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.
Rowe, K. (2000). Assessment, League Tables and School Effectiveness: Consider the Issues and “Let’s Get Real”!. Journal of Educational Enquiry, 1(1), 73-98.
President Ronald Reagan once described America as, “A Nation at Risk,” He was addressing this statement to the education department thirty years ago and meant it as a wake-up call. He was aware that the United States was falling behind in education and needed to take action in order to prevent the demise of the country. Reagan correctly predicted the grim fate of America if education did not see improvement. Today, research finds that American education is failing to provide the necessary skills to succeed in college and various careers. The quality of education in America is a growing issue and every year graduate students are finding it more difficult to obtain high paying jobs and start his or her career. According to studies conducted globally, the curriculum in America is not as advanced and years behind international schools in countries such as China and Japan. There is much controversy in government over what can be done to reverse the situation in public schools but possible solutions that have been suggested are hiring more qualified teachers, more classroom time, and investing more money into education.
Tracking is where students are identified as gifted or placed in remedial classes. By doing this, students learn about their overall success and achievements in comparison to the other groups. In the documentary, the principal, Rob Gasparello, addresses why their school is not the greatest. He states that their school has a “terrible reputation” and that the numbers do not lie. Looking at the data would assume that the overall success rate is not as high as other schools. By knowing this, it can be detrimental to the students’ education. This can be detrimental because students who attend this high school may start believing that they will never be successful so why bother trying. Other students who do not attend this high school may not have respect for these schools and assume they are better because they believe that they go to a better school. This is an example of inequality in education and studies have shown that while education benefits everyone, it does not benefit everyone equally. An inequality in education mirrors and inequality in
Staub, D., & Peck, C. A. (1994, December-1995, January). What are the outcomes for non-disabled students? Educational Leadership, 52(4), 36-40.
The first issue that has been identified as a significant problem involved in the Achievement gap, is that it is partially the fault of America's educational system. Because of the suffering economy that has spurred the increasing lack of basic necessities in schools across America, there are an increasing number of children who are not being properly educated. Whether it is a deficiency in supplies, poor teacher selection, or administration and staff who are indifferent to the students at their sch...
Peterson, J. Michael and Hittie, Marie Michael. Inclusive Teaching : Creating Effective Schools for All Learners. Pearson Publishing. (2003)
Reading, writing, math, science, and other skills learned in school are instrumental for a child to have in order to be successful both in higher education and in life. Many factors contribute to a student’s acquisition of these skills such as their learning environment, preschool education, mental and emotional development, parental involvement, and dedication to learning. The issue that many young children are facing, however, is that all of these factors can be greatly influenced by the Socioeconomic Status (SES) of their family. Unfortunately, up until recently it was virtually unknown how teachers could help these “at risk” children, which caused an increase in the likelihood of children dropping out of school or repeating a grade. However, it is now becoming clear that there are ways that educators can help ensure children have successful academic careers and lead better lives.
Tracking is the grouping of students by perceived academic abilities for instruction. As a pedagogical strategy, tracking was initially introduced into U.S. public schools in the early 1900’s as a way to educate and socialize the broadly changing population of urban, northern cities that swelled from European immigration and poor southern black transplants seeking better opportunities. Societal beliefs of the time regarding distinct division of classes and the requisite assimilation of immigrants into American culture resulted in new educational laws that popularized a system that segregated classrooms into “slow, bright and deficient” (Ansalone, 2010, p. 4) levels of learners. Tracking was viewed and used as a practical strategy in educating an increasingly diverse population of students with different native languages and educational backgrounds.
One of the biggest problems Americans face today is a US student’s underwhelming academic performance. When compared to other countries, the United States comes in 18th place in math literacy and 25th place in reading literacy. The problem is not just a standard problem throughout the country, as there is much variation between graduation and subject literacy rates, with huge differences also between schools alone. These statistics are disappointing because the US is considered one of the largest world powers. The disparities in American students academic achievement is also detrimental because they are less able to compete in the global market place. Many things have been used to explain this disparity but race has often led as the main explanation. The racial disparities in academic achievement have also led to acts of law, such as the Hispanic Education act, which focus on improving test scores in New Mexico’s minority students. While there is a correlation between race and academic performance, I believe there are other factors, like economic class, which also have a profound effect on a students’ academic achievement. If my hypothesis is correct, review of further literature should show discrepancies between students of different socioeconomic status as a major influence on a student’s academic achievement.
Loveless, T. (1998). The tracking and ability grouping debate. Retrieved April 20, 2004 from http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=127
The means of justifying these inequalities are important for the entire world. Education played and will always play a big role in everyone’s lives. Equality in education will eventually guarantee every person a better position in society. Educational inequality is the difference in learning effectiveness and results as faced by students with varying backgrounds. The effects of educational inequality are not only left within the circles of education, but also remain further to have an impact on other life aspects. All over the world, there have been unending calls to reform education at each level. With various causes that are very much connected to society, history and culture, the educational inequality has apparently been one of the most difficult challenges to address. Regardless of the challenges faced in removing educational inequality, education has continued to be a very important part of society with a big expectation of moving it forward. In the current-day America, very many disadvantaged children have continued to grow up missing key skills. Discrimination has continued to persevere in educational achievement between racial issues. Above all, low performance levels among these disadvantaged children have over the years been responsible for the long-term issues, especially in such an society with higher levels of skills and a failing incomes offered to those people that are less-skilled.
In the 1980’s a report called “A Nation At Risk” stated that American children had fallen behind in such subjects as math and science. Thus came the advent of education’s increased focus on literacy and numeracy, accountability and academic standards. These high standards, according to Dumas (2000), are the most significant trend in schools today.
There are many important things children gain while growing up; the most important thing children gain growing up is their education. The educational skills children learn in school teach them the skills they need to perform outside of the classroom and in the workforce. With education being one of the most important gains in the lives of children, it has come to light how in recent years the United States has fallen further and further behind their peers in international rankings. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2009 educational scores the United States ranks “33” (1), which is lower than the 2002 ranking of “18” (CNN). With such a decrease in the United States ranking, parents wonder why American students are falling behind. The No Child Left Behind Act, standardized testing, and the large use of technology are some of reasons why the United States is falling behind in educational rankings.
Research on the social and cognitive effects of grouping students in mixed-abilities versus same-abilities classrooms is gaining increasing interest among practitioners and researchers. In hopes of attaining higher scores, many schools have adopted homogeneous ability grouping. Unlike them, our school has adopted the policy of mixed ability classes where students of different academic abilities study together in the same class. Indeed, there is a lot of research in favor of heterogeneous ability grouping, but is this beneficial to us?
It is important to understand the many different methods of educating gifted and talented students. Most people, whether as teachers, students, or parents, will at some point be faced with the many options of educating the gifted and talented. In the United States today, 3-5 percent of students are considered gifted. Defining whether or not a student is gifted can be quite difficult, but many would agree that gifted students “are able to learn material rapidly and understand concepts deeply” (Lynch, 1999). Within this paper I will discuss the process of identifying gifted and talented students and the different methods of educating them including tracking, grade advancement, and cooperative learning. Of these three methods I believe the most effective method used to teach gifted and talented students is tracking.