How a classroom is structured can affect a child’s learning. As Canada tested homogenous and mixed approaches over the years, a mixed approach would be have the most positive outlook. A mixed classroom approach is a structure that involves putting children from different social classes and intelligence levels into one classroom. The mixed approach is preferred because it gives all students an equal opportunity that may or may not push them to make an attempt in school (Lee 2013). As many different students are placed into one classroom, it is up to the teacher to create a classroom environment suitable for all students because of the many students from different backgrounds (Smith, 2005, p. 98-99). Therefore, a heterogeneous approach is better …show more content…
When a lower tracked student is placed in the low-ability class, the placement can destroy a child’s confidence as well as promote inequality (Enns 2015). As the lower tracked education quality is much lower than a higher tracked classroom, there is a disadvantage for students who actually want to learn. There is not much encouragement for the lower-ability students because expectations are significantly reduced (Enns 2015). Despite being in a high-ability class, a child may feel pressure because he or she has to compete with other kids with the same intellect. When a child feels the need to compete, it could harm his or hers confidence level as well (Holloway 2003). A homogenous approach creates inequality within society because tracking is based off on an individual’s social background. Therefore, tracking will create a divide between the minority and majority groups. The majority dominant class has the upper-class advantage meaning that their children are most likely to be in the high intelligent class due to the extracurricular within their lives. While the minority is placed in the lower tracked class, they are given the lower quality education that they do not deserve (Enns 2015). Nevertheless, according to Paton (2012), the mixed approach was thought to have a its disadvantage because it might put high-ability children at a disadvantage. Parents were scared that the lower-ability children would hold their high-ability children back academically (Paton 2012). Having said that, the parents are wrong, as it is not another child’s fault in why their children are not pushed to their full potential. It is the teacher’s responsibility to provide more challenging lessons for the more intelligent children. The teachers are the ones who should push their students to their full potential (Paton
Grades also cause a seen diversity among the students. That would be the half that get great grades, and the other half with lower grades. At a young age children can realize which section the fall into. Some students that fall into the lower half may push themselves to do better, but others will not. They see no point when they think they cannot be the higher half. The odds are not in those kids favor, and they know
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
...ant to encourage and expect high performance from their children, but to be understanding of relative caliber of institutions. Perhaps schools should consider deviating from the path of the previous century and encourage a more heterogeneous sampling of students, rather than tracking them based on ability. In the end, deciding if it is better to be a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond depends on the age and developmental level of the individual. Unfortunately, for this phenomenon to continue to occur, the school system will need to remain stratified. As with many questions in the field of social psychology, more research is necessary to better understand the factors that play into success as a student. Until then, the BFLPE phenomenon is merely another factor to take into account when attempting to understand student development in education.
I come from schools where they have no shame on hiding the tracking system from the view of others. The school district calls tracking in two ways, the gifted and talented or on the other hand low achieving. I have been able to be on both sides of the tracking system, when I was a child I was in low achieving classes, and barely learning anything. When I was in my senior year of high school I was in one AP class. At the time I wished that I was seen as smart and talented but in reality would I be happy if I was tracked into the smart classes? Would I have been the person that I turned out to be? I guess I would have not been the hard working person that I came out to be, I would find it hard to get back up when I ever I feel just because I would not know how to deal with the fact that ailing at something or not being good at something is the reason that I never give up so easy. Also because I have a mother that never fell into the views and mentality of human capital, she knew that I could and would make it.
First, studies indicate that tracking has been an immense problem for the achievement gap and it is widely described as an element which has played a huge role in the achievement gap between the white and black population. According to Atkinson (2010), tracking is referred to as a process where students are divided into categories so that they can be put into groups and different types of
Over the years, the society have made us believe that the level of an individual’s educational attainment is a major determinant of the individual’s success and life opportunities. This same educational institution has been a major ingredient in the reproduction of inequality in our society. Beginning from the kindergarten level up to post-secondary level, students are accesses and placed in different categories based on their intellect and academic ability. According to Henry and Tator, (2009), this system of assessment and placement is one of the largest barriers to equity in the educational system. There are suggestions that the psychological assessment and placement of students are concealed with racial, cultural and linguistic biases.
The idea behind ability grouping, or tracking, is that “many school practitioners assume that grouping by ability promotes student’s achievement because, it is argued, all students learn best when grouped with students of similar capabilities or levels of achievement.”(Perceptions) There are many arguments for either side, thus begging the question “is ability grouping an efficient way to handle differences in student abilities?”(Education World) Contrary to today’s popular opinion, which naturally runs against the current educational structure of our schools, I believe ability tracking is an effective and worthwhile means of educating our youth, for a variety of reasons. Ability tracking promotes academic achievement, quality instruction, and is a means of student motivation. Unfortunately, those who do not participate willingly in the tracking program can easily become lost or distraught with the system. This having been said, I don’t deny the fact that many improvements can be made to the existing system as a means of expanding and providing opportunities to all those who desire success.
