Logics of Ability and Teachers' Decisions Across Tracks in the Era of Common Standards

• In Event: 67.064 - New Perspectives on Tracking and Detracking From Stakeholders in Schools

Abstract

This paper investigates the interaction between the Common Core State Standards and curricular tracking by examining teachers’ instructional decision-making across tracks in a large metropolitan district. This study uses institutional logics to analyze 106 instructional decisions from 24 participants involved in middle school literacy instruction. In lower-track classes, teachers often adapted the curriculum, changed their grading strategies, slowed instructional pacing, and adopted a more teacher-centered approach. Over half of teachers’ rationales reflected a logic of tracking, less than a quarter reflected a logic of differentiation, and a quarter reflected both logics. These findings demonstrate that despite common standards, a tracked school structure continues to serve as a powerful signal about the curriculum and instruction seen as appropriate for different groups.

Author

• Emily Hodge, Montclair State University