In looking at European Educational Ideas we see the emergence of a more child center approach to education. Education is no longer available only to wealthy males, but is made available to both boys and girls. Experiential, more discovery based learning comes into being and the doctrine of interest takes a prominent place in educational thinking. As we trace the trends in education during this time period we also see the emergence, or re-emergence, of the idea of tracking in education. As introduced in classical periods tracking has been put forth as a form of recognizing the unique needs of students. Not all children are destined for leadership. As such, some will need a more vocational track; some will need a more arts oriented track and so on. In its essence, tracking recognizes the varied needs and gifts of all children.
In considering the use of tracking the question arises – how are we determining which track of education is appropriate for a given child and at what point in the educational process do we initiate a more tracked approach. In ancient times it was assumed that children of nobility were destined to leadership and, therefore, in need of a more purely academic form of education while children of the working class were destined to follow in their parents footsteps and in need of a more vocation/apprenticeship oriented course of study. In more contemporary times we think of education with more democratic ideals in mind. Our laws governing special education (IDEA) are rooted in the belief that every child, regardless of handicapping condition, should have equal access to educational opportunity. Programs such as Head Start target children of poverty in the hopes of boosting their skills prior to the beginning of kindergarten, thereby having them enter school on a more equal footing with their more middle class peers.
Yet for all our egalitarian ideals tracking is a very real concern in our school today. Looking at statistics made available from our state OSPI we find that if you are in special education you only have a 56% chance of graduating from high school. If you are low income that chance rises, but only to 62%. This compares to an overall graduation rate of 77% and a rate of 80% if you are Caucasian. While there can be many reasons for these statistics, one factor to consider is that some of our programs for these at risk children seem to perpetuate the gap in skills as opposed to truly remediating those skills. These programs can offer a glimpse of tracking that falls far from the original intent of early Greek educators such as Socrates and Plato.
In one of my schools we have approached this problem with the implementation if a program called Turn Around Schools. This program is directed at school with high numbers of low income students with the aim of building the possibility of higher education for all students. With the ethic that there is no excuse for not pursuing some kind of post-secondary education the motto of After high school comes college is embraced by every Turn Around School. Every class, from kindergarten through grade six, has been adapted by a university and regular communication goes back and forth between students and university staff. Our kindergarteners all make a visit to a local college or university with the idea of instilling early on that college is an option for all of our students. Our fifth and sixth graders make a more detailed visit to a university in the area to get a more in depth taste of college life. While this program is no panacea for achievement delays, it instills a school wide ethic that every child deserves the opportunity for the very best in education.
As Mortimer Adler was quoted in our most recent lecture The best course of study for the best is the best course of study of all. All our children deserve the opportunity to aim for the very best our educational stems have to offer.
Damien Lopez. Turn Around Schools retrieved on 5/1/2012 from http://turnaroundschools.com/about-us/staff/
Ellis, A (2012) Lecture: European Educational Ideas: The Beginnings of the Modern Era.
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OASP) Retrieved on 5/1/2012 from http://www.k12.wa.us/research/default.aspx
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