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Article on benefits of eliminating math tracking
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Anonymous
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This is a peer-reviewed article from about 20 years ago touting the benefits of elimination of math tracking and acceleartion for all, so that everyone takes algebra 1 in 8th grade. (I realize that in the DMV there is often acceleration offered beyond this, but in this district in NY the only track avaialble is to do algebra 1 in 8th grade). I am curious if anyone knows of peer-reviewed published research since then that either confirms or opposes this view. I am skeptical that it makes sense to put everyone in Algebra 1 in 8th grade, and I think some kids who are particualrly good at math (and/or have had early exposure through enrichment programs) are prepared for Algebra 1 in 7th. But the article makes some compelling arguments about the impact on kids who are left out of the accelerated tracks of only going through algebra 2 in high school.
Curious what people think and what the more recent peer-reviewed research says. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bZuhc48V9PXxEHG6dT1oLL7WnrlEez-o/view?usp=sharing |
Anonymous
| Well I mean, most kids in the US are failing to meet current math standards for the grade level. Nationally, only 36% of 4th graders are meeting proficiency, and only 26% of 8th graders- and that would be for pre algebra 8th grade math. |
Anonymous
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/24/us/math-reading-scores-pandemic.html |
Anonymous
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Here is an article that takes a more balanced view of detracking:
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2021/10/04/does-detracking-promote-educational-equity/ South Side Middle School is in Nassau County, and is part of the 2006 study referenced in the Brookings article. Here is what the Brookings article has to say: "The 2006 study is of a district in Nassau County, New York, that detracked its middle school math classes. Cohorts before and after detracking were compared, with more students—particularly Black, Hispanic, and students from economically disadvantaged families—successfully completing advanced math courses in the district’s only high school after the reform. The wealth of the community (median family income of $146,000 vs. the $71,000 national average) and high overall achievement level of the students raises questions about whether the same benefits would occur elsewhere. Students scoring in the fourth stanine or below on a nationally normed math test (scores of 1-4 on a nine-point scale), for example, constituted only about 6% of students in the study, whereas they represent, by definition, about 39% of students in typical high schools and much more than that in low-achieving schools." Most of the families in Nassau county were UMC and very few students started out behind compared to an average school. You cannot take what happened in Nassau county and extrapolate it to the rest of the country. Detracking advocates also tend to omit the potential risks of detracking. Chicago tried to detrack its schools in the 1990s, and it let to fewer students graduating high school and enrolling in college. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/devil-is-in-the-details-when-it-comes-to-tracking-detracking/2014/03 "In the wake of that policy change, low-achieving students were more likely to fail 9th grade math and, eventually, less likely to graduate from high school. They were no more likely to attend college. In the meantime, higher-achieving students’ test scores declined, in part, the researchers suggested, because struggling and unsupported lower-achieving peers were slowing down the class. The high achievers were also less likely to go on to take advanced math, which may have helped explain why they were also less likely to attend college. One reason was that schools often lacked the capacity to both offer higher-level courses and also accommodate the curricular changes, which extended well beyond algebra-for-all in that they raised basic graduation requirements in all core subjects, Consortium director and brief co-author Elaine Allensworth said. 'It’s kind of a depressing story,' Allensworth said . 'The whole intention was to get more students able to go to college.'" Detracking can work under certain circumstances. It's by no means a panacea that can be applied to all situations. In fact, it can do real harm. |
Anonymous
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As a special ed teacher, I feel that you have to meet kids where they are. Math is so easy to track progress with, as there are discrete skills that build upon each other. I see no advantage to having a kid sit with peers that are well ahead of the kid. They feel demoralized and learn to cheat.
The best math instruction includes circling back to review prior concepts. It’s also terrible to have a very bright kid sit in class that is too easy. Smaller class sizes and immediate remediation programs are key for math achievement. |
Anonymous
| In all of the studies, it seems like it hurts the kids who would have been ahead and may or may not help those who would have been on a lower track |
Anonymous
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In MCPS middle school everyone is in the same English level. They call it advanced, but it is not.
My kids who are advanced in reading/writing/analyzing English are bored out of their minds because the classes go so slow. They are taught to the middle and lower half of the kids in the class. The lower kids feel intimidated by the smarter kids who understand quickly and can write well and answer all the questions. I feel this grouping is not good for any of them at any level. It would be the same if all kids were in the same math at the same time. The struggling kids would feel terrible about themselves, the advanced kids bored our of their minds. A handful of average kids would be fine. Why would this be better? |
Anonymous
As a general ed math teacher, I agree with all of this. This idea is bad for all students and would not meet any of their needs. This is a time in education where there is a serious lack of teachers, especially math teachers. Making instruction impossible by putting all levels together is a sure way to make the rest of us leave. It’s bad enough out there with open enrollment at many high schools and how that has had a negative impact and ripple effect for many students. Come sub in any school and then see if you think eliminating math tracking is a good idea. |
Anonymous
That is not what the peer-reviewed study in the OP found, just the opposite. |
Anonymous
That's because the NY case is not broadly applicable. They offered additional workshops to students who were struggling, allowing the overall class to continue at its normal pace. That is not feasible financially or from a staffing perspective in most districts. The PPs are describing what happens when you don't provide all the additional workshops and supports. |
Anonymous
Our LCPS middle school is like this too. |
Anonymous
| It's ridiculous - tracking benefits everyone so the teacher can focus on a cohort that has approximately the same level, instead of trying to bridge a huge learning gap. |
Anonymous
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“Algebra for all” only works if you pair it with tracking and give the lower scores a “double dose” of Algebra. If you don’t track it does not work. And of course this takes resources and great teachers.
what this kind of trendy sloganeering approach is much more likely to result in is the elimination of accelerated classes without putting any resources into bringing up the bottom. lose-lose, except for grifting consultants and activists! |
Anonymous
This. The students who need help wont get enough in a large class taught above their ability level and the students who ste advanced will be bired and disruptive and will leave for private schools if they can. I would bring back tracking but make it flexible so kids can swim in and out as needed. Just becasue someone doesn't have the skills for algebra doesn't mean they wont make it in geometry. Etc. Alternatively, make classes much smaller like 15 kids and allow for time to do small group enrichment/support. So many educational problems would actually be solved with much smaller classes so kids can get more individualized attention and support at all levels. But large public school systems cant support that when ES schools regularly have 500 kids woth 25+ kids per classroom. |
Anonymous
| The best scenario is to have students together in the same classroom (tracking is legalized segregation), but receiving flexible small group instruction. Whole group instruction never helps or works as there’s no way that all students in a class ever need the exact same thing in the same way at the same time. Differentiation is always needed. |