How School Leaders Implement Detracking: A Case Study of a Virginia Leadership Team

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Leadership and Tracking/Detracking

Abstract

This case study seeks to answer questions relating to culturally responsive school leadership, supporting minoritized students, and how school leaders sort students into courses. Sorting students into classes based on perceived academic ability has been shown to exacerbate racial and socioeconomic inequalities in outcomes (Oakes 2005). To combat these inequalities, some schools have employed heterogeneous groupings¬–often known as detracking at the secondary level (Burris 2014). Examining a high-performing high school in Virginia, this case study investigates the composition, structures, functions, operations, and perceived effectiveness of the school leadership in implementing detracking.

Authors

• Margaret Thornton, Princeton University

• Eric Irizarry, Charlottesville City Schools