The Harmful Educational Tracking System

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In this day and age, the United States, leader of the free world, is not leading. Our economic system is failing. Even worse, our educational system falls short compared to other nations. Consequently, our literacy rate and mathematical abilities are far behind; and even more embarrassing is the fact that education is not doled out equally despite our rather relentless fight against inequality. When academic achievement is examined on the basis of race, class, and gender, widening academic gaps are evident. * If this continues, there will be nowhere to go but down, economically and educationally. In order to prevent this foreboding future, we must get rid of the practice behind it - Tracking. Tracking, or homogenous grouping, is a process in which groups of students are assigned to different sets of classes, or tracks, based on factors such as academic performance, teacher recommendation, and potential for acquiring more knowledge (Oakes 3; Gamoran and Mare 1152). Schools use tracking to determine class placement for students for optimal instruction. The placement of these students is, supposedly, meant to meet their varying needs. In some schools tracking is done based on subject, meaning a student can be a quick learner in math, but slow in language, etc (Lockwood 2; Oakes 3). While tracking can serve as an effective means of organization within a school, it also harbors many detrimental effects for students. This brings me to the purpose of this paper, that tracking is not a practice worth continuing and should be discontinued? Tracking must be terminated. In this paper, in order to understand why we must detrack, I will first examine tracking in terms of race and class. Second, I will consider the effects of tracking as... ... middle of paper ... ...Web. 14 Oct. 2011. Page, Reba Neukom. Lower-Track Classrooms: A Curricular and Cultural Perspective. New York: Teachers College, 1991. Print Petrilli, Michael. “All Together Now? Educating High and Low Achievers in the Same Classroom.” Education Next 11.1 (2011): 48-55. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Pool, Harbison, and Jane A. Page, eds. Beyond Tracking: Finding Success in Inclusive Schools. Bloomington, Indiana: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1995. Print. Schofield, Janet Ward “International Evidence on Ability Grouping With Curriculum Differentiation and the Achievement Gap in Secondary Schools.” Teachers College Record 112.5 (2010):1492-1528. Wheelock, Anne. Alternatives To Tracking and Ability Grouping. Virginia: American Association of School Administrators, 1994. Print.

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