Tracking in Education (Homogeneous Grouping)

12/14/17 • 46 min

Tracking students in education has been around a long time. Grouping students into grades or courses by their perceived ability, based on some assessment or criteria, has long been the practice, with the idea that students will 'get what they need' if they are grouped together. But does this work? Can homogenous grouping be successful for all students?

Episode 8 explores the history of tracking and some of the benefits and drawbacks of tracking students. We will also get a few teachers perspectives on the idea of ability grouping, and hear from Lizzy Barnes, the Math District Supervisor for San Francisco Public Schools on their policy of no-tracking in mathematics. This controversial move has led to a change in the math curriculum with no students in SFUSD taking algebra until 9th grade.

Take a listen, and if you want to find out more about tracking in general and/or SFUSD's efforts and successes, here are some links:

1) NCTM's white paper on Tracking and Dismantling it.

2) Research on Tracking and its impact on equity

3) Edweek article on Tracking Issues

4) A different perspective on Tracking - The Upside

5) Pros and Cons of Tracking

6) SFUSD's Heterogenous Math Curriculum Project

Take a listen, and if you want to find out more about tracking in general and/or SFUSD's efforts and successes, here are some links:

1) NCTM's white paper on Tracking and Dismantling it.

2) Research on Tracking and its impact on equity

3) Edweek article on Tracking Issues

4) A different perspective on Tracking - The Upside

5) Pros and Cons of Tracking

6) SFUSD's Heterogenous Math Curriculum Project

Previous Episode

Custom Curriculum

In this episode, we talk to Lizzie Hull Barnes, the Director of Mathematics for the San Francisco Unified School District, about how they created a curriculum to replace textbooks in order to best meet the needs of their students and teachers. Karen and Tim discuss the pros and cons of abandoning traditional textbooks while Tim falls over himself providing the disclaimer about how this discussion is now part of his job.

Lizzie talks about the SFUSD's curriculum, which was the result of a team of education leaders and dedicated math teachers who worked collaboratively to design a rich mathematics curriculum that is showing promising results. For more information, here are some links:

SFUSD Math Core Curriculum Page: http://www.sfusdmath.org/
Interesting Articles regarding the SFUSD Math Curriculum:

This is our first sponsored episode, so we want to thank ConstructedEd for their support and efforts in creating a customized curriculum. For more information please go to the ConstructEd link www.createcustomizeadopt.com

Next Episode

Education Adventures in Kenya

We are back from our extended holiday break with a special episode. One of our hosts, Tim, as part of his work with Teachers2Teachers Global, traveled to Kenya this past summer to work with teachers and students and share educational and cultural experiences. Our guest in this episode, Mary Mooney, is a colleague and friend who works for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, was part of this adventure. During the episode, Tim and Mary reflect on their experience and share some stories and perspectives on education, comparing the US system to what they observed in Kenya. We hear voices from some of the people Tim and Mary met along the way, and hear their perspectives on education as students and as parents. There's a little bit of singing, a little bit of laughing and a lot of fun.

Join us for this cross-cultural experience and a new perspective on education.

Here are a couple of pictures from Tim and Mary's adventures in Kenya, including some education and some wildlife....enjoy!