Question: How do school
mechanisms contribute to social inequities in the treatment of students.?
Answer/Quote: “The articles
in this issue of Research in the Teaching
of English highlight the ways in which mechanisms of schooling such as
tracking, portfolios, and assessment continue to sort students in inequitable
ways.” P. 229.
Quote: . “…the
authors all point to the sorting mechanisms that are embedded within American
education. They suggest that tracking—as well as most forms of assessment,
including portfolios and tests—act as markers of continued social
stratification within schooling.” P. 231.
Comment: Gee, I was under the impression that
tracking had gone the way of the dodo bird. When I was teaching, tracking was a
means to put students together who had high IQ’s and/or better motivation together
for quicker learning. It didn’t work then. There were still students who were
at the bottom of the Academic A track who were moved into the Academic B
track the next year. And no matter how they were grouped, students were still
individuals with strengths and weaknesses. However, I can understand that tests
and even portfolios can result in sorting students into “homogeneous”
groupings. On the surface, it’s not a humane way to deal with human beings. But
football coaches routinely do it. And the inequities stand out regardless of
the groupings. It’s a dilemma. RayS.
Title: “Editors’
Introduction: Tracking, Assessment, and Persistent Problems of Inequity. M
Dressman, S McCarthey and P Prior,
editors. Research in the Teaching of
English (February 2012),
229-231.
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