Implementing Looping” – A 7-page ERIC Digest article (1998)
(86 KB pdf)
www.evscschools.com/Uploads/Files/57643929-0de5-499b-8f70-dd9fd781aea4.pdf
- “Teachers plot to give students a loop” – Another archived article, about looping in Durham (NC) schools. (1998)
web.archive.org/web/20000307055549/http://www.news-observer.com/daily/1998/12/28/tri00.html
- “Looping: Supporting Student Learning Through Long-Term Relationships” –
A 23-page document from the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Lab at Brown University (RI) (1997)
(124 KB pdf)
www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/ic/looping/looping.pdf
- “Looping: Adding Time, Strengthening Relationships” – An ERIC Digest document (1997)
www.ericdigests.org/1998-2/looping.htm
- “Four Ways to Develop Longterm Relationships” from What current research says to the middle level practitioner
– Another GoogleBooks online book (1997)
books.google.com/books?id=QVCfsMbfORIC...
- “Valencia School Tests Experiment in Looping: Students Respond to Group Learning” – An article on
looping in elementary schools in Santa Clarita Valley (CA) (1996)
www.thefreelibrary.com/VALENCIA+SCHOOL+TESTS+EXPERIMENT+IN+LOOPING...
- “Looping Through the Years: Teachers and Students Progressing Together” – An archived overview of looping (1995)
web.archive.org/web/20010708041327/http://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/eece/pubs/mag/magfal95.html
- “ ‘Looping’ – Keeping your teacher in lower grades” – A brief article about looping (2007)
scienceblogs.com/catdynamics/2007/09/looping_keeping_your_teacher_i.php
- “Looping Articles and Information” – A teacher’s list of looping links and resources (undated)
www.geocities.com/broomesroom/loopinglinks.html
- “Does looping increase student achievement?” – A brief article about a
teacher’s success with looping with elementary school (DE) (undated, 2004?)
www.teachersnetwork.org/tnpi/research/parents/hopkins.htm
- “Multiage Instruction Overview ” – An article about multi-age educational strategies, with one paragraph on looping (undated)
www.drawacademy.org/about_us/multi_dir_en.html
- “Looping - How Widespread Is Its Use?, Rationale, Evidence Supporting Its Use Read more” – An article
about looping at stateuniversity.com (undated)
education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2194/Looping.html
- “The Lawrence Looping Project ” – Four pages describing the implementation of looping in Wichita (KS) schools. (undated)
www.teachnet.com/how-to/looping/
- “A look at Looping” – A trifold brochure from Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (IN) (undated)
(739 KB pdf)
www.evscschools.com/Uploads/Files/3bd2db6e-9512-48dd-bf52-b843ca6c5b7e.pdf
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