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xForewordattitudes. Rapidly changing technology and out-of-date equip-ment limit the capacity of middle-level and high schools toprepare students with specific occupational skills. And, as morejobs require greater sophistication in terms of literacy, mathematical ability, and problem solving, schools are under firefor failing to provide entry-level workers with the competencebased on academic ability and the capacity to think that manyjobs require. The nation's former confidence that a trackedcurriculum would ensure that non-college-bound studentswould leave high school ready for work has been shattered.At the same time, the tracks assigned to prepare students for college are also being judged as failing to make the nation's 'best"students academically competitive with their peers in othercountries.Additionally, new conceptions and evidence about human abil-ities expose as fraudulent (or, at least, myopic) the claim thattracking is an appropriate response to differences in children'scapacities and motivation. Educators, policymakers, and parents, as well, must now view intellectual ability as primarily asocial construction, like race and gender, rather than as a geneticinheritance. That is, we are faced with overwhelming evidencethat nearly every child is capable of achieving every worthwhileeducational goal, regardless of gender, regardless of skin tone,and regardless of his or her scores on outmoded measuresof intellectual ability. Increasingly, tracking is recognized as aschool structure premised on an inaccurate and dysfunctionalview that not every child is capable.Pressure to eliminate tracking, however, is not based solely ondisillusion with its effectiveness or the accuracy of its impliedjudgments about children's abilities. Typically, those who favortracking meet these criticisms with promises of technologicalimprovementssometimes suggesting beefed-up curricula andteaching methods, more accurate placement criteria, or reconfigured tracking schemes. But, increasingly, the nation is losingfaith in the "improvability" of many school structures; and morepeople are questioning the fairness and morality of any schoolstructure that leads to immigrant, low-income, and minorityyouth more often taking low-level academic and vocationaltraining, while middle- and upper-class whites more often enrollin the upper tracks that lead to college.The matching of students to different tracks carried with itracial, ethnic, and social-class overtones from the very beginning.Early on in this century, low-level academics and vocationaltraining were thought to be more appropriate for immigrant,low-income, and minority youth, whereas rigorous academicpreparation was seen as better meeting the needs of more

Forewordxiaffluent whites. Few questioned the rightness of this pattern, justas few questioned the many other social and economic barriersfaced by African-American and Latino minorities before the1960s. But things have changed considerably, and today mosteducators and policymakers are deeply troubled by the fact thatsorting students into "high" and low" track., severely limits theeducational and occupational futures of low-income, AfricanAmerican, and Latino students and, in racially mixed schools,perpetuates stereotypes of minority students as being less intelligent than white ones and constrains opportunities for meaningful interracial contact.It is not surprising that these tracking "problems" have captured the attention of civil-rights groups and other advocatesof school desegregation. In the last decade, NAACP LegalDefense Fund, the ACLU, and the Children's Defense Fund haveall identified tracking as the most important "second generation"segregation issue. The U.S. Department of Education's CivilRights Division has targeted tracking practices as an importantconsideration in determining racially mixed schools' compliancewith Title VI requirements for categorical programs. However,what's striking now is that, because of the more general disillusionment with tracking, mainstream groups such as the NationalGovernors' Association, the Carnegie Corporation, the CollegeBoard, and the National Education Association have added theirvoices to those calling for the elimination of tracking and abilitygrouping, and many states are beginning to frame " untracking"guidelines for their local schools.This broad-based concern about tracking has brought withit hard, but reasonable, questions about what the alternativesmight be to ameliorating tracking-related problems withoutcompromising efforts to increase the quality and rigor of schoolprogi ams or provoking white, middle-class families to flee fromracially mixed schools. Increasingly, policymakers and practitioners want to know what good untracked schools might looklike, and what reform strategies might foster such schools. It isimportant for judges who oversee desegregation cases to knowwhether educatcrs in racially mixed schools can make furtherchanges, such as untracking, that would provide minority students with greater educational opportunities.Educators are not well prepared to answer these questions.Researchers who have focused on tracking and ability groupinghave succeeded in describing the complex and problematicnature of tracking, but they have generated little research-basedknowledge about more promising alternatives and how theymight be integrated into schools. Nevertheless, schools acrossthe country are plunging, headlong, into untracking, inventing

