Michelle Newsum: Tracking Our Way to Wider Achievement Gaps
Guest post by Michelle Newsum.
Under the fear created by NCLB/RTTT, large scale ability group tracking has made its way back into schools. Because tracking is commonly considered odious, and the research does not support it, no one calls it that. It is now given cuter or more palatable names like 'Walk to Read' or 'Intervention Time' even 'Flexible Grouping.' (Although some schools have flexible grouping and intervention time that takes place in classrooms and is quite lovely.)
Walk to Read/March to Math= Send your kids to other classes for math and reading for 90 minutes a day. If you have three teachers at a grade level, one teacher takes all the 'advanced' students, the fours; one takes all the 'on levels', the threes; one takes all the 'twos; and a group of aides under the direction of a Title 1 or resource teacher take five to eight students each who are 'well below grade level.' Children receive some additional reading
Under the fear created by NCLB/RTTT, large scale ability group tracking has made its way back into schools. Because tracking is commonly considered odious, and the research does not support it, no one calls it that. It is now given cuter or more palatable names like 'Walk to Read' or 'Intervention Time' even 'Flexible Grouping.' (Although some schools have flexible grouping and intervention time that takes place in classrooms and is quite lovely.)
Walk to Read/March to Math= Send your kids to other classes for math and reading for 90 minutes a day. If you have three teachers at a grade level, one teacher takes all the 'advanced' students, the fours; one takes all the 'on levels', the threes; one takes all the 'twos; and a group of aides under the direction of a Title 1 or resource teacher take five to eight students each who are 'well below grade level.' Children receive some additional reading