Understanding Issues Associated with Tracking Students in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Academic tracking, particularly in subjects like mathematics, has existed in the United States' education system for decades. A problem with tracking is that, in many cases, students are sorted based on external factors beyond their control, rather than their abilities. This article expounds upon theory supporting these claims, providing support through literature that suggests tracking is rooted in capitalist exploitations and settler colonialism. In deconstructing tracking in schools, connections are made that illustrate how tracking creates cultures of academic apartheid, providing advantages for some and disadvantages for others. To conclude, possibilities are proposed to begin rethinking mathematical curriculum in order to disrupt tracking in education. These possibilities include creating spaces in schools for democratic learning environments to thrive, while calling for curriculum to be structured around students' interests. Furthermore, ideas like incorporating multiple perspectives in mathematics curricula through rethinking the labels associated with mathematics courses, teaching mathematics through the context of history, and teaching mathematics for social justice, are introduced. Each proposal serves as a potential alternative to traditional, hierarchical mathematics curriculum.

Calling for critical interrogations of white supremacy and settler colonialism in mathematics education research

“…For example, Harper, Maher, and Jung (2021), in their article "Whiteness as a Stumbling Block in Learning to Teach Mathematics for Social Justice," employed Battey and Leyva's (2016) framework for understanding whiteness to uncover how two early-career, white women teachers either disrupted or perpetuated white supremacy in their implementation of social justice mathematics lessons. Wells (2018), in his article "Understanding Issues Associated with Tracking Students in Mathematics Education," rooted tracking in "capitalist explorations and settler colonialism" to demonstrate how tracking in mathematics education "creates cultures of academic apartheid" (p. 68). And Nishi (2021), in her article "White Hoarders: A Portrait of Whiteness and Resource Allocation in College Algebra," combined tenants of critical whiteness studies, settler colonialism, and critical race theory to illustrate how "whiteness-atwork in college algebra yielded a certain entitlement by white students to classroom resources" (p. 1179).…”

The Magnus Effect Behind the Transition to Higher Education in Türkiye: Uncovering Equity Issues

“…Taking a glance at the literature in its simplest sense, tracking seems to be a means to sort students based on external factors, which are, in reality, beyond their control, in a highly capitalist manner (Wells, 2018). In a similar vein, in a recent study conducted in Türkiye, problems with educational equality have been explored through the tracking system in which the concepts "dreams vs. realities" were used to indicate the "cruel" dimensions of the system that interfere with the expectations and hopes of young people (Ozer & Perc, 2020).…”