xiiForewordnew strategies and borrowing others from wherever they can.Until now, such schools have not only been without a knowledgebase about how untracking can work, they have also been largelyisolated from one another.This book begins to fill these important gaps. The chaptersthat follow describe specific strategies for untracking, withexamples of how these strategies vary across schools in differentlocal contexts. What stands out in the stories of these schools isthat, despite the considerable promise and "right-headedness" ofthe goal, untracking is a daunting task.First, successful untracking requires changes in a myriad ofschool practices. The experiences of these schools makes clearthat school organization, curriculuni, and classroom practicesare interrelated and mutually supportive; change in any onemust be approached in the context of a set of mutually supportive reforms. That's because tracking is just one of manyproblematic school structures and practices. Tracking supportsand is supported by much else that is wrong with schoolsthin,skills-based curricula; passive, teacher-dominated instructionalstrategies; standardized, paper-and-pen 3i1 assessment, to namejust a few. As a consequence, untracking requires far more thanthe development of new grouping and scheduling strategies.Simply mixing students into heterogeneous classrooms can'tbegin to provide ;erse groups of students with the opportunities and supportive environment that they need in order to learnwell. Neither can a single new technique pave the way. Trainingteachers in cooperative learning methods, for example, is typicalof untracking efforts. As helpful as this teaching method is,teachers still confront disconnected subject areas, fragmentedcurricula, norm-referenced assessments, inadequate supportfor special needs, isolation from their colleagues, and so on.Untracking won't work unless these other practices are alsoreconsidered and made compatible with the new groupingstructure. An outcome, now largely unanticipated, is thatsuch changes should improve the quality of schooling for allchildreneven those now receiving the "best."The array of practices invented and adapted by untrackingschools provides enormously helpful illustrations for otherschools. Nevertheless, these schools themselves should not beconsidered "models" to be copied, but, rather, purveyors of moregeneral lessons. The critical lesson they teach is that creatinga culture of detracking is more important than any particularorganizational arrangements, curricula, or instructional strate-gies attempted by a schoolas necessary as these are. Thisaccount of schools grappling with untracking shows that successful efforts move beyond an exclusively "practical" focus on12

Forewordxiiiprograms and classroom strategies and attend to values andbeliefs. Untracking schools restructure their thinking, whichallows them to build political support for classroom cultures inwhich tracking no longer makes sense.A second lesson from these schools, then, is that although newtechnologies are necessary, they are clearly insufficient to bringforth change. Alternative practices must make sense to educatorsand their communities before they can be fully implemented andsustained in schools. This making sense occurs when the valuesand beliefs at the core of tracking are challenged and replacedwith new normsnorms that support heterogeneous groupingand classroom practices that such grouping requires.Challenging norms is essential because the underlyingassumptions of any practice provide the intellectual infrastruc-ture that protects it from change. The norms that supporttracking are conventional, if increasingly obsolete, conceptionsof intelligence, as well as deep-seated racist and classist attitudesand prejudices. These ncrmsconsciously and unconsciouslydrive the day-to-day educational practices mentioned above.Tracking also conforms to the deeply ingrained bureaucraticnotion that any process can be made more efficient when it'sdivided into hierarchical levels and specialized categories.Another norm that bolsters and legitimizes tracking is theAmerican emphasis on competition and individualism overcooperation and the good of the communitya norm suggestingthat "good" education is a scarce commodity available only to afew winners. Although the American system of public educationwas designed to promote the common good and to prepare children for participation in a democratic society, more recentemphasis has been placed on what a graduate can "get out" ofschooling in terms of income, power, or status.Obviously, efforts to untrack schools must reach beyond thetechnical, day-to-day functions of the school and address theway in which our society views such matters as human capacities; individual and group differences; fairness, efficiency, andcompetition; and the goals of public education today.A third lesson drawn from these schools is that reformersmust address pressures from the social-political milieu thatholds tracking in place. Political concerns grow out of the normsthat undergird tracking and, at the same time, have a strong0influence on technical decisions at the school and district levels.The pressure placed on educators by savvy parents who wanttheir children enrolled in the "best" classes is no doubt the mostobvious such political factor. In most communities middle-classwhite parents, in particular, better understand the inequalities ina school's structure and know how to pressure the school into

