What happens when I debate with myself....

Blog 3- The issue of tracking

I am reading a book called Ungifted by Gordon Korman. (Great prolific adolescent author by the way) It is interesting in that its context fits the very things that were on my mind this week as we discussed The Flat World and Education. I have spent my week debating in my mind the issue of tracking.

Ungifted is about a “normal” kid with a “normal” IQ who accidentally gets selected for the prestigious gifted and talented school. In his regular school, things are falling apart and there are minimal resources, and he discovers that the gifted and talented school has every possible luxury including a sushi bar. He also discovers very quickly that he is treated very differently at the gifted and talented school. When he breaks a rule at the regular school he is shoved in detention and humiliated in front of his peers and when he breaks a rule at the GT school, he is pulled aside and talked to. The main character quickly realizes that there is definitely an “Us vs. Them” attitude among the students and educators and the “normal” kids are getting the short end of the stick. Not surprisingly, he does quite well in the GT school. Not in the traditional sense of course, he isn’t all the sudden a math genius, but he finds ways to contribute with his unique creativity that save the day more than once. As I read, I find myself thinking, this is just what we have been talking about, with equal opportunity and resources, IQ isn't the only factor to success.  As I have read I wondered to myself, is Gordon Korman making social commentary? Or is he just writing a realistic story?

The issue of tracking was something that came up in our class discussion once or twice and something that actually comes up in discussions in my household quite often. I have very mixed feelings about grouping by ability. As a student, most of my favorite classes where I felt challenged and where I felt like I learned a lot were the classes in which I was grouped by ability. It has been my experience that when I was in some of the non grouped classes that my teacher would teach the subjects much more slowly than I wanted to learn. My husband feels even more strongly about this issue. He feels that his only negative school experiences stem from the few times we weren't tracked in science and math.

As a teacher, I have read much of the research that argues against tracking, and I have to admit that there is some logic in those arguments. I know that in practice, advanced groups get the best teachers and resources which everyone else left to achieve less than they are capable. I also see how when students are tracked both the teacher and student are influenced by expectations. I appreciated the comments this week from Mari and Lisa who shared stories about teaching advanced classes to non-tracked students, as well. I needed to hear this other perspective.

I still find myself debating and struggling with this issue. I see the logic in both sides and definitely see a problem with allocating all the best resources and teachers to one group {(either high as in the Gordon Korman example or low as often happens when all the money is spent on special ed and GT is cut), but I also see how differentiation and teaching to the specific needs of a student is easier when those students are grouped. I also am very excited to teach a tracked advanced 8^th grade language arts class this next year. Who doesn't want to hand select a class of students who all care about their education and are there to learn? 

I find myself asking, can we have both? Can we have the advanced classes that work to challenge even the most advanced students while still having high expectations and good teaching habits with all students? If we don’t track or group, how can we make sure we are challenging and pushing every kid just enough? Then I wonder, would this even really be a problem if the different groups of students weren't given differently capable teachers and resources? If we equalize funding and teacher preparation would it matter if the students were tracked? Or do we need to allocate our resources on teacher training to differentiated instruction so that students don’t feel unchallenged when we don’t break them into advanced classes?