Tracking: To Love Or Not To Love
Ansalone and Biafora examine how parents and school staff affect the placement of students in tracked curriculums in their article Tracking in the Schools: Perceptions and Attitudes of Parents. Researchers gathered information by sending questionnaires home to eligible families. Results indicated that even though parents who were placed in a lower track as children experienced negative consequences from that placement, a majority of parents overall were in favor of tracking. As long as parents claim to support tracking regardless of reservations, the chances of eliminating it are slim. This discrepancy likely stems from the way teachers and principals at the school market a tracked system.
While parents who were placed into lower classes as students may remember the negative consequences of that placement, the majority of parents lack current knowledge on how the classroom operates. Parents trust the school system in ensuring that their child is thoroughly educated, and marketing of tracking influences them. Under-paid and overworked teachers often yearn …show more content…
Tracking allows children in upper levels to learn more advanced coursework without causing children who can’t keep up with their pace to struggle and fall behind. Children in lower levels can get the one-on-one help they need without having their gifted peers grow bored with course work and act out as a result. Parents are still able to see that the positive aspects are greater than any negative effects, like suggestions that tracking can cause lower level groups to feel inferior and upper level groups to gain a sense of entitlement, thus causing an unhealthy learning environment for all children. By having tracking presented in a positive way, parents are 74.4% in favor of having their child be