[Ohiogift] Against Tracking

[Margaret DeLacy]

Friends:

Below is a link to and excerpts from a blog that appeared in Education Week yesterday.

There is a comments space at the end. 

Margaret


http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/05/michelle_newsum_tracking_our_w.html


Michelle Newsum: Tracking Our Way to Wider Achievement Gaps
By Anthony Cody on May 29, 2013 10:22 AM

Guest post by Michelle Newsum.

Under the fear created by NCLB/RTTT, large scale ability group tracking has made its way back into schools. Because tracking is commonly considered odious, and the research does not support it, no one calls it that. It is now given cuter or more palatable names like 'Walk to Read' or 'Intervention Time' even 'Flexible Grouping.' (Although some schools have flexible grouping and intervention time that takes place in classrooms and is quite lovely.).....

Ann Wheelock, author of Crossing the Tracks: How "Untracking" Can Save America's Schools, says, "Ability grouping, or tracking, does not enhance academic achievement and research tells us that it is not a neutral or benign practice, either. Although it is widespread and widely accepted, ability grouping generally depresses student achievement and is harmful to kids."

When asked if gifted children are challenged enough in heterogeneously grouped classrooms, she replied, "If the curriculum is rich and varied, yes. So teachers should commit to creating a high-expectations climate and an engaging hands-on curriculum for all.