What is the bigger issue that tracking was designed to solve?

As promised, I am delving into my original brainstorm of possible research questions. The answer to this comes out of many conversations with my husband about general issues in the public education system. His basic theory is that public schools in the US are based on the idea that all students who are the same age learn at the same general pace. Not from day to day, but from year to year. His basic theory says that the US Department of Education assumes that all 7-year-olds are within a specific spectrum of learning, and all 17-year-olds are also within their own specific spectrum of learning for their age. The reason I believe the public schools operate on this assumption is simply volume. We (speaking as an educator in the public schools) need to account for the different learning styles of all of our students. The most effective way to reach the majority of students is to teach to the majority. Unfortunately, students who are at the extremes of the spectrum, whether the high or the low, do not experience schools catering to their learning pace.

Thinking about the issue with his basic theory brings a few thoughts to light

1) If you are a student in the extremes (learning pace or style), the public schools are probably not the most effective learning environment for you.

2) I am most concerned with public education, and the issues that affect the students and teachers therein.

3) In doing my research, I will most likely take out the students on the extreme extremes. I will need to find a way to determine who is at the extremes, and who will be appropriately serviced by the public schools.

Skewing the Research

Of the reading I have done so far, half of the researchers believe that tracking is an educationally sound idea, and half of the researchers are opposed to it. I am sure that I could easily ignore half of the research, and find sufficient proof of any theory. My task is to create a research question that will force me to look at all of the previous findings, and create my own valid conclusion, vaild being the operative word here. If anyone out there has any good guidelines to help me to develop a research question, feel free to share!

Narrowing Down

I'm starting to narrow down my research focus. Although I've had experience teaching students from the age of 8 to 80, I've decided that middle school is my favorite. Middle School is the place where serious tracking (note: not ability grouping) begins. It is where students begin to recognize their labels, and is the time when students begin their self-fulfilling prophecies. Much of the research that I have found so far is in conflict. This proves that the research has not yet been done in a satisfactory scientific manner. I am not interested in doing research to simply earn a degree. I'm looking to prove something. I'm looking for an outcome that can help me to convince schools to organize themselves in the most beneficial way for students. After all, that's why we're working in education, right? In the immortal words of Scooby Doo (actually, it's every villian in the Scooby Doo cartoons), "If it weren't for those dang-blasted kids!" Well, for me, those dang-blasted kids are why I'm interested in this research.



Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

A Good Principal

I recently read this post in The Education Wonks, and it gave me a lot to think about. I'd love to use it as a checklist for my first year as an administrator. If there are teachers reading this, feedback would be wonderful. There are 25 items listed in this post that a good administrator does (or doesn't do). What would you say are the top 5 that a first year administrator should strive towards?