Gonzalez 1

Lizbeth Gonzalez
Lindsey Barber
EDF2085
12 February, 2016

Focus Your Cultural Lens - DeTracking

1. How do schools ensure that the voices of low and middle income
families are included in the discussions about detracking and the provision
of educational equity in schools?
For schools, to ensure that the voices of low-and-middle-income families are
included in discussions about detracking they have to inform parents about laws
concerned detracking and studies about how tracking affect low-ability students.
Also, arranging a parents meeting (upper-middle-lower class) could be effective if
everybodys point of views are respected and heard. Some courts have ordered
school districts to detrack their schools. (Welner, 2002) (Gollnick and Chinn, 101)
2. How does detracking schools contribute to the provision of equal
educational opportunity?
Detracking schools contribute to the provision of equal educational
opportunity eliminating the concept that low-income students or students of color
are not able to advance academically. Also, would provide equality of the
curriculum for students of all classes and races.
3. What other steps could school officials take to provide low income
students greater access to advanced courses?

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To provide low income students greater access to advanced courses, school
officials can change the way the school curriculum is developed, including
challenging courses and give tutoring to those in need. Some gifted students can
tutoring their classmates to create an environment in which students contribute
with each other.
4. What are your reasons for supporting or not supporting the detracking
strategies in schools?
Im not sure of whether to support or not support detracking. Some teachers
fight detracking, in part because they do not believe that heterogeneous groupings
contribute to the learning of all students. They may believe that gifted students will
suffer if they are integrated with students who do not perform at the same
academic level (Gollnick and Chinn, 101) Today I was in a school meeting for my 8
year old son who have autism. He entered ESOL because we are from Puerto Rico
and our main language is Spanish. At this date has been a year since we moved to
Dunnellon and hes doing pretty well at school. Andres was tracking in the lowability students and we belong to the Latino group. But today in the meeting, school
administrators told me that Andres is so brilliant that hes referred to be part of the
gifted group. Me as a parent, felt proud of my child and all the improvements that
he is embracing. Andress teachers understand that he have to be promoted to the
gifted group because of his high skills in reading, spelling and his abilities to recite
answers by memory. Additionally, my son is always reading and watching series
and TV programs about science, animals, nature, history and sports. Therefore, I do
want my child to be on the gifted group because I know he have the potential to
make it works and I have to support my sons achievement. These are my reason to
support tracking but I also can recommend that school change the curriculum to a

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one more interesting and somehow challenging for those students that can catch up
lessons fast.

5. Think about your own educational experience: many schools have

several types of "tracks" that students are enrolled in such as the
vocational track, general track, college preparation track and the honors
track. What "track" were you placed in for your educational experience?
Do you feel that it adequately prepared you for your current educational
status in college? Why or why not?
When I was in middle school I was attached to the Honor track. To be honest,
I never knew that this was a discriminatory group. Somehow I was feeling proud
of my success and I was also part of the low-income class at that time. Then, in
high school I was, again, part of the Honor track. I was accepted at the University of
Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus (high college) by Early Admission. And then again,
at college I was in some advanced courses. I believe the years in middle and high
school taught me what I needed to be prepare and be competent at College level.
Here at CF is not the same because I have my language disadvantage but Im doing
my best to catch up!