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 Segregation in schools? 
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I believe that schools are still segregated inside. Children are sorted out in the classroom by their socioeconomic status or race and are then put in a classroom that is based on their academic performance. AP, College Prep, remedial, and vocational classes are just some of the ways schools like to divide up students. White middle-upper class students have more opportunities than those minorities who teachers believe are "slower" just because they may speak differently. If any of you where in an AP or College-Prep course just think back at the types of people that were in those classes. A teacher will suggest that a child who has trouble with writing is a slow learner and will put them in a remedial class. Who's to say that they couldn't do fine in a college prep class? Those so called "slow learners" are not challenged enough to be given the chance at getting into a College-Prep course. Teachers need to challenge those students but studies show that they are not. Putting a student in a low-track hinders their opportunity to succeed and perform at a higher ability. Once we assign a child to a low track they are pretty much stuck in that track. This is because they are not challenged enough.
Maybe if we didn't divide students up and gave every student the same type of education the same type of opportunities we wouldn't have to segregate inside the schools so much. But many teachers are not willing to work with the low-track students because it requires them to do more work and give student more individual attention. So I blame the teachers for this current problem.


Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:10 pm
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My class in middle school was split into two different teams. Eventually, a rumor was started that one team was considered dumb and one was considered smart. I was unfortunately on the dumb team, but I really couldn't figure out why? In the eighth grade, I was again put on what students considered dumb. Some of the people from the smart team of the previous year was put on my team and very disappointed. So I really became to think that this was not a student-started rumor. I went to my math teacher and asked him why we are considered dumb. He was astonished by my question and literally sat down and showed me that we are administered the same tests (math wise anyway). So I thought the rumor was started by a student. A few months later, the whole "smart team" was given a shot to take a math test that could bump them into algebra I, a ninth grade level course. You had to make a 100 on the test. 8 out of maybe 40 made perfect 100's. I was so upset that my team was not given this opportunity. I literally fought to receive the highest math grade score of the whole eighth grade class, both teams. I think I came into second. So my math teacher asks the other team's math teacher why we were not given a shot. She claimed there wouldn't be enough room at the high school for us to move up. There was just no way that they could have thought only 8 would move on out of 40. I mean, if 35 passed, was they going to tell them that they couldn't move on anyway? I don't think so. The only other explanation I have come up with is the rowdy students. The rowdy students were mostly on our team. I was not rowdy at all in school, as was some other members of my team. Was we put on there to help the rowdy students? They were not dumb...they would just get bored sometimes. I just don't understand why if every class had the same tests and everyone did exceptionally well, then why did we not all get a chance to take that test to place into algebra I? After the test was not given to my team, many of my members felt like we were being left behind and our self-esteem dropped. This also includes members that were considered "rowdy." Why were we based on teams? If it had to do with students being rowdy, then why was I left behind? Why were they? If adminstered the same tests, we should have all gotten a shot and teams should have never been started to begin with!

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Jessie Carrigan


Thu Feb 08, 2007 3:30 pm
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Teachers make many assumptions of their students before they even get to know them based on their test scores. I never took any AP classes but I did take some honors courses. In those classes there were the same group of students and not too many were let in. I had some really intelligent friends who were not allowed to take these courses because their test scores were not high enough. I know they would have done fine in the class, but were not given that opportunity. It's sad that students at younger ages are being designated as a certain learner. My Learner Diversity professor told us the story of how he took a standardized test that was still being worked on. Since he was told the test was not for a grade he didn't pay any attention to the questions and just filled in the bubbles. Later, when the scores came back, he had to talk to the principle with his parents about going to the school for special learners. He had to confess what he had done. But the teachers knew he was a good student and based on one test that wasn't even official he was about to be sent to a different school. As teachers, we should never take test scores so seriously and challenge all students, no matter what kind of learner they are.


Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:53 pm
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After reading the article "Is Ability Grouping Equitable" I had a thought. I agree that students who are in a low-tracking class are falling further behind and students who are in a high-tracking class are getting further ahead. This is because the work the low-track students are doing is very repetitive and non-challenging. This type of learning environment makes their attitude about school change. Teachers in low-tracking classrooms spend more time with behavior than they do on instruction. Eventually these students in low-tracking classrooms will get bored and drop out of school when they turn 16.
Teachers need to encourage students in low-tracking classes to keep up with their peers. We need to set the same academic standards and give these students the same opportunities in order to change the negative climate in these classrooms. Making learning engaging and fun will give these students a better attitude about school and education.


Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:10 pm
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I know I am a few days late but I was just reading the posts of you guys and I thought I would put in my input. I grew up in a really poor community so most of our high school teachers pretty much put a label on us as we entered high school. I know many of my friends who were just as smart as me were put into these low-tracking classrooms because of there socioeconomic status. A few of my friends, including myself, however were put into the 4 year college prep classes which were the ones that included the honors and AP classes. Each year I had classes with the same 20 students and the only diverse classes I had were either Team Sports or any vocational class I decided to take. Unfortunately no matter how well my other friends succeeded in their classrooms they were never allowed to move into our classrooms and that really devastated them and actually caused them to give up in school. Out of about 15 of my really good friends only 9 of us graduated because the others who were just as smart as us dropped out because in their classes nothing was really expected of them. I totally agree that we shouldn't divide the students up and that we should give every studenet equal opportunities to succeed. I mean why are their standard courses of study if you are only going to apply it to one group of students!? If there hadn't been that division of students by status when we first entered high school, who knows what my other friends would be doing now!?!


Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:42 am
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I think that the difficult part in all this isn't the fact that tracking exists. Fundamentally tracking is a good idea. I know that it may seem hard to deal with thinking what we think about tracking, but there is something to be said for finding out where people are most comfortable and will be most successful and putting them on that course. The problem lies in the fact that there isn’t any way for us to really know where students belong, and they may often be too apathetic to give us hints. But surely college isn’t for everyone. In our earlier class conversations we sang the praises of learning trades, and working with ones’ hands. It’s just impossible to tell at such an early age.

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Matthew Pickard


Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:58 pm
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I agree with Matthew that it is very difficult to be able to place students in such particular groups at a young age. But I do believe that once you have reached the high school age, you either have an idea of what you are capable of, or you have been placed in an area where others have pushed you to think that you are only capable of what is expected in this group. Many of these discussions have focused on tracking and the pros and cons. I don't think that any one person is going to be able to choose a system of teaching students of all levels without burning out or leaving some students bored or others behind. Therefore, yes, in terms of academics our schools will continue to be segregated, because every child is made different and has different needs. This requires us, as teachers to figure out a way to integrate students and encourage interaction between our AP and our tech prep students to enrich both of their lives. I don't have the answer for how to make it happen, but it would be so efficient and helpful to require some students to take vocational classes along with their strenuous AP schedule (which I also believe will help them to achieve better because they have something to break from traditional academics with) and allow some of those students who believe that they can handle one AP or one honors class to have the opportunity to prove themselves. There has got to be something that can be done inside the schools to push the integration of academic levels... I think from this our society could possibly become better in terms of respect for other people.

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Sara G Marshall


Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:22 pm
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