FREE ESSAY ON TRACKING

TRACKING

Life in the Fast Lane
The pounding of my heart echoes in my ears as I glance around the classroom.
Adrenaline and fear mix in my veins as I look at them. These are my competitors; just 
like those that I face on the basketball court or on the track. I have to beat them all.
John 
stole my highest grade, Suzie beat me on the research paper, and Casey aced the math 
test. Not today though, today is my day. No one will be able to beat me and I will show 
them who is truly king of the hill. I life my pencil and begin the test...
The competition many students feel academically is hard and furious. Some 
students do not have the desire to compete and wish to merely go with the flow at school.

For example, I once drifted through everything. I switched from drifting and now seek 
the hardest classes I can; to the puzzlement of my parents. However, if my school would 
have been tracked, this would not have been possible. Tracking siphons students into 
predetermined roles and never allows for change. The effects of tracking in school 
creates insurmountable boundaries for minority and disadvantaged students.
The oppression of tracking never relents and traps all those forced to be
lower tracks into a life of menial labor with no hope for tomorrow. Tracking 
destroys both ability and dreams for those that are less fortunate. As D. McVicar shows 
"Researchers from UCLA to John Hopkins University were finding that grouping 
together students of different abilities helped the least capable students dramatically,

while the brightest children fared just as well when tracked." Therefore, it appears 
tracking does not impair higher students learning ability and shows marked 
improvements for those that are "slower" or "problematic" Educators seem to have 
forgotten that the student, perform better in an environment that continually challenges

and seeks to expands their minds. Without the presence of challenge or pressure to 
motivate students, those unfortunate ones that we tracked into lower expectations 
are bereft and are trapped like a fly in molasses without being able to pull themselves
out. 
The ability of a student cannot truly be measured by an educator and should not be by 
arbitrary tracking standards. The school system should allow students to track 
themselves by taking honor or AP courses. If student choose not to take them, so be it, 
but denying the chance of students to ever at least attempt challenging coursework is 
even more foolish because of socio-economic reasons.
In America, we often have to make snap judgments without enough support of 
our theories. In the school system that is especially true; teacher often gravitate
towards 
appearance in deciding students likes and dislikes. As also noted to us by D. 
McViar, "That the low tracks were almost entirely populated by children of poverty and 
members of minority groups underscored, in researchers' eyes, the inequity of 
tracking." It certainly brings into a new light the anti-discrimination posters found in

our school. Of course, the usual argument are that we are merely placing them at their 
proper ability level for them or since their parents cannot afford college we are doing 
them a favor in the long run. An easy salve to the collective conscience certainly and a

justification for any mind since the tracking is being done for their benefit. But as
Patrick 
Bassett of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States writes, "Low tracks

often emphasize good behavior and menial skills, while high tracks offer preparation for

college. These differences in learning environments particularly depress the academic 
achievement of poor and minority students, who are assigned disproportionately to low 
tracks." An education equal to the best of a students ability has often been the stated
goal 
of many a high school. But when such factors as race or poverty automatically put a 
strike against a group, the policy must be changed. By our complicit and nonchalant 
attitude, we have permitted classism and a sense of elitism for students. This is a 
detriment for both lower and upper tracked students for as North Kingstown Supt. James 
Halley writes, "When they go out into the world, they need to interact with and hear the

voices of those not as intellectual. If they haven't heard them in school, that's a
handicap 
for them. It is more democratic and practical for kids not to be separated from one 
another because of intellectual differences." In all reality after high school, in both 
college and life in general, you will not be placed only with people of similar 
intelligence. You interact with a variety of people. High school is about preparing 
for life in general and without a basis or experience to work from interaction can be
very 
difficult in later years. 
Constant interaction at least ensures a basis from which to work in future times. 
Without this experience people in the high tracks may fail in the crucial aspects of 
working with others which does not bode well for the future. Tracking does have its 
supporters. In their opinion, tracking betters students and does not weigh down bright 
and innovative students with peers that are not as intellectually gifted as them. As 
Therese Harvey, teacher from England who used to teach tracked classes, remarked, "The 
theory is wonderful , but in practice it simply doesn't work. You find yourself 
controlling the difficult student rather than teaching any of them. I would feel 
embarrassed. The good students would just look at me as if to say, 'Teach me 
something.'" Our children are being held behind with those that have no desire to learn 
and only show an inclination to fulfill their own selfish needs. The purpose of school is

