"Grouping Students by Ability Regains Favor in Classroom."

The practice "fell out of favor in the late 1980s and the 1990s as critics charged that they perpetuated inequality by trapping poor and minority students in low-level groups" but...

Now ability grouping has re-emerged in classrooms all over the country — a trend that has surprised education experts who believed the outcry had all but ended its use....

Teachers and principals who use grouping say that the practice has become indispensable, helping them cope with widely varying levels of ability and achievement....

Interesting way around criticisms, isn't it? Stop what you're doing and then gradually go back to it.