Tracking Injustice: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Ability Grouping in U.S. Schools

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-11 - Social Stratification and Tracking Policy: Perverse, Persistent, Pervasive

Abstract

This paper analyses contemporary discourse on ability grouping using the theoretical lens of whiteness studies and the methodological framework of Critical Discourse Analysis. From its origins in the Progressive era to contemporary debates on tracking, the concept of giftedness has been formed through racial projects throughout U.S. history. Through these projects, the concept of “giftedness” became synonymous with “whiteness,” and gifted education has served to maintain white privilege both within and between U.S. schools. While counter-discourse on giftedness has been dominated by scholars working outside the field of gifted education, there is a growing critique of this concept within the field of gifted education.

Author

• Lauren Stark, University of Virginia