Oakes- "Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route"

Reflection-
     Reading this article reminded me of my final paper I wrote for my first year writing class. I chose to research ability grouping and tracking. We also had to create a blog about our topic, which I will link here.
     In my paper and blog I talked about how even though ability grouping and tracking are very controversial, when done correctly they are useful and should be tried out in all classrooms.
     When most people hear about ability grouping they see it as this rigid systems where kids are set up to fail and be pit against one another but I see it as an opportunity to grow. When you separate students by ability for even part of the day they get to experience a more individualized learning where everyone is on the same page. They get to step out of their normal roles in a typical classroom and grow.
     I think that the biggest reason why ability grouping ever fails is due to the stigma surrounding it and not finding the right educators to implement it. Oakes talked about how kids in "lower ability groups" get less qualified teachers who come in with a negative attitude about their students. I see this as a problem with the teachers rather than the system. For this system, and for any other classroom system, to work you need teachers who are free of bias and who have a growth mindset towards their students, otherwise any system is doomed to fail.