Should tracking be abolished in MCPS? Christina Feng says NO

Ability-based academic grouping, sometimes known as tracking, is designed to suit each child's individual development needs. However, this practice has come under fire in recent years due to allegations that it perpetuates academic inequity through racist misidentification.

We live in a community characterized by students who bring racial, cultural and intellectual diversity into the melting pot of the school system. Because they come from diverse backgrounds, students develop in different ways, at different times and thus at different educational levels. In response to those varying learning levels, it is necessary to practice ability-based grouping in order to effectively allow students equal chances at academic achievement.

Differences in ability become apparent as early as elementary school. Some students who need more time to grasp the material will find it difficult to keep up with the rest of the class; other students who learn the subject fairly quickly will become distracted and bored.

When students are grouped according to their abilities, disparities in learning levels are eliminated. Double-period algebra courses, such as the ones recently instituted at Blair, double the length of the course for struggling students, thus providing them with a comfortable and adapted environment in which to learn the same material.

Opponents of ability grouping argue that the system results in unfair racial segregation. However, a National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) which, beginning in 1988, followed thousands of students through middle school, found that "race and tracking were only weakly related." Test scores were used to determine the student's ability group. The study found that black students were ten percent more likely to be put into a higher track than their white peers with similar test scores.

Many feel that "detracking," the dissolution of ability-based grouping, will create a more productive educational classroom. However, studies indicate that "detracking" ultimately hurts high- achieving students and only minimally helps low-achieving students. In fact, according to the NELS, eighth grade students of all abilities learn algebra better when placed into tracked classes.

Not only does ability grouping stimulate improved achievement, it also strengthens the self-esteems of low-level students. By grouping lower-ability students together, more student participation is encouraged in discussions that would most likely have been dominated by higher-level students in ungrouped classes. Students who might get ‘C's and ‘D's in honors classes might receive ‘A's and ‘B's in lower levels, which can only reinforce low self-esteems in those students.

Ability grouping holds advantages for slower-paced students, who find comfort in an educational environment in which they fully participate, as well as for faster-paced students who seek academic challenges in higher-level courses.

Varying learning rates develop in the first few years of education. Starting as early as elementary school, ability grouping will give each student an equal chance at academic achievement, giving faster learners greater academic opportunity and slower students the time to develop their learning skills.