xivForewordresponding positively to their children. Parents of high-track stu-dents are clearly advantagedboth in terms of educationalopportunities and statusby the current arrangement. And in acompetitive system that offers only a small percentage of students slots in the high-track classes, these parents have fewoptions but to push to have their children better educated thanother children. Administrators rightfully worry that attempts todo away with tracking will lead to a loss of support from theseinvolved parents and a lower enrollment of children from themost advantaged families. This latter concern has been fueledby advocates for high-achieving stud 2nts and those who havequalified for state and local gifted and talented programs. Theseparents and others perceive the research on tracking and theresponse it has engendered as a serious threat to high-qualityeducation for their children and constituents. They fear thatuntracking will sap the opportunities now available to highachievers. Because all schools need political supportnot onlyfor funding and physical resources, but also for credibilitya policy that allows some tracking (e.g., maintenance of separate gifted and talent programs) is often exchanged for thepolitical credit that more advantaged and involved parents bringto a school.The pressure from more affluent and better educated parentsto keep schools tracked and to have their children placed andkept in the highest-level courses certainly reflects a competitive,individualistic attitude toward the purpose of schooling. Butin racially mixed schools this view can take on another dimension. Because race, class, assessed ability, and track placementsinterrelate, heterogeneous ability grouping may mean racial inte-gration in classes where none existed before. Fearing thatminority-student enrollment leads to lower educational standards, white and we 'thy parents often lobby for their children'senrollment in more racially and socioeconomically homogeneous gifted and talented programs or honors courses withindesegregated schools. Most truly believe that their children willreceive a better education in a homogeneous classroom. Givenwhat we know about teacher expectations for students in different tracks and the resulting level of difficulty of the work thatis assigned to students in those tracks, these parents are correctin their assumptions.Successful untracking, then, will depend on building supportive communities both within and outside the school. Thispolitical dimension asks, "How might competing interestssuchas advocates for the gifted, for the disadvantaged, and forminoritiesredefine their roles and create a collective advocacyfor all children?" Building such new communities will be an44;

Forewordxvessentially political process and will require the political leadership of educators. Such support must emerge from reasoned andcritical inquiry, based on research, self-study, and democraticvalues. And, it must be built on new normson new confidencein the intellectual capacities of all children and new confidencein the ability of schools to provide for all a far richer and moremeaningful education than that now reserved only for those inthe top tracks.This book is an ambitious first step in our effort to understandand share the process of untracking. It should provide bothinspiration and sobering insight to schools that are consideringuntracking. None of the schools whose stories are told here hasresolved all of its tracking problems; many are still vulnerable tosocial and political forces grounded in old norms regarding race,class, ability, and competition for the "best" education. Whatmatters here is that these schools, and those who read aboutthem, should bear witness to the most essential lesson aboutaltering schools in ways that serve all children well: At the sametime that schools entertain new techniques, they must alsorecognize and be willing to confront the fact that tracking issimply a structural manifestation of norms deeply rooted in theculture of schooling and a reflection of the political forces drivenby these norms.Jeannie OakesUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Part I: Introduction1"To the Editor" 3From Tracking to Untracking: A Paradigm Shift 6The Scope of Tracking in Public Schools 8Negative Effects of Tracking 9Specific Problems with Tracking Young Adolescents 11Alternatives to Tracking: New Tools and Assumptions 13A Changing Economy, Demographics, and 'frocking 14Tracking as a Public-Policy Issue 15Toward More Democratic Education for All 17Part II: Conditions for Untracking19Untracldng: An Art and a Science 22Developing a "High Lxpectations" Mission 23School-Based Leadership with Teacher and ParentInvolvement in Change 25Professional Development and Support 31Changing the Paradigm: First Steps in Staff Developmentfor Untracldng Schools 34Planning for Change 36A Phase-in Change Process 38Adjustment of General School Routines 39A Phased-in Plan for Heterogeneous Grouping atRundlett Junior High: 1985-1991 40xvii

