Reply to s/o Tracking

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Differentiation is not tracking.  Differentiation means that mixed ability, mixed ethnicity, mixed SES are together in one classroom and provided with instruction that meets their needs.  Putting students into ability-based groupings on an ongoing basis is not differentiation.[/quote]

But if I understand correctly, differentiation is not "ability" grouping, it's SKILL grouping. Of course parents are angry when their child's ability/potential is questioned. It's much less onerous to hear that your child's SKILLS are slightly behind someone else's. Many academic skills in the early years are more a matter of experience than native ability. For instance, a child who never cared for puzzles as a preschooler and kindergartner might well be behind in math SKILLS by first grade compared to a child who loved puzzles and mazes and spent lots of time doing them. But being behind in these skills does not necessarily mean that the less-interested child has less ability/potential than children in a higher group. In fact, a lower track with a steady forward trajectory might help him/her BUILD the skills to be able to move up.

Tracking, on the other hand, brings up the specter of "once in the low group, always in the low group," because there seems to be no way to escape the track you're on.

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