
Tracking is separating students by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school (Gamoran 1992; Zittleman, Sadker 2006) I am not an expert on tracking and have not read research on the topic in more than twenty years. In this article, I am not attempting to address all of the nuances that exist within tracking. However, I am writing from my personal observations and from my experience as someone who was bused to magnet (gifted) programs outside of my neighborhood for my entire educational career. This article focuses on one aspect of tracking in secondary schools.
There is a place for tracking in public education when the criteria used are not based on implicit bias. However, this has typically not been the case across the nation. There are many questions to ask regarding tracking: Who determines what classes a student is assigned to? How is it determined whether a student takes a general, Honors, Honors Advanced, or Advanced Placement (AP) class? Are students automatically tracked into certain classes? If so, what're the criteria? Can parents be involved in the tracking decision-making process?
I don’t believe that tracking is regulated by states or by districts. It seems to be used arbitrarily by school counselors and teachers. It makes them the gatekeeper for student access to a better curriculum and access to more resources and opportunities. For example, my high school counselor told me that students needed a recommendation from their current teacher in order to be placed in an AP class for the following year. If the teacher doesn’t recommend a student because he or she has an implicit bias against the student and his or her abilities, then there is nothing that the student can do if that’s the criteria being used at school. There is an inherent bias in any recommendation. I think the criteria used for tracking students should be changed.
I was not allowed to take AP classes in high school. My 10th grade English teacher did not recommend me for AP English even though my English grades were good in her class. My mom even went to my school to talk to the counselor in person. Still, I was unable to take an AP class. It bothered me. Nevertheless, I’d still make progress. The lack of an AP class wasn’t going to impact me and change the trajectory of my life. I was still at an advantage by being in the magnet program and at least I was able to take Honors Advanced English even though it was not as rigorous as AP English. I still had access to resources and opportunities simply because I was in the magnet program.
I remember how the PSAT deadlines were promoted in our classes, but I don’t think it was promoted in the “regular” school. In addition, the quality of the curriculum in the magnet was very different from the curriculum for the rest of the school. Still, I should have been allowed to take an AP class. All students should have had the opportunity to take an AP class if they wanted.
Many of the students who were in the magnet program with me in high school were the same students who had been in the magnet with me in elementary school. We were all in the same magnet track even though there were different tracks within the magnet. The magnet program consisted of mostly White and Asian students. The rest of the school consisted of mostly Black and Latinx students.
Research shows that White and Asian students tend to be tracked into higher-track classes while Black and Latinx students tend to be tracked into lower-track classes. There are a variety of factors as to why this is including parental involvement, cultural values, personal drive, societal expectations, and more. Some people assert that tracking should be based on grades.
Even if that is the case, my response would be to dig deeper by asking questions because grades can be biased as well. 1) Did those students with good grades attend a good elementary school? 2) Has their entire educational career been in rigorous higher-track classes that encourage critical thinking skills? 3) How have their teachers viewed them? 4) How have they viewed themselves? 5) Do their teachers expect them to do well? 6) Have their previous years in school been positive or negative? 7) Are the assessments used to determine grades culturally biased? I do not think that grades should be a determiner of which track a student is placed in. I think that the way we track students is based on our expectations of students’ perceived abilities.
I remember being in my 7th grade Pre-Algebra class with the same students who attended my magnet elementary school. We were automatically placed into Pre-Algebra classes when we went to the middle school orientation and received our schedule. I remember reading in college about The Algebra Project by Bob Moses who stated that students should have Algebra by the 8th grade in order to be “on track” for taking higher-level classes in high school. I was already on track to have Algebra in 8th grade simply because I was in the magnet program in elementary school. I was only one of 3 Black students in the Pre-Algebra class. The magnet program in middle and high school was comprised of a small segment of the school population. The majority of the student body was not taking Pre-Algebra in 7th grade. Many students took what was called “Basic” math and some students even had math scheduled at the last period of the day which is the worst scheduling idea ever.
