What Is Tracking? Cultural Expectations in the United States, Germany, and Japan

Abstract

On the basis of the TIMSS Case Study Project data collected in the United States, Japan, and Germany in 1994-1995, this article examines the phenomenon of tracking as part of curricular differentiation and student placement practices in public K-12 school systems. The authors document clear national differences in differentiation and placement measures and summarize the history of conflict over those measures. Analysis of respondent perceptions and beliefs about differentiation and placement (what people think "tracking" is) shows that nation-specific values and attitudes (i.e., cultures) determine which forms of curricular differentiation are legitimated and which contested. Dominant cultural beliefs about what students are capable of and the role that schools should play in educating them create different points of conflict over tracking. . Her areas of specialization are culture, cognition, and schooling; learning strategies and motivation; and beliefs about knowledge and knowing (personal epistemology). HIDETADA SHIMIZU is an Associate Professor in the

Math self-concept, grades, and achievement test scores: Long-term reciprocal effects across five waves and three achievement tracks.

“…This is surprising because many educational systems implement at least some kind of tracking, particularly in secondary education (Chmielewski, Dumont, & Trautwein, 2013;LeTendre, Hofer, & Shimizu, 2003).…”

Only the Names Have Been Changed: Ability Grouping Revisited

“…If so, the message does not seem to have reached parents whose children were in regular/low classes. Past and recent research suggests that many parents of students in lowerlevel classes have less education and less knowledge of school systems than parents of children in higher-level classes, as well as less access to informal networks that help them obtain information about school placements, including how to override normal placement channels (Apple 2001;Auerbach 2002;LeTendre et al 2003;Rosenbaum 1976). Parents who do not speak English, who do not feel comfortable in schools, whose skin color differs from those in charge, and who take class labels at face value have more limited chances of successfully advocating for their children (Auerbach;Fine et al 2005).…”

“…Judging from research and reviews written since that time, many educators and researchers believe the lessons learned from research about the damaging effects of ability grouping have been applied in educational practice and that the differential instruction of current times bears no resemblance to the tracking Urban Rev (2010) 42:271-295 275 and ability of the past (Barr 1995;LeTendre et al 2003;Lucas 1999;Rogers 2004Oakes 2005. However LeTendre et al (2003) suggested that the practice of comparing, sorting, and classifying students has not vanished in the U.S. but has merely become a back-burner issue, and a recent resurgence of research and academic debate suggests that ability grouping is again (or still) thriving (Blanchett 2006;Chorzempa and Graham 2006;Orfield and Lee 2004;Watanabe 2006;Yonezawa and Jones 2006).…”

¿Desventaja académica de los hijos de inmigrantes? La excepción canaria en el contexto español

“…Esta aproximación está dominada por la exploración de los efectos institucionales. Especialmente fecundo es el debate sobre la influencia de las formas de diferenciación escolar y, más concretamente, de dos de las cinco distinguidas en la clasificación de LeTendre et al (2003): los itinerarios educativos o tracking, y el agrupamiento por capacidades (Pfeffer, 2015). Las investigaciones concluyen que la diferenciación obstaculiza tanto la igualdad de oportunidades como la calidad educativa, y que, consecuentemente, no hay evidencia de que dé lugar a un trade-off entre ambas (Pfeffer, 2015;Van de Werfhorst y Mijs, 2010).…”