Educators are split over whether classroom tracking benefits or harms students.
Classroom tracking is the practice of separating students according to their abilities in each subject. Lower ability students are placed in one group, average ability students are placed in another and high ability students are placed in a third. Typically, this is done in the subject areas of math and reading.
History of Tracking
Classroom tracking originally began as a means to separate students who were expected to go on to higher education from the students who were expected to enter the work force upon graduating high school. Those who were on the university-bound track were offered academic-oriented courses such as foreign languages and advanced mathematics and sciences so that they would have the necessary requirements for college. Those on the vocational track were offered courses such as woodworking or engine repair so that they could learn a trade.
Reasons for Tracking
Classroom tracking is done today so that teachers may tailor their lessons to each student's individual needs. For instance, they give those with higher level reading skills more difficult texts to read while they give those with lower level skills easier ones. The hope is that students will be less frustrated if they are doing work at their own ability level.
Pros of Tracking
Research has found that, at least in the elementary school setting, students of both low and high ability do better when there is tracking. Teachers are able to provide a slower learning pace for students who are struggling; meanwhile, tracking lets students who are advanced continue their studies at a brisker pace. Test scores of elementary school students in classes with tracking have demonstrated that all ability groups show adequate gains in achievement.
Cons of Tracking
While studies have found that tracking in elementary school can be beneficial to all students, studies of secondary school students have shown a different finding. According to research, low ability students tend to do best in heterogeneous classrooms -- ones where students of differing ability are mixed together. In classes where students are tracked by ability, the low ability students do not show adequate gains in achievement. On the other hand, high ability students do worse in heterogeneous classrooms and better when they are tracked.
Tags: ability students, ability students placed, Classroom tracking, elementary school, high ability, students placed, adequate gains
