Ability Tracking Term paper
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Introduction
If there is one general consensus among those who analyze America’s system of education, it is that we are lacking somewhere. Whether it’s in our inner-city schools, or rural districts, there is a distinct literacy dilemma that has yet to be resolved in our schools. Not only are we gravely behind other nations in our literacy rate and mathematics abilities, but there is also an increasing void within our schools. A method of segregation known as “ability grouping” has been a commonly used practice throughout the 90’s, and has changed the way in which primary and secondary school students are educated.
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.
Academic Achievement
In an essay, Anne Wheelock, a prominent education critic writes, “Tracking does not result in the equal and equitable distribution of effective schooling among all students. Instead, tracking allocates the most valuable school experiences -- including challenging and meaningful curriculum, engaging instruction, and high teacher expectations -- to students who already have the greatest academic, economic, and social advantages…” This having been said, I found my high school experiences to be much different than that.
I attended a primarily middle-class school in Sacramento, CA, with students from every conceivable culture and background. We had several different tracking programs in our school: a special education program for “mentally-disabled” students, the standard curriculum high-school education, an “International Studies” program, and the “International Baccalaureate” program, which is essentially equivalent to any honors or advanced placement education. Given the many facets of my school, I never once got the impression that students were being discriminated against on basis of ability. All students, including my friends, were given ample opportunity to pursue any education they saw fit. Students were never told they couldn’t take a specific class or participate in a program. While I won’t claim that resentment or jealousy towards students in the higher-level programs was nonexistent, I will state that it was almost nonexistent.
In my higher level classes, I was enabled to study in areas not normally offered in a high school learning environment. I completed my first year Calculus course my junior year, and was able to move on to higher levels of math, taught by the chair of the math department at California State University Sacramento, Professor Etterbeek. With this opportunity, I was able to take my education to a new plateau, and it was choices such as this that afforded me a formidable education. These challenges would not otherwise have been available to me in a “non-tracked” or “fully inclusive” learning environment.
Another opportunity was actually a requirement to garner the International Baccalaureate Diploma . One component of the Diploma was the successful completion of the Theory of Knowledge class, which investigated the philosophical nature of knowledge, and the reasons we pursue it. I feel that, had I not been placed in a higher-track learning environment, I would never have been able to participate in this level of curriculum or sophistication. I do not mean to downplay standard education methodology, but there are undeniably some that are able to circumvent and surpass the “standard education” in today’s schools. Undoubtedly, in order to provide students with the necessary options, ability tracking is a viable solution.
According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education “evidence for the effectiveness and consequences of ability grouping for academic achievement is not strong enough to provide conclusive support for any [position].”(Perceptions) Students in tracking programs are not asked to underachieve by any means, simply to achieve the best they can. I didn’t find that I benefited much from having peers in a similar “academic class” to my own, nor would I think it would hinder me to have a variety of students of different academic or social stratas in my midst. Many critics of Ability Grouping claim it is a biased program, intent on promoting education for white upper-middle class Americans, while hindering other racially and economically disadvantaged students by “tracking” them from an early age, and not realizing their full capabilities. I believe this practice can and does happen in today’s schools, as it would happen given any education system....
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