Talking Points #6

Article #1

Jeannie Oakes

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route

Oakes argues that schools should not group students together who share similar abilities because it will affect students from reaching their full potential. By having students of different abilities in the same classroom it will allow all students to grow and be will allow them to reach their full learning potential.

1. "Moreover, the nature of these differences suggests that students who are placed in high-ability groups bave access to far richer schooling experiences than other students."

I believe that this is one of the main thing Oakes argues about. By grouping students according to skill level will not allow the students to reach full potential in a learning enviornment.

2. "Higher-ability students are expected spend more time doing homework."

I agree with this statement from one standpoint because typically students who get really good grades are the students who take harder classes and get more homework. From another standpoint I think this statement is ridiculous because students do need a break from being overworked in very difficult classes.

3. "No wonder we find a 'rich get richer and poor get poorer' pattern of outcomes from tracking."

I agree with this statement because if we seperate students into higher and lower ability classes, students in the higher ability classes will be more geared to make them succeed in life. Therefore making jobs more accessable for them in the future.

Overall this article was pretty good. It was an easy and very short read. I agreed with just about everything Oakes talked about. By seperating students into ability classrooms it will definitely make the rich richer and the poor poorer. She speaks the truth about the world.