On the Same Track

December 23, 2013
This well-researched, concise book by public school principal Burris (coauthor of Detracking for Excellence and Equity) makes a strong argument against "tracking"âthe hierarchical division of students based on their perceived academic potential. Despite evidence suggesting that blended classrooms result in improved performance across all spectrums, detracking remains controversial. Burris's interviews and personal experience working to eliminate tracking reveal a pernicious undercurrent in the opposition. The zero-sum attitude of parents who believe that increased opportunity for others will lead to decreased opportunity for their own children becomes yet more problematic as coded issues of race and class begin to emerge. Although the majority of the book is dedicated to the history of tracking and efforts made to eradicate it, a final chapter on choosing schools demonstrates that the practice is making a comeback under a different name. Burris's accessible book will be valuable to teachers and administrators seeking a more just way to fulfill the mandate of public education, as well as to parents who fear classroom heterogeneity.

January 15, 2014
An educator offers a bold prescription to promote equality in America's public schools. High school principal and educational researcher Burris (co-author: Opening the Common Core: How to Bring ALL Students to College and Career Readiness, 2012) delivers a strong critique of tracking, the practice of sorting students within schools or districts that gives them different access to learning. Drawing on numerous studies and her own experiences and interviews, Burris concludes that tracking causes segregation of those black, Latino and poor students who are identified as low achievers with limited intellectual prospects. Begun early in the 20th century as part of progressive education reform, tracking was seen as "an efficient and scientific way to school students according to their academic capacity, social class, and future life stations." Based largely on IQ scores, high-achieving students went into enriched or advanced college-preparatory classes, where their progress would not be impeded by those identified as less able. The author surveys 40 years of research to show that the assumptions that led to tracking were incorrect: "[M]ost studies showed that low-track classes depress student achievement and that the achievement gap between low- and high-achieving students widens over time due to tracking." Moreover, high-achieving students do not lose their advantages when taught in heterogeneous groups; standardized and teacher-created tests show that all students improve. Despite overwhelming evidence from research, many parents and teachers vehemently oppose detracking, with reasons that reveal underlying racism. Some fear that a heterogeneous classroom will lead to a watered-down curriculum "and that students with weaker skills will be frustrated and act out with bad behavior." Parents see advanced classes as prestigious, giving their child an edge for getting into top colleges. Well-educated and economically advantaged parents feel that they deserve educational privileges for their children. Burris offers concrete advice for school leaders trying to counter such assumptions, and she argues persuasively that tracking undermines real educational achievement for all students. An important book that should be required reading for educators, parents and school boards.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2014

Far from being a relic of the Jim Crow South, school segregation lives on in the practice of "tracking," or sorting students into ability groups. Black and Latino students are disproportionately funneled into low-track classrooms, which are not as academically challenging, and as these students graduate unprepared for college, they face a less-than-equal shot at future success compared with their high-track classmates. In the first four chapters of her new book, Burris (coauthor, Detracking for Excellence and Equity), recently named the 2013 New York State High School Principal of the Year, weighs the evidence and tells us why this system needs to change. Studies consistently show that low-track classes are not good learning environments and that average students learn better when they are placed in more demanding high-track surroundings. Case studies of schools that have taken steps to eliminate tracking, including Burris's own suburban high school, fill the book's second half. VERDICT Some readers will want additional information about the ways in which students are tracked into vocational education and military science programs: two curriculum areas where minority students are also overrepresented. However, school officials will still have much to discover from Burris's clear and compelling case for democratic educational reform.--Seth Kershner, Northwestern Connecticut Community Coll. Lib., Winsted

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
Even as education policymakers lament growing achievement gaps, they continue the practice of tracking students, which has widened the gap and will continue to do so, laments Burris. Tracking amounts to de facto segregation as students are often stratified by race and social class, she argues, and she presents broad research showing how tracking advantages students on higher tracks and disadvantages those on lower tracks. Burris offers historical perspective on grouping students according to their abilities, a practice that stems from the social Darwinism of the industrial age and growing research at the time on efficiency. The practice is now so stubbornly entrenched that efforts to change it are often met with strong resistance by some teachers and parents, Burris notes, as she recalls the experience of detracking the New York school of which she is the principal. Beyond the research, statistics, and legal arguments that have informed this topic, Burris offers a compelling story of efforts to change the practice of tracking and a passionate argument for educational equityand excellencefor all students as education reform moves forward.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)