Detracking as Educational Repair: Determining School Capacity

• In Event: Access, Detracking, and Tracking: Policy, Practice, and Stakeholder Perspectives

Abstract

For decades, school leaders have attempted to create more justice in student sorting systems through detracking, or opening up higher-level classes to more students. Research on the efficacy of detracking, however, has been mixed. We lack a conceptual understanding of the capacities of school leaders and stakeholders to implement detracking programs. Thus, this study seeks to understand what characteristics of detracking programs school leaders identify as essential to undertaking student sorting reform. We also consider how teachers and students’ families fit into the conversation about sorting reform. We offer a conceptual framework for understanding school capacity for detracking that focuses on righting the educational exclusion of minoritized students.

Authors

• Margaret Thornton, Rowan University

• Davis Clement, Eastern Michigan University

• Kristian Edosomwan, University of Houston

• Shannon Holder, Central Connecticut State University