[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-601955-105":59,"doc-detail-601955-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","educational-considerations-vol-45-issue-2-intersectionality-and-the-history-of-article-4-a-critical-historical-examination-of-tracking-as-a-method-for-maintaining-racial-segregation","Educational Considerations - Vol 45 - Issue 2 - Intersectionality and the History of Article 4 - A Critical Historical Examination of Tracking as a Method for Maintaining Racial Segregation","","A critical historical examination traces tracking as a curricular structure that sorts students into different academic paths and persists in segregating learners along racial and curricular lines in American public schools. Drawing on educational and sociological scholarship, it distinguishes tracking from ability grouping by scale and permanence. Using Critical Race Theory and interest convergence, the analysis explains how curriculum, instruction, assessment, funding, and desegregation efforts help sustain racial inequality, including through magnet-school practices.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/educational-considerations-vol-45-issue-2-intersectionality-and-the-history-of-article-4-a-critical-historical-examination-of-tracking-as-a-method-for-maintaining-racial-segregation/601955/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/educational-considerations-vol-45-issue-2-intersectionality-and-the-history-of-article-4-a-critical-historical-examination-of-tracking-as-a-method-for-maintaining-racial-segregation/601955.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"CatatanPagi","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is tracking, and how is it different from ability grouping?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Tracking is curricular differentiation that assigns an entire school population to academic paths based on school-determined measures. Ability grouping is usually small, short-term clusters created at the classroom level, differing in scale and permanence.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the article treat tracking as a form of educational inequity?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The article argues that tracking harms students of color, affecting career aspirations and academic achievement while maintaining racial and ethnic segregation through ongoing curricular and racial sorting.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which theoretical framework does the article use to analyze tracking’s role in segregation?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It uses Critical Race Theory and the interest convergence principle to examine tracking as an institutional strategy that sustains racial segregation in American public schools.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},601955,1792191570,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090894170,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Educational Considerations  \nVolume 45  \nNumber 2 Intersectionality and the History of Article 4  \nEducation  \nMarch 2020  \nA Critical Historical Examination of Tracking as a Method for Maintaining Racial Segregation  \nTodd McCardle  \nEastern Kentucky University, [todd.mccardle@eku.edu](todd.mccardle@eku.edu)  \nFollow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations)  \n Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, and the Secondary Education Commons  \nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.  \nRecommended Citation  \nMcCardle, