Overview
Grouper has created preset attributes based on common needs and requests from teachers and administrators. Some attributes have special behaviors, like Do not group with, while others come with preset values that you can assign to your students.
Automatically applied preset attributes include:
Do not group with
Study buddies
Seating preference (PRO)
Other presets include:
Gender
Math proficiency
ELA proficiency
Strong leader
Role (PRO)
Extrovert/Introvert
English language proficiency
Lexile level
For basic grouping actions, see the Grouping basics support article. For import workflow, see the Importing student data support article.
Adding a preset attribute
A preset attribute is not in your class until you add it. Every workflow below starts here.
Open a class in the Grouping, Seating, or List view.
In the Attributes section of the right-hand control panel, click the + button. The Add attribute panel takes over the control panel.
Find the attribute you want in one of the categories — Academic skills, Social & behavioral, or Demographics & roles — or type its name in the search field, which looks across all of them.
Click the attribute. Grouper adds it to the class and opens its properties, so you can start entering values right away.
In the List view you can also scroll to the right end of the attribute columns and click the + button in the table header, then pick the attribute from the menu. It becomes a new column in the table.
Notes:
Once an attribute is in the class, it stays there. It is listed in the Attributes section of the control panel in all three views, and you do not need to add it again.
Click Back at the top of the control panel to leave the Add attribute panel.
Free plan supports up to 2 student attributes; PRO supports unlimited attributes. See grouper.school/pricing.
For more on attributes in general, see the Making groupings and seatings with student data support article.
Do not group with
Do not group with prevents specific students from being placed in the same group or in nearby seats:
Add the Do not group with attribute if your class does not have it yet — see Adding a preset attribute above.
Click the cell of the target student.
Set one or more Do not group with pairings (actually, anti-pairings!).
Use automated grouping tools, such as Shuffle or the Spread and Cluster attribute actions, in any view.
The quickest way to set a student's pairings is from the Grouping or Seating view: hover over or click the student, then click Do not group with in the toolbar that appears above them (the icon that looks like people with an x next to it). The button opens that student's picker, and it adds the Do not group with attribute to the class for you if the class doesn't have it yet.
You can also click Do not group with in the Attributes section of the control panel and then click a student.
To pair up a whole set of students at once, select them and click Do not group with each other in the toolbar. Every selected student is set as a restricted pair with every other one. This works in both the Grouping and Seating views — see the Grouping basics and Seating basics support articles for how to select several students.
Expected behavior:
Grouper separates restricted pairs automatically.
In highly constrained class setups, perfect separation may not be possible.
If Do not group with is listed in the Attributes section of the right-hand control panel, it carries an Auto badge instead of the Spread and Cluster buttons: there is nothing to choose, because Grouper applies the rules on its own.
The Attribute only formation ignores Do not group with: it groups students by the values of the attribute you select and nothing else. A restricted pair that ends up together is still marked.
Alerts when a pair ends up together
Grouper marks a Do not group with pair that has ended up together, so you can spot it and fix it. What the mark looks like depends on the view, because the rule means something different in each.
In the Grouping view, two students either share a group or they do not, so the alert is simple: a red line joins the two students inside the group they share. A pair split across two different groups is not marked at all.
In the Seating view the rule is about how close together students sit, so the alert is graded by distance. Grouper outlines both seats and draws a line between them:
Red — the two students are next to each other, including diagonally.
Yellow — there is one seat between them, or they sit two steps apart diagonally.
No mark — there are at least two seats between them, which satisfies the rule.
You will see these alerts most often while moving students by hand, because that is when a pair is most likely to end up together. They also appear when you add a pairing to students who are already grouped or seated, and when a class or a seat layout is too constrained for Grouper to separate everyone.
Notes:
Students do not see these alerts in Live mode.
Seating alerts update as you drag, so you can tell whether a seat is far enough away before you drop.
Seating alerts are not shown while you are editing the layout.
Study buddies
Study buddies keeps specific students together. When you select Study buddies for a student, at least one of the Study buddies will be placed in the same group with that student or in a nearby seat.
Add the Study buddies attribute if your class does not have it yet — see Adding a preset attribute above.
Click the cell of the target student.
Set one or more Study buddy pairings.
