Detracking in Context: How Local Constructions of Ability Complicate Equity-Geared Reform

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Autor/in	Rubin, Beth C.
Titel	Detracking in Context: How Local Constructions of Ability Complicate Equity-Geared Reform
Quelle	In: Teachers College Record, 110 (2008) 3, S.646-699 (54 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1467-9620
Schlagwörter	Teaching Methods; Educational Change; Grade 9; Educational Opportunities; Social Studies; Politics of Education; Classroom Environment; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Status; Case Studies; Educational Philosophy; Attitudes; Context Effect; High Schools; Heterogeneous Grouping; Track System (Education); Educational Innovation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Bildungsreform; School year 09; 9. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 09; Bildungsangebot; Bildungschance; Gemeinschaftskunde; Educational policy; Bildungspolitik; Klassenklima; Unterrichtsklima; Rassenunterschied; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Bildungsphilosophie; Erziehungsphilosophie; Attitude; Einstellung; Verhalten; High school; Oberschule; Leistungsgruppe; Leistungsdifferenzierung; Instructional innovation; Bildungsinnovation
Abstract	Background/Context: Recent sociocultural studies of detracking describe the ways in which notions of ability--local understandings of students' intellectual capacities--are at play in these settings, shaping both the politics and the practice of the reform. This study extends this examination into the classrooms of detracking schools. Purpose: This article considers the enactment of detracking in the ninth grade social studies classrooms of three public high schools. Through a detailed look at classroom life in racially and socioeconomically distinct public high school settings, it explores how local notions of ability shape the implementation of classroom practices in general and of detracking reform in particular. Setting: The research took place in three public comprehensive high schools in a northeastern state with the following characteristics: 1) low income and predominantly African American and Latino; 2) high income and predominantly White; 3) socioeconomically diverse and predominantly African American and White. Research Design: This study used an interpretive research methodology and a multiple case study design. Data Collection and Analysis: Data was collected at each of the three schools over the course of an academic year in the following ways: 1) extensive observations of detracked ninth grade social studies classes; 2) interviews with students and teachers participating in those classes; 3) shadowing of students through the school day; 4) collection of school generated documents. Findings/Results: At the low income, majority African American and Latino school, detracking reform was framed by a discourse of deficit that posited all of the school's students as unwaveringly low in ability, and classroom practices provided little opportunity for students to either display or develop competence. In contrast, detracking at the suburban, homogeneous school spurred a creative curriculum targeted to the needs of individual students in the heterogeneous classroom, all of whom were presumed to be bright, motivated and college bound despite varied skills. At the racially and socioeconomically integrated school, a community and school system in which people were highly concerned with issues of equity and diversity, teaching practices in the detracked classroom emphasized flexibility and personalization, providing opportunities for students to examine social and cultural issues in a discussion-centered framework. Students, both within and among the three schools, experienced detracking reform in ways that were distinct and not equally beneficial. Conclusions: Translating a structural reform into change that is meaningful for students is a complex endeavor. Effective detracking involves changes at multiple levels: in institutional structures, classroom practices, and teacher and student beliefs about ability. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Teachers College, Columbia University. P.O. Box 103, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3774; Fax: 212-678-6619; e-mail: tcr@tc.edu; Web site: http://www.tcrecord.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10