Can Tracking Research Inform Practice? Technical, Normative, and Political Considerations

Teachers’ strategies for implementation of de-streaming in secondary mathematics classes

“…He is also a strong proponent of enrichment programs, believing that not only do the highest achieving 3% benefit, but that they are appropriate for all students (Slavin, 1993). Oakes (1992) was supportive of Slavin, adding that the benefits high achievers experience in streamed classes are not from the homogeneity of the group, but from their enriched curriculum. This is something which lower stream students would also thrive on, if given sufficient support.…”

Why theory matters: An examination of contemporary learning time reforms

“…In the case of learning time reforms intended to promote equity for students from marginalized communities, we find such technical forces to be especially relevant and explanatory in regard to reform outcomes. Much like Oakes (1992) found in her analysis of detracking reforms in the 1990s, we contend that in order for a learning time reform to successfully carry out its intended aims of increasing the amount and quality of time that a child spends learning every day, the surrounding school, teacher, and community practices must also be "reconsidered and made compatible" (p. 18). While we saw learning time reforms taking many forms across both the literature and in practice, such as through a partnership and subsequent internship with a community organization, an added hour of science instruction, or adding a week to the school year's calendar, to name just a few, each type of reform was necessarily mediated by an almost innumerable amount of technical forces that ought to be accounted for in reform design, implementation, and evaluation.…”

“…As noted by Oakes (1992) in her discussion of the detracking reform, "the technical changes in any one practice…will require simultaneous attention to the myriad other practices that correspond to it" (p. 17). Similarly, simply adding time to the school day implicates not only the students themselves, but also their parents' daily routines, district transportation systems, and notably, the teachers and their time.…”

“…A professional development sequence aiming to better teach the writing of computer code could be part of a challenging and important reform, and it may require a concerted effort in order to be successful-but it would not confront certain additional obstacles encountered by reforms that challenge power relations or who gets access to scarce resources. Using the example of de-tracking in schools, on the other hand, Oakes (1992) explains the normative and political forces, as well as technical forces, that consequentially impact such equity-oriented reforms.…”

“…This reform might also confront political resistance from more efficacious parents at the school, who worry that these opportunities, if not rationed, might be diluted for their own children. The resulting reforms are often reshaped or completely undermined by politically powerful resistance among parents or teachers who see stratified systems as necessary to provide higher quality opportunities for students they see as more deserving or motivated (Oakes, 1992;Wells & Serna, 1996;Welner, 2001). Similarly, a school's attempt to dismantle a "zero tolerance" discipline policy may be affected by racialized beliefs concerning deviance or criminality, as mediated by local community institutions and popular media norms; it might also be impacted by political imbalances tied to race and class at the local, state and national levels.…”