Covert Tracking: Exploring the Relationship Between Elementary IEP (Individual Education Plan) Strategies and Secondary Tracking

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: Overt and Covert Tracking: Relationships Among Curricular Access, School Policies, and Student Characteristics (Table 18)

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between tracking and two strategies within elementary Individual Education Plans (IEPs): accommodations and curriculum modifications. Using large-scale longitudinal data from the Toronto District School Board, this study includes a quantitative analysis employing descriptive and logistic regressions. Results indicate a clear relationship between curriculum modifications in elementary school, ninth grade course selection, and ultimately postsecondary access. Furthermore, our data shows that the majority of students with curriculum modifications were set on that pathway before they had reached fourth grade. Finally, our analysis shows that curriculum modifications are disproportionately funnelling racialized students (particularly Black, Latinx, and Multi-racial students) into non-academic tracks, suggesting that the IEP system is stratified and is functioning as a mechanism for systemic oppression.

Authors

• Katherine Barron, York University

• Robert Stewart Brown, Toronto District School Board 

• Gillian Parekh, York University

• Stella Kim, York University