Achieving Equity through Untracked High School English Classes

1
Achieving Equity through Untracked High School
English Classes

• Carren M. Gallaher
• July 30, 2007

2
Introduction

• What I have chosen to do I have chosen to
  research the support for untracking high school
  English classes, specifically for the purpose of
  achieving equity for all students. The guiding
  belief in this study is that all children deserve
  access to a rigorous curriculum (Christensen,
  2000, p. 177).
• Why this is an issue in todays society Tracking
  perpetuates a lower class in society. Students
  who are on the low track are perceived as less
  capable, and, therefore, do not receive a
  concentrated curriculumspecifically in terms of
  reading and writing. This diluted education
  handicaps them later in lifee.g., in college, in
  higher paying jobs, etc.

3
Overview

• This presentation argues that tracking is
• Harmful to students self-perceptions
• Detrimental to students future opportunities
• Influential in teachers attitudes and actions
  towards students
• This presentation further argues that tracking is
  NOT
• Something to be eradicated without purposeful,
  intense preparation beforehand
• Untracking high school English classes is
  beneficial for all students, including the gifted
  and talented.

4
Tracking is harmful to students self-perceptions.

• Tracking has been viewed as another form of
  segregation (Hopkins, 2004) and an effort of the
  majority to keep the lower class in its place
  (Shaw, 2000). Do not fool yourself into thinking
  that students dont perceive these relationships,
  too! Its not hard to see the racial and class
  distinctions between Honors English (mostly
  white, middle/upper middle class) and Standard
  English (many African Americans, ELL students,
  and students on fee waiver), for example.
• Students who are learning English as a second
  language are often perceived as unintelligent,
  slow, or incapable. In fact, the ELL classrooms
  are often converted mop closets, trailers, or
  borrowed from regular education teachers
  (Callahan, 2005).

5
Tracking is detrimental to students future
opportunities.

• When teachers assign students to various groups
  or tracks, we are essentially deciding their
  potential. As Shaw (2000) states, The focus of
  education moves from unifying Americans and
  providing equal rights and privileges, to
  preparing (some) of them for college, to sorting
  students according to their probable destinies.
• Students who need the most help are assigned to
  the tracks where the curriculum is dank and the
  teachers are less skilled (Shaw, 2000).
• Even Tom Loveless (1998), an avid supporter of
  tracking, admits that low tracks often emphasize
  good behavior and menial skills, while high
  tracks offer preparation for college. These
  differences in learning environments depress the
  academic achievement of poor and minority
  students, who are assigned disproportionately to
  low tracks.

6
Tracking is influential in teachers attitudes
and actions towards students.

• Teachers instinctively maintain lower
  expectations for the lower tracked kids, assuming
  that they are not capable or willing to complete
  intense work (Hopkins, 2004).
• A teachers gestures and cues convey to a
  student what that teacher thinks of him or her,
  especially if the view is negative (Ansalone,
  2006).
• Teachers believe that low-track students are just
  not capable of reading complex works of
  literature, so they offer mundane choices instead
  (Christensen, 2000).

7
Tracking is NOT something to be eradicated
without purposeful, intense preparation
beforehand.

• Extensive teacher training on meeting the needs
  of diverse learners is crucial to successfully
  untracking any part of the curriculum (Peterson,
  1999).
• Simply thrusting all students into the same level
  of English would be disastrous. To successfully
  untrack English classes, Christensen (2000)
  says, teachers must unmask the myths about
  student ability, redesign the curriculum, and
  change teaching strategies (p. 171). In
  particular, teachers must be prepared to manage
  the diverse reading levels with which students
  enter an untracked classroom (Christensen).
• Its not enough for teachers to simply accede the
  belief that all students can learn. Teachers
  must change their strategies and approaches
  (Callahan, 2005).

8
Untracking high school English classes is
beneficial for all students, including the gifted
and talented.

• Exposure to real world scenarios is commonplace
  in heterogeneous groups. This enhances students
  abilities to think critically and pose solutions
  to real issues (Peterson, 1999).
• Untracked schools work extremely well in Japan,
  where all students are exposed to a rigorous
  curriculum. Distinction is not made on the
  grounds of innate student ability, but rather on
  the willingness of a student to work hard
  (Ansalone, 2006).
• Untracked English courses that are effectively
  taught will be more inventive, more creative,
  and more honest than a content-focused honors
  English course (Christensen, 2000).

