Should We De-Track Schools?
Tracking has been the way to go in American public schools for nearly the entire history of our system. As it stands today, the way students are grouped is mainly due to performance on standardized tests and with some input from teacher recommendations based on performance in the classroom. A few months ago I interviewed some students at Clemson University asking if they even knew what the term meant.
Not surprisingly, most of the students had no idea what the term by itself meant, unless they had studied it before, but understood exactly the idea I was speaking of once it was explained to them.
The idea of tracking is so simple: take a student, test their ability to learn, put them in a group of other similarly skilled individuals. In theory this should make the class more streamlined and efficient to teach for the students, but is this really what happens? Many other factors come into play when placing students such as social class and parental involvement. There has even been data to support this phenomenon. In a study done by Sean Kelly in 2001 he found that,
“At the baseline level, students of higher social class have a huge advantage in attaining placement in elite mathematics sequences. Even after controlling for middle school grades and standardized test scores in four different subject areas, a substantial effect persists.” (Kelly 19)
Interestingly, one of the girls interviewed in the previously mentioned video, Laura, brought up many of the same points about the culture of the home and the problems that some student’s may face due to their living conditions and the help they would get from parents at home (see 10:15 into the video). Kelly’s data backs up these ideas. These also fit into the 5 ideas that Delpit speaks of when referring to established power, specifically the 3rd instance where he talks about people in the culture of power are more privy to the ways in which to get to power (Delpit 122). Many students are already prejudged by teachers based on their families, appearance, or culture because they do not align with the teacher’s before said student even has a chance to academically prove their self at all. While most teachers do not wish to do this, everyone does it subconsciously whether they want to or not. The song from the award winning musical, Avenue Q sums up this point perfectly; Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist. (WARNING: the following video contains vulgar language, but I believe it’s message has a very valid message pertaining to this discussion).
Another problem that we run into once a student has been placed into the lower track is that much of the time there are not ample opportunities to catch back up and work themselves into the higher tracks. Also, if they are already more likely to be placed there because of where they come from then their chances of being moved up are even slimmer.
Perhaps the best way to deal with these problems would be to get rid of the tracking model in its current form and make what is currently the “Honors” track the base track. Only have extremely advanced courses for students who know what they want to pursue such as what could be offered at a school for the arts for children wanting to go into music. If tracking is toned down, then most students can benefit from the knowledge of the higher track while the students that can pick up new ideas faster can help the students who are not as adept. This classroom setup could provide more interaction between all students and give opportunities for peer learning and teaching.
References
Delpit, Lisa. “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children.” Harvard Educational Review 58.3 (1988): 280–99. Web.
Kelly, Sean. Do Increased Levels of Parental Involvement Account for Social Class Differences in Track Placement? Tech. N.p.: n.p., 2001. Print.
