How Schools Structure Inequality By Jeannie Oakes: An Analysis

Tracking is the norm in our nation’s schools. People expect it, welcome it, and rarely question it. Tracking is supposed to benefit students by having them work with other students of a similar ability level, rather than a mixed group of students all with different ability levels, that way content and pacing does not leave some students far behind while other students are miles ahead. And this system works, doesn’t it? Actually no, according to some researchers. Jeannie Oakes especially has a compelling argument that tracking in fact harms students (Oakes, J. (2005). Keeping track: How Schools Structure Inequality 2nd Edition. p. 1-14). She argues that tracking causes inequality in several ways. First of all, the perception of a student’s intelligence

In addition to this, tracking can affect students’ self-esteem and perception of themselves based on what track they are in or how their peers and the adults in their life perceive them based on what track they are in. Secondly, a huge difference in the quality of education a student receives comes from what track they are in. As told by Molly Schwabe, her young daughter was placed in the lowest reading group in her class and learned and did far less than her classmates in higher reading groups. While her daughter was only learning vowel sounds, other groups were reading stories (Schwabe, M. (1997). “The Pigs: When Tracking Takes Its Toll”. p. 129). Thirdly, an inequality that comes from tracking is the fact that much of the placement process uses testing and a greatly disproportionate amount of lower class students and students of color do worse than white students and middle class students, meaning it is white and middle class students who get placed into higher tracks and lower class and students of color are placed into lower