Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Tracking - Alternate Routes?

This week we were assigned to read Literacy with an Attitude by Patrick J. Finn and Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route by Jeannie Oakes.
I chose to write my blog on Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route

REFLECTION:
This article talked about separating students by their intelligence level. PERSONALLY I don't agree with doing this to students. When I was in middle school, each grade was divided up into four teams, (I'll use 7th grade for an example) so the 7th grade had four different teams and within those teams there were different levels of classes (red, green, blue and yellow) For each team the levels were different, but they were STILL LEVELS. So there was the lowest level, the highest level and then two medium levels in between (I'm an average student, so I was always in the middle levels). Everyone knew that the "super smart" students were in the highest levels and all the "dumb" students were in the lower levels. If you were in the lower levels you were always discouraged and you were given easier work... You were learning the same information just at a different pace with assignments that weren't as challenging.

When I was going through this I didn't look at it as being a big deal, it was just something I was used to - I didn't see anything wrong with it.. But now, I definitely do. The lower level students were not challenged to their full potential at all. They were just passing by because they didn't have hard work... "Students in high-ability groups have far richer schooling experiences than other students" - This is very sad but true, because this goes back to Brown v. Board, Separate is definitely not equal... These students are getting treated different -discriminated against- because of their intelligence level. They don't CHOOSE to being slower learners, its the way their brain functions.. I don't see how this can even be considered fair... But, then again, I can say that and challenge it all I want, but I still can't wrap my mind around any ideas for an alternate strategy for this situation.....

9 comments:

  1. AHHHH. I HATE THAT. Sorry. not your post, just that like...Ya, Tracking sucks...so what....It's like that bully in the park that keeps pushing you....and you tell him to stop...and he's like oh ya??? What are you gonna do about it....You got nothing....ahhhh...I've been thinking non stop about like...soooo what can I do. and I got nothing =(

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  2. That's the main problem. No one realizes it and when/if they finally do, they either don't want to change it or don't know how.

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  3. I think for me it was so hard for me to read this and then realize that it had been going on in my very school as well. It's exactly as mat said...I want to do something but don't know what!

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  4. I had the same experiences as you, through middle and highschool the classes were tracked. In highschool for example there was standard college and honors classes. At the time i didn't really think anything of this and didn't think it was a good idea. I just thought of it as a challenge to be in all honors classes because the "smarter" kids were in them.

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  5. Completely agree!! Having classes separated didn't really bother me. I knew I didn't want to be in the lower level classes because that's where the 'dumb kids' were but I wasn't smart enough to be in the high level classes. Anyways, I have learned a lot about how tracking is not good for anybody, just like you said.

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  6. I agree with everything you said in this post!!

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  7. I always had that fear that I would be put in the lower level classes withe the "dumb students" because I figured that I would get made fun of. But I was never smart enough to be in the honors classes so I was always in the college level courses and didn't have to be worried about getting picked on. After reading this article I think schools shouldn't do this because then students just get more down on themselves.

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  8. i totally agree with what you were saying. I think that students should definitely be included in classes.

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  9. i agree with everyting...goob job unraveling it

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