Tracking in school as a harmful method of education
Introducing: Our presentations concerns tracking in school and giving the reasons, why this type of education is harmful and why we are against tracking as former students and teachers. To be more convincing we will give you examples from our own life and our school experience, which was often dominated by unofficial tracking system.
First I’m going to tell you something about tracking; I will shade light on the main issues
Then Karol will show you the main disadvantages of tracking in school. Next Adrianna will focus on personal experience related to unofficial tracking in the polish schools. And to sum up I’m going to give you examples of solutions, that could be implemented, instead of using tracking in school.
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Ability tracking education serves many purposes. It individualizes education that putting children in classes that are more suited to their level; if a child is a high achiever in mathematics classes and a low achieving student in English classes, that child is able to take classes suited to his or her needs. Without ability tracking, all students in the same grade take the same classes; therefore the child who is good at math, but slower in English would be forced to take classes at one level.
Sounds rational, but is this system really fair for students, that make progress lower to compare with fast progress students?
Tracking students into different classrooms according to their academic performance is still a controversial issue among scholar and policymakers. This issue of ability tracking should be relates to research that shows problems of minorities, especially African-American and Hispanic, that are disproportionately represented in the lower tracks.
It is also common opinion that tracking concerns ability grouping, but not exactly. It is especially connected with low socio-economic status of these minorities. It means that we are witnesses of not ability grouping, but this is an unofficial sorting of people into the categories from which their parents came.
One of the most important issue is mathematic. Relatively small number of real mathematicians and needed scientists shows, that they are essential group on market’s future. Mathematics is a gateway to success and to higher education, but children from low track classes with different curriculum have unfortunately closing doors for future opportunities, especially African-American and Hispanic minorities (including not only racial and ethnic minorities, but women and low SES students as well). As a result we have many jobs that are filled by those "overqualified" in non-relevant-job (stosowny,trafny) areas of knowledge.
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Summary: Teachers should be aware in helping students, who need the extra attention in more rigorous [rigorys] classes; teachers must be obligated to help everyone in difficulties, mixed abilities class. All children should have the same opportunities for academic success, especially in an increasingly global economy that has many more opportunities for those, that have college education. Teachers should be aware in this situation, get problems in their own hands, start detracking process and implement detracking policy.
We are living in democratic country, education is for everyone and we should all be equal, but in fact we are living in the system, which creates inequalities. And what is the worse, that unaware children are victims.