xviiiContentsAdjustment of General School Routines 42Establishing a Policy Context for Untracking 46School Reform of the 1980s: An Accelerated Middle Schoolas a Sating for Untracking 52Is It Worth It? Documenting Untracking Results 56Teacher and Student Responses to Untracking 59Part III. Strategies and Tools for Reform1 Involving Parents and the Community6365Communicating with Parents: PromotingUnderstanding of Untracking 65Gaining Parent Support for Untracking 71Guidelines for Involving Parents inthe Untracking Process 74Preparing for Tough Questions:What Do You Say When. ? 75Promoting Parent Knowledge about 'frocking 79Information for Parents and Citizens about hacking 81The Challenge for Parents: Asking the "Right Questions" 82Community-Based Pressure for Untracking 84National Citizens' Organizations 90Parents, Teachers, and the Community:Together Is Better 902 Expecting the Best91Teacher Expectations and Untracking: The Vital Link 92Communicating High Expectations 93High Expectations and Whole-School Reform 101Making High Expectations a Norm 102Untracking and Ethnic Diversity: Creating a HighExpectations Culture in Ethnically Diverse Schools 109Professional Development to RaiseTeacher Expectations 114Changing the Focus from Ability to Effort 11917

xixContents3 Organizing and Grouping for Diversity121Teaming Is Fundamental 122Variations on Heterogeneous Grouping Practices 124Providing Compensatory Educationin Heterogeneous Classes 132Integrating Language-Diverse Students 137Integrating Disabled Students 140Multiage Grouping: Promoting Learningin Family like Groups 144Grouping for Diversity as a Way of School Life 1474 High-Level Curriculumfor Heterogeneous Groups149Meaningful Curriculum for All Students 150Thinking Skills: A Cornerstoneof Meaningful Curriculum 152Professional Development for Thinking-Skills Teachers 154Philosophy for Children 156Junior Great Books Curriculum 159The HOTS Program 163Thematic, Interdisciplinary Curriculum 166Experiential, Hands-on, Project-Oriented Curriculum 174Project-Oriented Activities for Heterogeneous Groups 179Learning for Life: Linking Student Concernswith Social Issues 180Exercising Citizenship Through MeaningfulCommunity Activities 188Multilevel Groups, Multifaceted Curriculum 1905 Instruction and Assessmentfor Heterogeneous Classrooms191Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners 192Cooperative Learning: A Powerful Strategyfor Heterogeneous Groups 196Complex Instruction 204Farflre: Promoting Student-Centered,Democratic Learning 206Peer and Cross-Age Tutoring 212Professional Development for NewInstructional Techniques 214Assessment Strategies for Heterogeneous ClassroomsThe Interface of Teaching and Assessment 2261 Li217

xxContents6 What about Math?227Mathematical Proficiency of Middle-Grade Studentsand Tracking in Public Schools 228Teaching Heterogeneous Math Classrooms 229Introducing Schoolwide Changes in MathCurriculum and Instruction 240Math Curriculum for the nventy-first Century 244The Algebra Discussion: Acceleration or Enrichment? 245Assessment Strategies for HeterogeneousMath Classes 253Professional Development for New MathematicsCurriculum and Instruction 255Making Math Available for All 2587 Student Aspirations and Untracking259260Student Aspirations and the School MissionBroadening Students' Aspirations:Turning Dreams into Goals 263Making Aspirations Real Through Planningand Early-Awareness Activities 272Reorganizing School Routines to StrengthenStudent Aspirations 275Opening Doors Through Mathematics EnrichmentUsing Real-World Experiences to BroadenStudent Aspirations 279Keeping Student Goals and Needs at the Centerof Tracking Reform 281ConclusionResources263287Appendix: Untracking Schools.307276

PART IIntroductionM.

INTRODUCTIONTo the Editor:I think tracking is a good idea. Advanced studentsshould be permitted to enter an advanced placementclass, rather than be forced to remain in a class whereother students are failing or getting low grades.Jeffrey Genovese, .Allston, Massachusetts,Boston Globe, 7 February, 1991Dear Jeff:My name is Amy Pelletier, and I am a first year studentat Mount Holyoke College. I was in homogeneouslygrouped classes in seventh grade and changed toheterogeneously grouped classes (at Pioneer ValleyRegional School in Northfield, Massachusetts)in eighth grade.When the transition was first made, I did not reallyunderstand what was happening, and therefore sawlittle change. Then I began to notice that there weredifferent students in all my classes. I was no longer"stuck" in the "high-level" rotation where I saw thesame pe

DOCUMENT RESUME. UD 029 010. Wheelock, Anne Crossing the Tracks: How "Untracking" Can Save . the writer. becomes more a scribe than a creator, documenting the stories of schools and the teachers, parents, students, and citizens who . for failing to provide entry-level workers with the com