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Jessica Desir

PROBE : "Should Tracking Be Derailed?" - New York Times - 1 views

In "Should Tracking Be Derailed?", Laura Mansnerus argues that the debate over tracking in schools are hurting some students and not help helping others. The greatest point mentioned is that not on...

education tracking PROBE

started by Jessica Desir on 19 Nov 12 no follow-up yet
Jessica Desir

PROBE: "The Detracking Movement" - EducationNext Journal - 1 views

In "The Detracking Movement", Maureen T. Hallinan talks about why are children still being grouped by their ability. Hallinan begins by saying that the early practice of tracking was to groom stude...

education tracking detracking PROBE

started by Jessica Desir on 19 Nov 12 no follow-up yet
Leslie Hall

Ability Grouping - 3 views

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    " 'Between-class ability grouping' -- separating students not only by ability but by classrooms -- 'has no benefit for anybody,' said Prof. Robert E. Slavin, a research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University. Professor Slavin, who has studied tracking and conducted extensive reviews of other research on the subject, says segregating low achievers might hurt them academically and clearly has negative effects on their behavior, social development and prospects for post-secondary education."
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    I agree with this article in a lot of ways. I thought it was interesting that they pointed out how ability grouping starts when a child learns how to read and is separated into different reading groups. I feel like this is way to early to be assessing a child's "potential". Often this is the beginning of a cycle for that child of being constantly grouped into the "lower achievers" and can lead to kids having bad self esteem and therefore accepting their defeat by giving up and not desiring to learn.
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    One quote sticks out to me among all of this, "Now, a growing number of educators -- most of whom, it is safe to say, never took metal shop -- are convinced that it's the wrong way." The reason I feel this is important is because I myself never took metal shop because it wasn't even an option at my school. I wouldn't have even considered taking it even if it was because I knew I was going to college. I think this article REALLY brings foward an issue about high school guidance counseling. Some students do not wish to go to college because they have other goals(none of which are high fame jobs that I am talking about). They wish to go into fields like firefighting or other hard labor jobs. This could be because of money, lack of education, or a simple interest in the job. They may not even want to go to college because they are just not fans of school. I mean there will be an individual reason for each student. That is why I say the guidance counselor is important. I think in a round-a-bout way I am saying that for some kids the metal shop is important because it gives them a technical skill they can use to pay for food, where that book they read in humanities may not feed them later on in life. Again it will be an individual thing, and that is why a guidance counselor who has an active role with students is important.
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    Separating students into different tracking routes really does not help any of the students except for those in the high-level academic tracks. I think that students should be able to freely explore their abilities rather than be categorized into different ability groups based on measely test scores. If I was not allowed to explore my abilities for math and science, I would probably have never discovered that I even had the ability for math and science. I used to be "categorized" as an ESE student in elementary school simply because I could not perform well on a test. However, once I was allowed to skip to a higher math level in middle school, I was subsequently staffed out of ESE and I ended up maintaining a 4.0 gpa in all of my middle school classes. I then attended and maintained a 4.0 gpa at the Academy of Environmental Science and in my regular high school. I eventually graduated summa cum laude at the top 6% of my class. Therefore, separating students into different tracking routes based on test scores is not at all accurate.
Lauren Tripp

The Children in Room E4 - Race Based Academic Goals - 14 views

Looks like Virginia passed a similar policy, and this is Jeb Bush's response to it: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/24/school-expectations-should-be-colorblind/ While I don't agree th...

Hope Kim Doit

How the U.S. compares to the rest of the world... - 35 views

It seems like Finish school system has an equal balance between students and teachers performances. Although they seek to help their students and assist them with their educational needs, they also...

