In "Why Are Blacks Lagging?", Felicia Lee says that Black students are performing significantly lower than their other peers. The reason that is stated for Black students slacking performance is the approach that they take in school. This approach is the attitude that Black students have. The attitudes that Black students have in school are "those kinds of attitudes [that] reflect a long history of adapting to oppression and stymied opportunities" (Lee 1). This article is a key aspect of my PROBE paper because it reveals the racial divided between Black and White peers. Black students are lagging in every academic area compared to their White counterparts. This is seen when Lee states that "the black students have lagged behind whites in grade-point averages, test scores and placement in high-level classes" (2).


Lee, Felicia. "Why Are Blacks Lagging?". New York Times. Published 30 November 2002. Retrieved 13 November 2012. .

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 only are students being separated by their ability but also by classrooms. The issue with tracking is its definition because it is used differently based on whether someone is an advocate for or a proponent of tracking. Also, Mansnerus explains about how tracking was difficult to remove from one particular middle school by a principal but tracking was eventually eliminated because the parents of students who were in lower tracks spoke out.

Mansnerus, Laura. "Should Tracking Be Derailed?". New York Times. Published 1 November 1992. Retirieved 13 November 2012. .

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 students into college or vocational training. However, tracking has changed today. Now, the practice of tracking is to assign students to a particular course (remedial, regular, Honors/AP) based on their test scores. The idea of tracking has had some backlash. One of the most important flaws of tracking is that "students in the lower tracks often have the weakest teachers and an unchallenged curriculum" and that is not fair at all. The Detracking Movement is influential in having an impact on school reforms and is questioning the true definition of one's "ability".


Hallinan, Maureen T. "The Detracking Movement: Why children are still grouped by ability". EducationNext: Fall 2004, Vol. 4, No. 4. Retrieved on 13 November 2012. < http://educationnext.org/the-detracking-movement/>.

In "The Children in Room E4", Susan Eaton emphasizes that the education system classifies low achieving students by teaching them who they are not. The students in the education system are being taught that their culture is to be diminshed, so that, American values are praised.

"...even if Jeremy's grandmother had somehow learned how to try harder---if she and Nina had bought piles of children's books instead of a hallucinatory Game Boy, if they'd miraculously begun spouting studied observations of Simpson-Waverly's math curriculum---they'd still be unable to exert tangible influence over their social environment, which had been shaped over decades" (Eaton 38)


"Professors and policymakers refer to people like Nina and Anna as the "the underclass." This dispassionate shorthand defines men, women, and children who dwell within America's borders but aren't connected to, have little firsthand knowledge of, the customs, protocols, and opportunities that materialize up the social ladder" (Eaton 64).

In the article "Wide Response to Educational Plight of Mexican Immigrants", Kirk Semple is in search of seeking results as to why Mexican students are not achieving well in school. Many bloggers ae arguing that the education system does not value the Mexican culture.

http://www.schoolbook.org/2011/11/29/wide-response-to-educational-plight-of-mexican-immigrants