Case Study Essay

Please note: These scenarios are fictional. Although they refer to real schools and school districts, the names and situations described in them are entirely fictional. The references to real schools and districts are intended to provide a realistic context for the scenarios and are not intended as criticisms of or commentary about schools or school districts.

Scenario for Group 5: Ability Grouping (Tracking)

Background. Recently, the administration at Vorheesville High School, with the approval of the school board, has proposed a revised curriculum that would eliminate all formal tracking or ability grouping at the school, with the exception of official Advanced Placement (AP) courses that follow the prescribed AP curriculum. The proposed action would eliminate both honors and accelerated classes in all subjects as well as remedial or "basic" classes. Special needs students would still have access to various pull-out programs and special assistance, as required by the state of New York, but mainstream students would now all be grouped heterogeneously--that is, students of all ability levels would be mixed together in all regular classes. The school administration proposed this effort to "de-track" its curriculum after a two-year study of the issue that was prompted by complaints among some parents that students who were not placed in honors or accelerated classes were disadvantaged by the existing curriculum and did not receive the same instructional benefits as those who were placed in advanced or honors classes. The proposal to detrack is supported by these parents and by research that seems to indicate that there are many drawbacks to ability grouping or tracking. However, the proposal has sparked an uproar among many other parents in the district who believe that detracking would weaken the curriculum and leave high-achieving students (especially college-bound students) at a significant disadvantage. Many teachers agree. They worry that detracking would make their jobs more difficult and result in the need to "water down" their lessons in order to address the needs of low- achieving students in their classes. They also point out that by most measures, Vorheesville High School students are successful, with high rates of graduate and college attendance and consistently high scores on the Regents exams. They see no need to change the longstanding policies to group students according to ability and to provide "enrichment" to more advanced students. The intense protests have prompted the School Board to postpone a decision on the proposal and to revisit the issue.

Group Task. You have been assigned to chair a district-wide committee at the request of the School Board to re-examine the issue of ability grouping at the high school and to offer a recommendation about whether the school should adopt the proposal to detrack its curriculum. You have been specifically asked to identify the main advantages and disadvantages of a tracked versus a detracked curriculum in the context of the school's stated mission and your committee's fundamental beliefs about the purposes of education.

In your case study response, be sure to address the following:

1. Identify the specific contextual factors that come into play in this scenario (e.g. social and demographic factors, historical factors related to education and testing, political factors,

community and school characteristics, professional factors, beliefs about learning and education) and examine how these factors influence the situation.

2. Connect this specific scenario to the ongoing controversy about tracking and ability grouping in American education and to the broader debates about the purposes of public education.

3. In your report, identify the advantages and disadvantages of the proposal to detrack the curriculum at Vorheesville High School. Include in your report a general statement of the educational principles that inform your group's analysis of the situation--that is, your group's sense of the overall goals of education and of your school. Consider how the various approaches to address the current situation (including the principal's new approach) might impact students, teachers, school administrators, and others.

Resources. The course readings included with this case study will help you to get started with your research.