Use automated grouping tools, such as Shuffle or the Spread and Cluster attribute actions, in any view.
Expected behavior:
Grouper almost always places each student with at least one selected Study buddy.
In highly constrained setups, perfect matching may not always be possible.
If Study buddies is listed in the Attributes section of the right-hand control panel, it carries an Auto badge instead of the Spread and Cluster buttons: there is nothing to choose, because Grouper applies the rules on its own.
The Attribute only formation ignores Study buddies: it groups students by the values of the attribute you select and nothing else.
Seating preference (PRO)
Seating preference lets you mark one or more preferred areas of the room for a student during automated seating.
Add the Seating preference attribute if your class does not have it yet — see Adding a preset attribute above.
Click the cell of the target student.
Select one or more preferred seating zones.
In the Seating view, use automated seating tools such as Shuffle or the Spread and Cluster attribute actions.
The quickest way to set a student's seating preference is from the Seating view: hover over or click the student, then click Set seating preference in the toolbar that appears above them (the grid icon with a checkmark). Once the student has a preference, the same button reads Edit seating preference. The action is also in the toolbar's three-dot menu.
The button opens the student's zone picker directly, and it adds the Seating preference attribute to the class for you if the class doesn't have it yet.
Expected behavior:
Seating preference only applies to the Seating view. It does not apply to the Grouping view.
Grouper usually places each student in one of their selected seating zones.
In highly constrained seating setups, perfect placement may not always be possible.
Selecting only edge zones will generally place a student on the edge of your seating layout.
For example, if the top of the screen represents the front of your classroom in Seating view, selecting the top zones for a student's seating preference will usually place them in the front of the class.
Selecting only the center zone will prevent a student from being placed at the edge of the seating layout.
If Seating preference is listed in the Attributes section of the right-hand control panel, it carries an Auto badge instead of the Spread and Cluster buttons: there is nothing to choose, because the rules always apply.
Don't worry - your seating preference rules will still be followed.
Note: Seating preference is a PRO feature, like the Seating view. It is available to PRO subscribers and PRO trial users.
Role
The Role attribute lets you assign structured responsibilities to students (for example, Moderator, Timekeeper, Presenter). Roles can be made visible to students in Live mode so students know their role when they start group work.
Basic Roles workflow
Add the Role attribute — see Adding a preset attribute above.
Assign roles using Assign values in the attribute header menu, or assign them manually.
Create groups of the size you want.
Click the Spread icon next to the Role attribute in the right-hand control panel.
Hover over Role in the right-hand control panel to confirm Role assignments.
Click Go live and toggle the Role switch on to make roles visible to students.
Creating custom roles
Grouper provides default roles when you add Role as an attribute. But you can create custom roles, too:
After adding the Role attribute, click on the column header for Role in the List view.
Add role names in the Options section of the attribute header menu.
Delete any unwanted roles.
To change Role colors, hover over the role and click the arrow to open the color menu.
You can do the same from the Grouping or Seating view: click Role in the Attributes section of the control panel to open its properties, then edit the Options list there.
Notes
A student's role can be reassigned using the List view, the Student details card, or by clicking the student in the Grouping or Seating view while the Role attribute's properties are open.
Mark attendance before role assignment if absences are known.
Roles are a PRO feature.
Other presets
These attributes come with default values you can assign to students. Default values can be added to or replaced with your own — see the Making groupings and seatings with student data support article for how to customize attribute options.
Gender: Male, Female, Other
Math proficiency: Below, Partial, Meets, Exceeds
ELA proficiency: Below, Partial, Meets, Exceeds
English language proficiency: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Fluent
Strong leader: No, Yes
Extrovert/Introvert: Introvert, Extrovert
Lexile level: BR300L through 2000L (full scale, in 100L increments)
Related strategy guidance
When using constraints together with other attributes:
Results may be near-optimal rather than perfect when constraints compete.
Use drag and drop for final teacher judgment.
Troubleshooting
"My constraints were not fully respected"
This can happen when constraints conflict with class size and grouping requirements. Grouper marks the pairs it could not separate, so you can see exactly which ones to fix by hand — see Alerts when a pair ends up together above.
"My groups are close but not exact"
Use drag and drop to finalize.