Getting on Track: Aligning the Achievement Gap Conversation With Ethical Educational Practice

• In Event: 77.056 - Fairmont Royal York Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: 77.056-4 - Tracking and Detracking SIG Roundtable Session

Abstract

Research developments on tracking as an educational practice has led to a renewed need to investigate the ways it is conceptualized and operationalized. This paper addresses the educational practice of tracking, how it impacts K-12 achievement, its potential for exacerbating inequities, and the ethics of separating students within intellectual spaces. Research on tracking informs us of the deleterious effects for and on African American students, who comprise the largest population in lower track classes. It also sheds light on why African American students attend school at the same rate or higher, yet remain the least prepared among their similarly situated peers, for higher educational opportunities. The evidence supports the need for detracking policies to improve educational opportunities and academic achievement.

Author

• Karen Stansberry Beard, The Ohio State University - Columbus