Tracking involves sorting students according to a general measure of ability or achievement, such as IQ, achievement tests, or GPA, intotracks? in school, ranging from the highest to the lowest. Students remain in these tracks for all their instruction, without consideration for how much they vary in their performance from subject area to subject area?.
As a result, students typically remain in the same track year after year, irrespective of changes brought about by maturation, environmental factors, or .
instructional effectiveness or ineffectiveness. (Ability grouping?).
Thus tracking often receives criticism for generalizing a student's abilities, paying little attention to the development he or she undertakes. Also, tracking tendsto sort students not just by estimated academic potential but by socioeconomic status and race as well.? (Ability Grouping?) Because of this, ability grouping has become somewhat of a taboo in our society, as it touches on controversial topics of socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, and gender. (Ability grouping?) Dr. Mary Frasier, an experienced and knowledgeable educator, has heard a number of excuses and rationalizations for the racial and economic under-representation within gifted programs: claims that underprivileged parents don't value education, that these parents spend little time taking their children to libraries and school functions, and so on. (Frasier) She, however, believes that there is no excuse for enrollment in these programs that does not represent the racial distribution found in society. She cites a most definite and unconsciously recognized, if unspoken, list of prerequisites for being gifted: a student must have two parents, both of which must be college educated. A student must be white. A student must live in the suburbs. Basically,Things like poor kids and gifted programs just don't go together.? (Frasier) Gifted programs are also attacked because they often lack anempirical data-base? that demonstrates the effectiveness of such methods.