going their to learn. The administration accomplishes this goal by trying to stream line

students and provide an access to school to help fulfill their needs. As Lynda Tisdell,
an 
English teacher and supporter of tracking remarks, "The side effect of tracking nobody 
wants to talk about is that not only does it do a disservice to honors kids, but it makes
the 
kid who has gaps and comprehension difficulties incredibly stupid." Thomas Jefferson 
was wrong; we are not all created equal. It is time to realize that in our school
systems. 
The schools recognize that not all people enjoy the same physical activities and seeks to

provide niches in athletics and clubs to follow differences. This is the approach that is

needed with tracking. We need to provide more accelerated course work for those that 
truly want and need them and not hide behind a quaint and out-dated notion of equality. 
The bigotry that envelops any school system has been pointed out as being more 
then apparent in tracked schools. However this is not the case as few cases of racial 
discrimination have been found. As Tom Loveless, a professor from Harvard remarks, 
" With more then 700 studies of tracking in existence, no convincing evidence suggest 
that tracking has a special, adverse effect on the achievement of African America, 
Latino, or disadvantaged students. Nor does research show that these students achieve at

higher levels in untracked setting." Any so called racial disparity does not exist at all

with minority students. In fact as Mr. Loveless further expands his position by saying, 
"Gamoran and Mare conducted another analysis of national data showing that the 
probability of being assigned to a high track is 10 percent greater for black students
than 
for white students. If true, then black achievement may actually suffer from tracking's 
abolition." This is quite a turn around from students being discriminated because of
their 
race. A ten percent greater chance of being higher tracked if you are an African 
American is nothing to scoff at. Many people do not realize that tracking actually 
promotes minority groups. Any racial disparity found in tracking is simply there because

people are looking for it and not because of any basis in reality. The realty is, that
many 
students do not have the same desire, ability, or drive to take the same kind of courses.

We do a disservice to both advanced students and those that are not advanced by putting 
them into the pressure cooker together. As Ralph Scott, a staff writer, stated "As 
someone who attempted to effectively teach in the same classroom students whose 
abilities extended from the 3rd grade level through the second year of college, it is 
difficult for me to fault the viewpoint that encourages tracking." I believe that if I am
a 
more advanced student and want to learn at a faster rate, what justification does the 
school system have for placing me in a group that does not desire to learn The 
environment in which we are raised influences us later in life and I think I speak for
most 
people that the environment that we want to be in is one that helps us be a success. The

solution for the bad rap that tracking has received is education. People need to 
understand that being in a lower track does not mean anything negative, but is simply the

best place for that particular student. These is nothing to be ashamed of in not being an

academic prodigy, I am sure half of the kids in their ivory towers do not have a fourth
of 
the necessary life skills they will require. In my opinion, only by allowing tracking to

have a fair and unbiased chance and ensuring the ability to move from one track to the 
next, if the desire is there, can we have a truly fair school system. 
I gaze down the track at my opponents. Last place again, Damn. Ohh, well I 
guess I will always have the chance to beat them out, back in the classroom. The 
strengths that become apparent whether in school, life, or athletics must be nurtured for

the individual person. By seeking to make carbon copies at school, we only become a 
detriment to ourselves. My thesis is wrong, tacking does not disadvantage students and 
only opens boundaries for minority students.
Bibliography
Work Cited
Bassett, Patrick. Tracking and Ability Grouping. Chicago: The Riverside Press, 1998.
Loveless, Tom. "Tracking." Tracking Reform and its Value. 
http://www.proquest.com.html1.2 (15 April. 1999).
McVicar, Dr. Morgan. Teaching Matters. Remax: The Providence Journal, 1998.
Scott, Ralph. "Untracking advocates make incredible claims." Educational Leadership, Oct.
1993 Pg.1-23