Inequities in the American Education System have persisted for too long. Doubling down on failed policy only serves to exacerbate our compounding debts to American children. Policies like tracking and other ability-grouping systems sunder our society and
School is the training ground for molding students to know their place in society and prepare them for the role they will play as adults in the disunited world. These standards are very stringent and enforced heavily by teachers and sometimes the students themselves. Lower class students have a very low bar set and usually do not have any intentions on surpassing that bar as they are unaware that socially there is not much expected out of them. According to Rose “Students will float to the mark you set. I and others in the vocational classes were bobbing in pretty shallow water" (126). Students are categorized into social class groups that restricts the level of education they will reach in their academic career. This is not because the students are not knowledgeable or willing to learn, but because of the standard, the norm, ‘what they’re supposed to do’ and no matter how high or low, the students will follow suit. Despite how elementary it seems, the hidden intentions that remain in education to this day, seem to be the blueprint to our future. Mantsios discusses a reality "From cradle to grave, class position has a significant impact on our well-being. Class accurately predicts chances for survival, educational achievement, and economic success"(391) We as Americans are naturally born into a social class and whatever that class may be, it poses as a barrier for some or an opportunity for others. Depending on the social class one obtains, success may be a struggle and being mediocre is common. Education is a common comparison when social class is discussed. As Americans, we are to believe that to be successful, we must have a good education and in most cases that means reaching a higher level of education. Students in the lower-class tend to have a standard and that is based off of their social status and barricades them in the mediocre learning curriculum. With having
In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while maintaining passing scores for the whole student body. To ensure academic success, teachers employ a multi-strategy approach to develop students of differing abilities and backgrounds. Every student is different in what skills and experiences they bring to the classroom; their personality, background, and interests are as varied as the ways in which teachers can choose to instruct them. Differentiated instruction has been an effective method in which teachers can engage students of various backgrounds and achieve whole-class success. When using differentiated instruction, teachers develop lesson strategies for each student or groups of students that provide different avenues of learning but all avenues arrive at the same learning goal.
The lower class student’s major issue with learning in class is a shortage of confidence based on real or apparent weakness in the home environment. These students often feel undesirable. They are very aware of the class in which they come from and of the place and position people classify them under, they often feel the urge to hide their background. Students that are categorized in this particular class frequently come to school with a lower level of academic skills and involvedness than their peers that are categorized in the midd...
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?
Engagement is the reason one becomes motivated. When we engage the parents and families they become more motivated. Having this type of direct energy is our goal. “To be effective in multicultural classrooms, teachers must relate teaching content to the cultural backgrounds of their students” (Ginsberg & Wlodkowski, 1995, p.1). Each student has a different story including their background being a big part of them. No need to judge a book by its cover until we get down to the real situation. Student’s progress differently and a lot of the time their culture has a lot to do with it. The parents and families are the same way. If we ignore these norms it will provoke student resistance and they will show signs of bad behavior. We need culturally relevant teaching. This definition is created by, Gloria Ladson Billings. She describes this as, “a
It can be argued that the academic performance of children has nothing to do with their socioeconomic status, because there have been many cases of children from very poor families who have excelled greatly in academics (APA, 2017). Furthermore, many predominantly high-end schools have posted poor results when compared to school with poorer backgrounds. This is despite the fact children from lower socioeconomic classes do not have access to the best forms of learning materials. The high performance of children from poor backgrounds is often attributed to the fact that they are not preoccupied with many activities which would otherwise hinder them from concentrating on their studies (Sacerdote, 2002). Therefore, some believe it is false to say that poor performance is associated with children who come from low socioeconomic classes. Rather, they believe academic achievement is genetic (Sacerdote, 2002).
During the first day of school, a variety of different students enter the classroom. These students are excited and nervous, they have their parents by their sides who are observing the classroom walls and arrangement. From the minute the students enter the classroom, students are observing the classroom environment and notice the everything. Everything in the classroom needs to have a purpose, but provide a pleasant environment. When preparing and organizing the classrooms, teachers need to consider the different variables that impact the classroom. Classrooms can be disorganized if the walls are cluttered and have no meaning The organizations of the desks, the wall decorations, and the seating arrangements significantly impact the physical environments. Students are like sponges, they soak up everything that surrounds them. In the article A comparison of actual and preferred classroom environments as perceived by middle school students in the Journal of School Health stated “studies have shown that classroom environments are closely related to a number of aspects of student