0 Grouping in School

The term tracking or ability grouping is a technique used by certain schools to classify and group the students depending upon their levels of achievement or perceived ability. In order to provide the students of a certain IQ level with suitable instruction and curriculum, the students are placed in low, middle, or high tracks. This practice was started during the 1930s. Over the decades, it has gained a lot of controversy (Hyland). The tracking or ability grouping in schools allows the teachers adequate distribution of time and attention across tracks but is not a very good technique as it relies upon dubious levels of achievement for the classification of students, deprives the week students of the help of strong students, and promotes inequality among the students.

The pros of tracking or ability grouping include uniformity of capability in all students in a certain class. The teacher can expect the performance of students on the basis of the track in which they have been placed. This makes everything more predictable for the teacher so that he/she can make realistic and practicable schedules. The teacher prepares the lecture as per the individualistic needs of the students in a certain track. Usually, the students in high track take lesser time to understand as compared to those in the low track. This makes it possible for the school administration to spare right amount of time for the right track of students. In such a system, the students particularly those who are in the low track are advantaged in that they get more attention from the teacher than what they would otherwise get.

The cons of tracking or ability grouping include classification of students according to their level of achievement which may not always give a fair estimate of a student’s ability. There are certain students who are quite capable but are not able to achieve very good grades because of certain factors like parental divorce, or bullying in the school. The tracking or ability grouping system is oblivious of such influencing factors. In addition to this, weak students in the tracking or ability grouping system are not able to seek help of stronger and more achieving students because the two are in different tracks following different curriculums.

The tracking or ability grouping promotes inequality. Students that are placed in the low track tend to think low of themselves. They tend to believe that they are losers, and cannot achieve much even if they try. On the other hand, students placed in the high track are at risk of becoming over-confident, which in turn, may ruin their performance.

Concluding, tracking or ability grouping method of teaching is controversial. This method of teaching is more favorable for the teachers as compared to the students in that the teachers can make fair estimate of time and effort required by the students of a certain track. However, this method of teaching increases students’ risk of becoming under-confident or over-confident depending upon the tracks in which they have been placed.

Works Cited

Hyland, Meghann. “Ability Grouping in Schools: Helpful or Harmful.” 1997. Web. 22

June 2012. <http://www.wright-house.com/ac/papers97/Hyland-ac1.html>.