In 1997, I was a freshman college student. I remember sitting in a class called “Race and Culture in the School System” taught by an amazing education researcher, Dr. Pedro Noguera. I nodded my head in agreement as he spoke. Even though the lecture hall had hundreds of students, I felt like Dr. Noguera was speaking directly to me. Everything that came out of his mouth was either something I had experienced or something that I had observed at school. It was as if he knew my story. I was shocked. How does he know what I experienced in school? Then I realized that these education issues occur all over the country. One of those issues was tracking.
I wasn’t previously familiar with the term “tracking” until Dr. Noguera’s class in college, but I had definitely experienced it. Dr. Noguera assigned us to read an excerpt from Jeannie Oakes’ book “Keeping Track: How Schools Structure Inequality.” I was surprised to learn that people actually studied tracking because I didn’t know it was a thing to be studied.
Tracking didn’t impact me in terms of deterring my life path, but it did make me question my ability. I was encouraged at home, but not at school. My parents valued education and had cultural capital that allowed me access to certain, not all, resources. I had the support from home to achieve whatever I wanted in life regardless of what my teachers or counselors said.
However, not all students had that type of parental encouragement at home or had parents with cultural capital and resources as I had. Those are the students that I worry about. They have no advocate at school to look out for their best interests. Tracking can have lasting negative implications for some students in lower-tracks as they may believe that they are not good enough because they are in useless classes with teachers who don’t value them. They might not even feel the need for school and for learning.
Tracking in public education needs to be reevaluated and regulated before it has a place in public education.
Stacie McClam is an educator, author, filmmaker, and a radio show host of Teacher Talks on TRIBE Family Channel. She is committed to student success inside of the classroom and in life. Stacie strives to create and maintain an environment where every child can grow and thrive while exploring the world around them. Stacie was born and raised in Los Angeles County. Stacie is the founder of School Dismissed LLC,TM a company that bridges education, film, and law.
As a teacher with 10 years experience in various elementary schools in Washington, D.C., Denver, Los Angeles County, and abroad in Japan and Kuwait, she noticed a pattern over the years that many young students experienced trauma.
There is a place for tracking in public education when the criteria used are not based on implicit bias. However, this has typically not been the case across the nation. There are many questions to ask regarding tracking: Who determines what classes a student is assigned to? How is it determined whether a student takes a general, Honors, Honors Advanced, or Advanced Placement (AP) class? Are students automatically tracked into certain classes? If so, what're the criteria? Can parents be involved in the tracking decision-making process?
I don’t believe that tracking is regulated by states or by districts. It seems to be used arbitrarily by school counselors and teachers. It makes them the gatekeeper for student access to a better curriculum and access to more resources and opportunities. For example, my high school counselor told me that students needed a recommendation from their current teacher in order to be placed in an AP class for the following year. If the teacher doesn’t recommend a student because he or she has an implicit bias against the student and his or her abilities, then there is nothing that the student can do if that’s the criteria being used at school. There is an inherent bias in any recommendation. I think the criteria used for tracking students should be changed.
I was not allowed to take AP classes in high school. My 10th grade English teacher did not recommend me for AP English even though my English grades were good in her class. My mom even went to my school to talk to the counselor in person. Still, I was unable to take an AP class. It bothered me. Nevertheless, I’d still make progress. The lack of an AP class wasn’t going to impact me and change the trajectory of my life. I was still at an advantage by being in the magnet program and at least I was able to take Honors Advanced English even though it was not as rigorous as AP English. I still had access to resources and opportunities simply because I was in the magnet program.
I remember how the PSAT deadlines were promoted in our classes, but I don’t think it was promoted in the “regular” school. In addition, the quality of the curriculum in the magnet was very different from the curriculum for the rest of the school. Still, I should have been allowed to take an AP class. All students should have had the opportunity to take an AP class if they wanted.
