Reply to s/o Tracking

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We've learned that one's pro/anti tracking position is directly related to one's child position in said tracking.  Now what?[/quote]

Let's be clear; go into any highschool in MD or VA and you will see a racialized tracking system with brown and black kids in remedial classes and Whites and Asians in the top tracks.  For those located in the lower tracks you have the least qualified teachers, a scripted curriculum, low expectations and more seat work.  The message, you are not worthy.  Some children are being tracked to become CEOs others are being tracked to jail.  This is not an exaggeration. Read the research...Jeannie Oakes. [/quote]

You don't need to go to VA, you can go to most states and see this.  But is it the fault of tracking?  Having worked in and having had a child in a school that was all minority I saw a lot of other issues that affected how well these kids learned including language ,yes even the American born parents could not speak the English you need for a job.  Parental involvement, not talking here about running the PTA, but the type that will take their kid to the library and ask teacher what his happening with my kid, why are you not pushing him more.  Finally a lot of stress, emotional and financial.  These kids often face difficult situations that do interfere with learning. Personal control, not sure why but the poorer the kids the more likely they are to not have good personal self control, or maybe they have fewer parents that medicate them, don't know but it is there.  I used to think teachers were being lazy when they said that poor kids just had so many more issues, but wow do they.   Tracking may magnify the problem, but the school system essential become forms of tracking because middle class parents pull their kids out of these schools so the whole school becomes tracked as problem [/quote]

Bingo-I think you nailed it here.We are so uncomfortable here in DC with tracking because the "model" of tracking has been to either move to better schools outside of the district (that track as well), move to private school (that start from a higher median of achievement), have a couple of schools in upper NW (plus Banneker and a few other islands of achievement) that have high achieving middle class white and black kids, and then the REST of the city for 60+ years is working on catching kids up since the middle class is already outta there.

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