Reply to Science says: never get rid of AAP

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I know we all want to do what is best for all of the kids.

But apparently, tracking works!!!!  In particular for math education!

https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/global-grouping-theory-math-strategies-students-529492/

Don’t get rid of AAP.  It works better for all groups. [/quote]

This isn’t a study about math education. They didn’t look at education at all.  They used math to answer a problem that started with assumptions and then created a mathematical model.

But at least one of the assumptions they made isn’t something that research has consistently demonstrated.  It’s like if someone used a mathematical model to determine the best option for paint color and programmed it with the assumption that everyone liked gray.  [/quote]

The assumption is not as controversial as you make it seem. In fact it’s one of the most widely accepted facts in the theory of learning and is known as the zone of proximal development. The learner is exposed to material that can be done with aid and guidance, aka scaffolding until it can be done alone, aka mastery. Not saying the study is perfect, but the vast majority of research supports grouping by ability for the high tier students. The issue is that grouping by ability doesn’t seem to benefit the lower tier, for a variety of reasons, possibly not related to grouping by ability in itself.[/quote]
I’m the first person who pointed out this assumption. The issue is less whether the assumption is true, but rather that any model based on that assumption alone is going to result in findings that support tracking. As I said, it’s not clear if any other factors that support learning were also included. [/quote]

There is not one single study to prove tracking is beneficial, but the trend is there. The point the authors make is that modeling an abstract hypothetical situation shows that tracking optimizes benefits for the entire population of students. Of course this is not true in practice because other factors are at play that can’t be untangled from the tracking. The study does support tracking because it is pointing that the low performance in lower tier student population may not have anything to do with tracking itself and the causes need to identified elsewhere.
I’m not a fan of modeling studies in education, but saying the study is meaningless is not exactly accurate either.[/quote]

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