Tracking: why schools need to take another route
By: Jeannie Oakes

Premise:

o Needs
o Schools
o Grouping
o Individuals
o Controversy
o Success
o Weakness
o Ability
o Tracking
o Differences
o High
o Low
o Performance
o Uneven opportunities

Argument:

Oakes argues that schools need to find another route other then ability grouping because students in the lower ability classes are not receiving the same education or the same opportunities as those in the higher ability classes.

Evidence:

1. These differences in learning opportunities point to fundamental and ironic school inequities. Students who need more time to learn appear to get less; those who have the most difficulty learning seem to have fewer of the best teachers"
2. "In low-ability classes, for example, teachers seem to be less encouraging and more punitive, placing more emphasis on discipline and behavior and less on academic learning"
3. “Students in the low ability classes were likely to have little contact with the knowledge or skills that would allow them to move into higher classes or to be successful if they got there.”

Thoughts to share

At first I found this reading to be a little hard and confusing but I think by the end I got the main point of it. I can relate this too my middle school in 6th grade it was mandatory for the highest level of students to do a science fair project where the other levels were not required or even offered to do the science fair. I’m sure many of the students would have loved to do a science fair project and probably would have done a better job than I did. I think all students should be given the same opportunities to succeed in the classroom no matter what their abilities might be.