As the semester has progressed I have looked at both sides of the argument to tracking. This post will look at it from a different angle. This article is actually from the UK, but I believe that the same concepts still apply. The article as a whole is about gun problems in the UK. About a week before this article was published there had been a shooting involving four black males. The government now is trying to get at the root of the problem to see what can be done to control gun violence. The interesting part of the article is when they take a look at the educational system and what effects it may have on the problem. The overall point of the section on schooling basically says that teachers suppress the development of minority students by begging them as behavioral problems prematurely. They peg this as institutionalized racism. The result of this by the numbers is as follows:
Black children are three times more likely than white children to be prematurley excluded from school and five times less likely to be included in well-funded “gifted and talented” programs in schools.
These numbers are the same type of numbers we are battling in the United States. In the UK they are realizing how these numbers are effecting the future lives of the students. I also thought it was interesting that the article points out that there was a government leak that said they were aware of the institutionalized racism that exists. This leak was later denied by certain government officials. So, they know if exists and they are doing what about it. This type of information is what turns me off to the whole idea of tracking. We should in no way help promote this type of racism.
Other research that was equally shocking has to do with the way the teachers are managing their classrooms. With so much training focused on this area one would think that teachers had a good idea on how to do this equally. The article gives a different point of view on the subject. It says:
A lot of research shows the tendency among teachers to fall into the trap of problematizing individual students, parents, students, families, areas, and forgein languages as a reaction to the inability of teacher unions and the left more generally to mount any notable defense on the level of ideas and organization of, “progressive education”.
The teachers do not use a real life approach with the students and they are not concerned with how the home lives might affect their behavior in the classroom. The argument is the same in the UK as it is in the US. The teachers are so busy trying to teach to the standardized test and the different regulations that they do not take the time to do any discussion on the social issues that may be influencing the students in their room. This is a huge mistake made by teachers. I think that this just goes back on the ability of the teachers. They have to be able to get to the students on their level no matter what material they are teaching. There has to be some element that can help tie the material to the students lives. This way the teachers will learn more about the students and they may not be so quick to make judgements about their abilities. The problem there coincides with the problems with NCLB in the US.
Under this governments selective regime there would be an active disincentive for schools to accept students with more educational needs: they get more money for being “beacon schools”, and teachers are on performace related pay.
This may be the root of the whole problem. The teachers are concerned with the student’s performance on the standardized tests and nothing else because the results are reflected in their pay. It seems like everything relates to the final product. The teachers teach to the test. Therefore, students with other issues that cannot relate to standardized tests score low on the tests. The teachers then dismiss these generally colored, or lower class students as behavior problems. These are the same students who end up leaving school early. Thus, these students are on the streets and not in school. Now, I know that I just made large jumps and it is a generalization, but they are all logical connections.
This article shows ushow everything is connected. Teachers perceptions can have an effect on student performance. They have the power to help these students and they need to realize the important role they play. Teachers need to realize that every student has potential to be gifted and every student is talented.
Poverty, Crime, and Institutional Racism
February 23, 2007
Workers’ Liberty
I know that you say at the end of this blog that you stretched your assumptions a little bit far. I think that these are large jumps to make, but they are not impossible, in fact I see the opposite as true: they are quite logical jumps. When teachers teach to the test everybody loses. The students know that they are being only so that they can pass a standardized test and make the school district and the teacher look good. Standardized tests have been proven to be culturally biased, and therefore the students that do not do well on the test tend to be the ones that drop out of school. When teachers “teach to the test” or “teach the benchmarks/standards” students lose out on truly engaging lesson plans, and teachers are stuck with lesson plans that they are not excited about either. I think teaching to the test makes teachers view their students as machines made to pass or fail; they do not see them as individuals that can succeed if given the chance. The last idea that I want to comment on is tracking as a form of racism. I see this as a valid point, because we think that the students that passed the test are of a higher learning capacity and give them special privileges, etc. while those that do not pass the test tend to be ignored. Because of culturally biased tests, white middle class students tend to fail while people of other cultures tend to fail. We then separate them on “cognitive ability” but we should call it what it is: a separation of the races.
Before this class, I hadn’t really thought about tracking as either a good or bad thing. I could see some benefits of it, like some students not being dragged down by others or those who need help getting it, but now I see other things. Bad things. We talked in class about how those students in lower tracked classes are the ones that need the most help, but they are generally the ones who get the least of it. All of the teachers who would have something to offer them (because they have the most knowledge and experience) want to teach the gifted students, not the ones who are “hopeless.”
The problem is, I can see where those teachers are coming from. If it were me, I would want to choose working in a more advanced classroom where we can get through material more easily, have in-depth discussions, and all of the stereotypical things associated with higher tracked classes.
However, that is exactly what those things are: stereotypes. If lower tracked classrooms were given teachers who could truly help them, then isn’t it logical that the discussions in class and the attitude of the students could be just as powerful as students considered “gifted?”
My thoughts about tracking as being neutral have, during this semester changed in a negative way. Like you, I see tracking as a form of racism, even if it is done unintentionally. Students who might be considered lower functioning deserve to have all of the opportunities that are given to other students. Besides, it has been proven that putting students who are slightly below the learning curve with students slightly above the learning curve bodes well for everyone. If we were to pair-up these two students, the below-average learner would have someone there to walk them through every step (and so learn more) and the above-average learner would not just be learning the material, but teaching it as well (helping them to better understand it).
I think I’ve gotten off track (haha, pun not intended) slightly, but the point I was trying to make is that the perceptions that many teachers, and people in general, have about lower tracked students helps no one. If they continue to treat students as though they are in a sense unteachable, then the students cannot and will not learn the things they need to in order to pass the classes and the tests.
[...] Comment on Candace’s post “The Root of the Problem” [...]
Unbelievable. Okay, I lied, I can believe that. I hope that I don’t become the type of teacher that ignores her students to focus on that test crap. I know it happens all the time and some schools don’t care as much about their students as others do, but I still don’t think that is the way to stop violence. I think that if we pay attention to our kids, then there is less chance for violence and dropping out.
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