In this paper, the author looks at whether teachers give better subjective assessments to students of their own race and/or gender, conditionally on test scores. Subjective assessments are pervasive in schools; most teachers fill school records that include comments on the child's ability or behavior. And important decisions such as tracking,…

This article investigates justice judgments concerning grading. In two studies with secondary students (N[subscript 1]=350 academic-track students; N[subscript 2]=225 intermediate [n=81] and academic-track students [n=144]) attending the 7th to the 12th grade level, participants were presented with vignettes describing three different grading…

This article explores the school context of tracking, with a mention of the societal contexts of tracking. A brief review of tracking practices, assumptions, and evidence of effects is included in the beginning of the paper. Several relationships within the schooling context of tracking are discussed: (1) student characteristics and track…

Offers two views supporting the concept of tracking and another telling how one middle school teacher works around tracking. (MG)

The issue of whether cooperative learning benefits gifted students needs to be settled separately from tracking considerations. This article examines four misconceptions about cooperative learning and gifted students to help resolve the conflict. An approach that works for average and below-average achievers can also benefit high achievers.…

Taylorism (rewards based on merit) and tracking in high schools should be abolished because these practices alienate successful students from less successful ones and encourage elitism instead of egalitarianism. Curriculum integration may be achieved by creating opportunities for student interaction in various existing subject areas. Teamwork and…

Identifies the problems associated with traditional programs for tracking secondary students according to perceived abilities. Recommends an approach for effective untracking which uses a set of cooperative learning strategies. Provides alternatives to tracking programs, with attention to cooperative learning strategies. (HB)

Today, mathematics education faces two major challenges: raising the floor by expanding achievement for all, and lifting the ceiling of achievement to better prepare future leaders in mathematics, as well as in science, engineering, and technology. Many students lack access to higher-level mathematics courses and teaching at all levels of…

Within the already limited literature on instructional practices in detracked classrooms, there are even fewer research-based studies of detracked science classrooms. This article attempts to address this gap in the research literature, delving into the unique challenges and instructional responses to teaching detracked science. The authors report…

Early adolescents make early career decisions in the form of curriculum choices for high school, and these choices can influence future postsecondary education and career paths. This exploratory study examined relationships between school and demographic variables and 522 eighth graders' choices of high school academic tracks. Analysis of variance…

This paper examines some intersections among school literacy events and practices, identity formation, and the institutional practice known in the US as tracking. During a year-long, critical ethnographic study to examine how a team-taught, interdisciplinary curriculum impacted the development of students' literacies, it was found that not only…

Curriculum tracking continues as an entrenched part of schooling despite a substantial amount of research that shows educational advantages for college-track students and disadvantages for non-college-track students. This study examined racial/ethnic differences in the odds of being in the college and honors math tracks in high school and was…

This digest tries to sort out issues related to the question of whether students should be tracked in math or science. Tracking is differentiated from ability grouping, and a brief historical overview and literature review is provided. It is suggested that the answer to this question is neither yes nor no. (Contains 15 references.) (ASK)

Examines the theory of social efficiency espoused by David Snedden and Charles Prosser in the early 1900s. Describes the theory's basic tenets and their substantial effects upon the philosophical, administrative, and programmatic development of vocational education. (SK)