Many of the students who were in the magnet program with me in high school were the same students who had been in the magnet with me in elementary school. We were all in the same magnet track even though there were different tracks within the magnet. The magnet program consisted of mostly White and Asian students. The rest of the school consisted of mostly Black and Latinx students.
Research shows that White and Asian students tend to be tracked into higher-track classes while Black and Latinx students tend to be tracked into lower-track classes. There are a variety of factors as to why this is including parental involvement, cultural values, personal drive, societal expectations, and more. Some people assert that tracking should be based on grades.
Even if that is the case, my response would be to dig deeper by asking questions because grades can be biased as well. 1) Did those students with good grades attend a good elementary school? 2) Has their entire educational career been in rigorous higher-track classes that encourage critical thinking skills? 3) How have their teachers viewed them? 4) How have they viewed themselves? 5) Do their teachers expect them to do well? 6) Have their previous years in school been positive or negative? 7) Are the assessments used to determine grades culturally biased? I do not think that grades should be a determiner of which track a student is placed in. I think that the way we track students is based on our expectations of students’ perceived abilities.
I remember being in my 7th grade Pre-Algebra class with the same students who attended my magnet elementary school. We were automatically placed into Pre-Algebra classes when we went to the middle school orientation and received our schedule. I remember reading in college about The Algebra Project by Bob Moses who stated that students should have Algebra by the 8th grade in order to be “on track” for taking higher-level classes in high school. I was already on track to have Algebra in 8th grade simply because I was in the magnet program in elementary school. I was only one of 3 Black students in the Pre-Algebra class. The magnet program in middle and high school was comprised of a small segment of the school population. The majority of the student body was not taking Pre-Algebra in 7th grade. Many students took what was called “Basic” math and some students even had math scheduled at the last period of the day which is the worst scheduling idea ever.
In 1997, I was a freshman college student. I remember sitting in a class called “Race and Culture in the School System” taught by an amazing education researcher, Dr. Pedro Noguera. I nodded my head in agreement as he spoke. Even though the lecture hall had hundreds of students, I felt like Dr. Noguera was speaking directly to me. Everything that came out of his mouth was either something I had experienced or something that I had observed at school. It was as if he knew my story. I was shocked. How does he know what I experienced in school? Then I realized that these education issues occur all over the country. One of those issues was tracking.
I wasn’t previously familiar with the term “tracking” until Dr. Noguera’s class in college, but I had definitely experienced it. Dr. Noguera assigned us to read an excerpt from Jeannie Oakes’ book “Keeping Track: How Schools Structure Inequality.” I was surprised to learn that people actually studied tracking because I didn’t know it was a thing to be studied.
Tracking didn’t impact me in terms of deterring my life path, but it did make me question my ability. I was encouraged at home, but not at school. My parents valued education and had cultural capital that allowed me access to certain, not all, resources. I had the support from home to achieve whatever I wanted in life regardless of what my teachers or counselors said.
However, not all students had that type of parental encouragement at home or had parents with cultural capital and resources as I had. Those are the students that I worry about. They have no advocate at school to look out for their best interests. Tracking can have lasting negative implications for some students in lower-tracks as they may believe that they are not good enough because they are in useless classes with teachers who don’t value them. They might not even feel the need for school and for learning.
Tracking in public education needs to be reevaluated and regulated before it has a place in public education.
Stacie McClam is an educator, author, filmmaker, and a radio show host of Teacher Talks on TRIBE Family Channel. She is committed to student success inside of the classroom and in life. Stacie strives to create and maintain an environment where every child can grow and thrive while exploring the world around them. Stacie was born and raised in Los Angeles County. Stacie is the founder of School Dismissed LLC,TM a company that bridges education, film, and law.
As a teacher with 10 years experience in various elementary schools in Washington, D.C., Denver, Los Angeles County, and abroad in Japan and Kuwait, she noticed a pattern over the years that many young students experienced trauma.