9
Summary

• The drawbacks to ability grouping in high school
  justify a purposeful, careful detracking of
  English courses, where the universal skills of
  reading and writing are developed. Untracked
  English courses can benefit all students in that
  they offer rigorous content in a real world
  setting.

10
Resources--Websites

• Perceptions of Ability and Equity in the U.S.
  and Japan Understanding the Pervasiveness of
  Tracking
• http//radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue8_1/
  ansalone.html
• This site contains an article that contrasts the
  U.S. s approach to education with Japans,
  particularly with regard to academic tracking.
  The author also highlights the differing belief
  systems of the two countries, systems which
  inform their educational practices. For example,
  in the U.S. students on a low track are often
  labeled as slow. In Japan, however, labeling a
  student as such is taboo because such a label
  would affect that students ultimate potential
  and capacity to contribute to society.
• This article is useful for teachers because it
  demonstrates the vast impact that our beliefs
  have on student achievement.

11
ResourcesWebsites, cont.

• The Tracking and Ability Grouping Debate
• www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/public
  ation.cfm?id127pubsubid803803
• This website provides a summary of a book-length
  work of the same title. Loveless, a proponent of
  tracking, explains both sides of the tracking
  debate and then argues for the continued use of
  tracking in our schools. For example, Loveless
  offers that tracking at the high school level is
  not amoral because students can choose the track
  on which they want to pursue their education.
• This website is useful for curriculum researchers
  and policy makers who want to understand the
  arguments for tracking. Even those who are
  against tracking can benefit from this site
  because it is concise exposure to one of the
  loudest voices in the tracking debate.
  Lovelesss entire work can be downloaded in pdf
  format from this site.

12
ResourcesWebsites, cont.

• Is Ability Grouping the Way to GoOr Should It
  Go Away?
• http//www.education-world.com/a_issues/issues002.
  shtml
• This website offers a simple explanation of the
  tracking debate, with concise points given for
  both sides. Key researchers for tracking (e.g.,
  Loveless) and against it (e.g., Oakes) are cited
  throughout, which lends credibility to the sites
  explanation. Two student voices are recorded, as
  well, in terms of their personal experiences with
  tracking. The article also explores the courts
  role in determining the legitimacy of tracking as
  a fair, socially acceptable form of education,
  using a case from Augusta, Arkansas, as an
  example.
• This site is very useful for parents who are
  trying to understand the concept of tracking.
  The information is easy to read, and there are
  numerous links to related articles and
  information sites that parents can consult if
  they want more information.

13
ResourcesWebsites, cont.

• The Tracking Controversy
• http//muse.widener.edu/egrozyck/EDControversy/Sh
  aw.html
• This site is a scholarly overview of the tracking
  debate. Arguments for both sides are presented,
  and extensive discussion about the ethics of
  tracking is included. For example, the author
  thoughtfully explores the concept of benefit
  maximizationthat is, the enabling of every
  group to benefit from a chosen plan. Also
  contained in this article are charts outlining
  the costs and benefits of keeping tracking or
  untracking the curriculum.
• This site is useful for school officials who are
  contemplating the continued or discontinued use
  of tracking within their district. Not only are
  academic arguments made, but administrative
  concerns of public welfare and costs/benefits are
  addressed, as well.

14
ResourcesWebsites, cont.

• Tracking and the Project Method
• http//www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/13_02/tra
  ck.shtml
• This article is the account of one fifth-grade
  teachers perception of and experiences with
  tracking. He briefly addresses both sides of the
  tracking debate, citing key researchers of the
  topic, and he shares his memories of being
  tracked throughout school. In particular, he
  felt uncomfortable as an elementary student
  tracked in a higher reading group than his best
  friend, especially since the track seemed
  predetermined and inescapable. The author then
  explains how he uses the project method in his
  classroom to sidestep the awkward, inequitable
  construct of tracking, yet still meet the
  educational needs of all his students. One
  project he describes in detail is the
  interdisciplinary book that each of his students
  must write.
• This article is useful for teachers who are
  trying to renegotiate their attitudes and
  mindsets about tracking and about the
  alternatives to ability grouping. It is not only
  a personal testimony it is also a resource for
  new approaches to teaching.

