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‘Focus Your Cultural Lens Debate: Should Schools Be Detracked? Data…
‘Focus Your Cultural Lens
Debate: Should Schools Be Detracked?
Data in many schools shows that the children of upper-middle-class families are overrepresented in high-ability programs for the gifted and talented and underrepresented in low-ability special education and general education courses. School officials are being pushed by the courts to change their practices that segregate students by SES or race. One of the remedies for eliminating these discriminatory practices is detracking, or dismantling tracks for students based on ability, as determined by standardized tests or teachers’ perceptions. Some teachers and middle-class parents resist the move to a single track in which students from different ability groups are mixed, in part because they use tracking to negotiate advantages for their children.
Opinions about these strategies differ. Some people believe that detracking will provide greater equality of opportunity across economic and racial groups, while others believe that it will lead to a lower quality of education overall. Do you think schools should be detracked? Why or why not? What do you think the impact of detracking would be on the school and the students from low-income and high-income families in the school community?
FOR
Eliminates discrimination against students from low-income families and students of color.
Integrates students from different socioeconomic and racial groups and ability levels.
Encourages classroom instruction that is challenging and interesting for low-income as well as upper-middle-class students.
Supports a classroom environment in which high-ability students learn while assisting peers who may not be at the same academic level.
Provides low-SES students greater access to effective teachers, improving their chances for learning at higher levels.
AGAINST
Is not fair to high-ability students, who need to be challenged at advanced levels.
Makes it more difficult for teachers to provide appropriate instruction for all students, whose abilities differ greatly.
May lead to pressure from upper-middle-class parents, who may withdraw their children from public schools.
Waters down the curriculum for high-ability students.
Prevents high-ability students from participating in gifted and talented programs and advanced-level courses that will give them the advantage needed to be admitted to elite colleges and universities.
Questions for Discussion
1. How do schools ensure that the voices of low- and middle-income families are included in discussions about detracking and the provision of educational equity in schools?
2. How does detracking schools contribute to the provision of equal educational opportunity?
3. What other steps could school officials take to provide low-income students greater access to advanced and engaging courses?
4. What are your reasons for supporting or not supporting detracking strategies in schools?