curriculum FInland The Common School

Caitlyn Cozart

CNN Pennsylvania school experiments with 'segregation' - 9 views

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    "In the 1960s and 1970s, noted The Times, the boundaries of school attendance zones had sometimes been redrawn "to promote racial integration," but the schools where this had taken place, the paper said, had "lost their distinct neighborhood character" and many "produced lackluster academic results"- which, if this seemingly direct connection was correct, appeared to indicate that school desegregation had not been in the best interests of the children of New York." - This is a quote from Shame of the Nation by Jonathan Kozol. Our group feels that this article successfully links this book to our education systems today. This article is about a Pennsylvania high school experimenting with segregation and the outcomes of it. Shame of the Nation focuses on the ongoing segregation in our school systems.
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    Shame of the Nation presents many examples of the sad fact that many New York schools are segregated by race and class, and how students are negatively affected by this. While this Pennsylvania study is ridiculous, it might be interesting to spotlight student achievement if emphasis was placed on segregating genders, rather than focusing on racial differences. The following quote presents an interesting idea about single-gender classrooms: "A national study from UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies claims to show that girls from single-sex schools have an edge over their co-ed peers. 'Single-sex education appears to produce favorable outcomes for female students, especially in terms of their confidence, engagement and aspirations, most notably in areas related to math and science,' the 2008 study said." However, segregating seems ineffective all together, because society is not segregated by gender once students reach the real world in adulthood. Moreover, it is important for the development of males to grow and mature with the presence of female peers.
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    This article was extremely interesting and I could see how segregation could really benefit the students, as long as it is done in a minimal way. A huge issue in the education system is the clash of cultures between teachers and students. Many teachers are white; middle-class women while the students come from all sorts of backgrounds. Therefore, I can see how, "Educators immediately noticed strong bonds being formed between all students and mentor teachers." It is much easier for students to relate to a teacher/mentor that is a lot like them. Our schools today center around a very white, "Christian" curriculum and this may not be the best learning style for minority students. With this said, I think "rolling the clock back to the time before Brown vs. the Board of Education," is not the answer. Segregating students for, "six minutes each day and 20 minutes twice a month," though could help solve the clash of cultures crisis. It is interesting to note the national study from the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information studies, which claims that, "girls from single-sex schools have an edge over their co-ed peers." It is especially interesting that the girls became more confident in areas related to math and science. In a typical co-ed classroom girls may get discouraged since boys usually pick up math and science with more ease. The same could be true with minority groups; sometimes they might be discouraged with the "whiteness" of the curriculum. I think this idea of "segregation" as long as it is minimal could produce results.
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    I found the idea behind the article quite surprising. At the end of the article it states that this school might be on the right track because of the single-sex research that is mentioned in the two previous posts. I do not think this is a remotely similar comparison. Single sex schools actually exist. Multiple races can be in the same sex school. The idea of segregating by race is not acceptable. This can have so many negative repercussions that it is not worth the risk. There are many things I think the article should have elaborated on because the program was not described that well. This was one of them: "They plan to replace the policy with a 'neighborhood schools system' that critics say will establish real segregation." I wanted to see more information on this because it was wondering how it would be done. Separating by zones (which are primarily determined by SES) would be interesting and not necessarily race discrimination. Poor white people and poor black people would live in the same area so it would not be completely separated by race. However, even this form of separation may make poor students feel inferior and like they will never go anywhere in life because of their SES. I do not think that separation is a good idea; however, I am interested to know the outcome of this experiment.
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    The article states that, "Educators immediately noticed strong bonds being formed between all students and mentor teachers." This initially sounds positive, however, it also sounds that as the individual groups grow closer, the bonds of the class as a whole may grow weaker as their differences are focused on, instead of their similarities. I understand that the administrators of the school are experimenting with the implementation of recently supported research, but as briefly mentioned in the article, I think they are playing with the fine line that separates individuals who can handle segregation for academic purposes and individuals who will take this application of segregating students to an inappropriate level.
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    This article was shocking to me. I think it's always good to look for ways to help students achieve more in school but I don't think it should be separated by race. It might be a good idea to separate students according to gender, or interests, but separating children by race is taking a step in the wrong direction. I think that education should be color blind, I don't think race should be considered in any decisions and I think everyone should have the same opportunities. I know that the intentions behind this experiment are good, but I don't think this will help the students in the long run. I think that this might encourage unconscious prejudice.
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    This article experiments with segregating high school students by gender, race, and language to see if this separation improves academic success. I feel that this article is absurd and experiments like this should not even be considered for they are unconstitutional. I agree that studies comparing the academic success of single-sex education verses co-ed education can be conducted, for single-sex schools exist. However, separating students based on race is wrong. In the real world, a person will always be exposed to others of differing races, so they need to learn to coexist and work together.