15
ResourcesPrint

• Tracking and High School English Learners
  Limiting Opportunity to Learn by R. M. Callahan
• This article reveals the devastating impact that
  tracking can have on students who are learning
  English as a second language. Often seen as
  unintelligent, ELL students are placed in the
  lowest levels in every subject. This creates
  trauma for the ELL student, who is not only
  trying to continue an education but also trying
  to learn a new language. Callahan shows that
  tracking has negative consequences for the ELL
  student. For example, ELL students in low-track
  classes learn to participate minimally, often
  through rote exercises. They are not challenged
  to think critically. Callahan argues that ELL
  students should be offered the same rigorous
  curriculum that the majority of students are
  offered.
• This article is useful for guidance counselors
  and teachers because they ultimately determine
  where the ELL students will be placed. It is
  important for counselors and teachers to grasp
  the fact that nonnative speakers of English are
  not slow or dumb. They do not need to be place
  in low-track classes because of their language
  status alone.

16
ResourcesPrint, cont.

• Untracking English Creating Quality Education
  for All Students by Linda Christensen
• This chapter is part of a larger work devoted to
  achieving social awareness and equity through the
  language arts curriculum. In this chapter,
  Christensen justifies the need to untrack English
  classes and challenges the common arguments
  against untracking. She shows how untracking
  English courses at her high school resulted in a
  more thorough education for all students,
  including gifted students. Christensen also
  addresses the need for proper teacher
  preparation, lest efforts to untrack be
  disastrous. Specifically, Christensen discourses
  on the challenge of having diverse reading levels
  represented in one classroom, and she offers
  explanation as to how she taught effectively,
  despite that reality, in her classroom.
• This chapter is useful for high school English
  teachers because it enlightens us on the vast
  possibilities that an untracked English
  curriculum can hold. There are useful strategies
  within this chapter, as well as plenty of reasons
  to believe in every students right to receive a
  high-caliber English curriculum.

17
Conclusion

• Tracking holds devastating consequences for the
  students and teachers.
• Untracking a curriculum requires strategic
  preparation.
• Untracking high school English, in particular,
  would offer all students rigorous reading and
  writing instruction, which would ultimately
  increase their future opportunities in any field.

18
References

• Ansalone, G. (2006). Perceptions of ability
  grouping in the U.S. and Japan understanding the
  pervasiveness of tracking. Radical Pedagogy.
  Retrieved July 25, 2007, from http//radicalpedago
  gy.icaap.org/content/issue8_1/ansalone.html
• Callahan, R. M. (2005). Tracking and high school
  English learners limiting opportunity to learn.
  American Educational Research Journal, 42, pp.
  305 328.
• Carbonaro, W. J., Gamoran, A. (2002). The
  production of achievement inequality in high
  school English. American Educational Research
  Journal, 39, pp. 801 827.
• Christensen, L. (2000). Untracking English.
  Reading, writing, and rising up teaching about
  social justice and the power of the written word.
  Milwaukee Rethinking Schools.
• Hopkins, G. (2004). Is ability grouping the way
  to goor should it go away? Education World.
  Retrieved July 30, 2007, from http//www.education
  -world.com/a_issues/issues002.shtml
• Loveless, T. (1998). The tracking and ability
  grouping debate. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from
  www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/public
  ation.cfm?id127pubsubid803803
• Nieto, S. (2004). Affirming diversity the
  sociopolitical context of multicultural
  education. 4th ed. Boston Pearson.
• Peterson, B. (1999). Tracking and the project
  method Electronic version. Rethinking Schools
  Online, 13(2). Retrieved July 30, 2007, from
  http//www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/13_02/tra
  ck.shtml
• Shaw, R. P. (2000). The tracking controversy.
  Retrieved July 30, 2007, from http//muse.widener.
  edu/egrozyck/EDControversy/Shaw.html
• Trice, R. N. (2005). Academic attainment and the
  high school science experiences among high
  achieving African-American males. Doctoral
  dissertation. University of North Carolina at
  Chapel Hill.