Originally Posted by Bostonian
Suppose there were ability grouping starting from 1st grade. If there were three groups per grade, there would be 1/3 of the children in the "bottom" group. Many of those parents would be unhappy. I would be unhappy if my children were not in the top group in each subject.

Even if such a position accurately reflected their ability?

You just said that it was good that you knew that you *weren't* in the tippy-top of Ph.D.ers so that you could go someplace that was a better fit for your level of potential achievement.