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    While reading this article I could definitely see how separation could be beneficial to students, for it could create a comfort in schools that previously was not there. The quote "single-sex education appears to produce favorable outcomes for female students, especially in terms of their confidence, engagement and aspirations, most notably in areas related to math and science" made me think about how race could also be like that. If certain races are feeling inferior to another, separation could allow the students to work better. However, the problem I see with it is that if races are separated into another school, then most likely problems of achievement will still occur and there will be a gap of achievement in the school whether it is all black or white or gender specific. I do not really think that this should be done formally, a lot of times cliques are formed in schools, and I think that is quite enough separation. I think that if the gaps were filled, not dwelt upon, and there was no emphasis on race or gender mattering in school, there would be no one even talking about how one race is different, let alone how they can achieve better.
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    This article describes a school in Pennsylvania that tried to decrease the separation of students by race, gender, and language, so the administrators decided to create a purpose and goal in the classroom to target only African-American students. This experiment started problems with parents, NAACP members, and educators. I believe this is completely biased to the entire school because if the administrators wanted to truly close the separation of race, gender, and language at the school, the administrators should had focus on all races and cultures. I chose a quote from our readings that correlates with this article "Educators often failed to see that many problems children faced in school were sociological and economic in character and were, in C. Wright Mills's term, "public issues" rather than "personal troubles." from The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education by David B. Tyack (page 181).
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    After reading this article, I can see how segregation could improve student performance. The article stated that students were place in the classroom with a strong academic role model. I believe that this can improve student performance because students may find this academic role model more relatable or someone who's level of success they would like to reach. Students me also so that the role model understands them better than their teachers and can give them guidance for educational success. A quote in the article that supports this is, "Single-sex education appears to produce favorable outcomes for female students, especially in terms of their confidence, engagement and aspirations, most notably in areas related to math and science."
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    The junior class at McCaskey East is voluntarily segregated by the students, who organize themselves "by gender, race and/or language," said school spokeswoman Kelly Burkholder. Segregating students will not solve problems with low test scores. Research shows that students from different races, ethnicities, and genders actually score better on tests when they are integrated in the same classroom. Regardless of what level students are on it is best for them to learn in the same classroom as their peers. Research says that if you pair a student who makes good grades with one that makes poor grades both students will do well. The student with higher grades will have practice recalling information and the student with lower grades will have the benefit of working with someone who is doing well in class.
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    As great as this article likes to make this "segregation" sound, there is NO ethical way of practicing this separation. I do believe that all races need to see someone that looks like them doing well in life, but this may be a bit overboard. If they can find a way to make this work then kudos, but this is a touchy subject. There needs to be more proof that it is effective, if not then these studies should stop before it gets carried away.
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    This idea of modern segregation is appalling. Schools need to focus of the fact that race is a social construct in which we created and can diminish. The article talks about statistics and outcomes but forget that our social lens that is creating these outcomes. Maybe we should be looking at ways to improve testing and teaching methods that will help bridge the gap between races and gender instead of ways to reinforce them. I wonder if any civil right groups have jumped on this since last year.
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    I really thought this article was powerful in the face that many people would not believe in this. I thought it was interesting when they stated that they believe "that shows grouping black students by gender with a strong role model can help boost their academic achievement and self esteem." I agree with Cassandra in the fact that they are not focusing on what is really important. I personally do not agree with this article or this idea.
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    When reading this article, I honestly felt like I was going back in time. The fact that the high school was going to be segregated shocked me. I think that the means of this experiment originally meant well, but not everyone saw it that way. When it stated that "the principal defended it", I felt like the school would continue to conduct their experiment as long as possible.
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    "A national study from UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies claims to show that girls from single-sex schools have an edge over their co-ed peers. Single-sex education appears to produce favorable outcomes for female students, especially in terms of their confidence, engagement and aspirations, most notably in areas related to math and science," the 2008 study said. I believe this statement can possibly be truer as it relates to college level education. Just based on my experiences in public school there were always boys that were smarter than girls but felt as though they couldn't perform to their highest achievement because they were concerned with how they might be perceived by their peers. Also in inner city schools it is evident that the drop-out rates of males are extremely high, leaving room for more female competitiveness.
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    I firmly disagree that schools should be segregated or even temporarily segregated on basis of race. I feel that there is absolutely no difference between races at our core, and that it is our environment that makes us different. Thus, an integrated school will allow students to share an environment and have the same beneficial upbringing. I do agree that schools can segregate based on gender. Although I can learn a lot from men, I agree that there are enough genetic differences in the sexes and the way each gender learns to precipitate some segregation. Sexual tension can take away from education, and girls and boys may both learn better in an uninhibited environment. Girls have proven to do well in similar subjects and on similar exams (such as the ACT) showing that there is some commonality within genders. Therefore I feel that segregating on gender is an okay idea, although it should be voluntary and not mandatory.
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    This may sound really oblivious of me but I never thought something like this still existed in the U.S. since we've all been so liberal about equality rights and such. I do understand how they could argue a research "that shows grouping black students by gender with a strong role model can help boost their academic achievement and self esteem." I think it unleashes social hindrance that won't stop them from expressing who they really are. Even though we've tried hard become united in the society, we cannot neglect the way students are brought up in the society.
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