How-to-Study Blog

When I attended public school years ago, there were several classes in each of our elementary and middle school grades.  Fifth grade classes, for example, were designated 5-1 through 5-6.  As students, we didn’t realize that we were assigned to these classes based on our ability.  The term “tracking” wasn’t in place and things seemed simpler then.

In today’s schools, the controversy rages as to whether students should be tracked into classes based on ability levels, or whether we should have classes comprised of students of mixed ability levels.  The affluent city of Stamford, Connecticut, has taken on the question this year.  Their current tracking system of three to five levels based on ability at each of their middle schools will be replaced this fall by a two-tiered model.  In this model, the top quarter of sixth graders will be enrolled in honors classes, and the rest in mixed-ability classes.

The Stamford superintendent maintains that the current tracking plan has failed to prepare many students in the lower levels for high school and college.  Advocates of the plan point out that mixed-ability classes produce improvements in student behavior, academic performance, and teaching.  The stigma of being in low classes is eliminated, and low achieving students can learn from higher achieving students.  However, opponents point to downsides, notably that the curriculum may have to be modified, and the pace of instruction slowed.  One student in an experimental mixed-ability class stated “My grades are going up, and that’s not really surprising because the standards have been lowered.”

This is a difficult issue with no simple solution – any suggestions?