Tracking (education)
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Tracking is the practice of separating students by ability into different classes or schools. In some nations such as Japan and Germany, different high schools cater to student who had the highest test scores. In comprehensive high schools, common in the United States, a student may take classes of differing content or difficulty, but graduate with students of differing abilities.
[edit] Equity
Equity has become a significant issue in education, and it is argued that holding everyone to high standards will result in increased learning. In standards-based terminology, the phrase "all students will" is often used to indicate that tracking will not be allowed to distinguish between classes of students in ability. Many states have implemented rigorous high school exit examinations with high standards required of all students. While traditionally, high school students have had a choice of remedial, basic, or college prep math tracks, new standards-based mathematics texts are often designed for all students, covering topics such as matrices and matrix multiplication that were once taught only in college calculus, in the belief that all students need to study advanced math. Vocational training was once a significant alternative to high school students who weren't the strongest academically, but many have called a diploma which does not signify that a student is ready to graduate into a 4 year college is effectively worthless in the 21st century economy.
[edit] Realism
Standards-based education is based largely on the belief that the thorough redesign of education according to progressive and constructivist reforms will enable all students to perform at high levels. Advocates of traditional education do not share this optimistic belief that differences in ability and interests in groups and individuals is merely due to defects in the system, or that all students are capable, or are best served studying the highest levels of mathematics and language rather than pursuing a trade or less academically intensive interests. Ironcially, one of the founding principals of education in the 20th century was to make it available to all students of academic or non-academic interests and abilities. The movement to end tracking and impose one standard to fit all may act to return education's focus to producing an educated elite, but for all.
