Nia Quinones: Tracking

Tracking should be eliminated from schools to a certain extent.  Grouping children at a young age into “honors” and “normal” classes for all subjects is an extreme form of tracking.  This should be eliminated.  This form of tracking generally puts low-income children into the normal classes.  This is because these low-income students don’t have the resources to be “advanced” enough for the “honors classes”.  (Tutors, Prep Books etc.)    While higher income students are in the honors classes using the same logic.  Statistically speaking, this puts more Blacks and Hispanics into the normal classes, and Asian and Caucasians into the honors classes.    I propose that instead of grouping students, all students should be mixed equally.  Furthermore, money should be dedicated to hiring tutors, buying prep books, spending time giving extra help sessions similar to open hours college professors give, in order to help the slower students progress.  This would guarantee that no student would slow another student down.  More importantly, it would eliminate all the negative effects of such an extreme form of tracking.

I believe AP classes in certain subjects, where students have the choice to take the course or not, are acceptable.  I think there most appropriate in higher-level schools, (high school and college.)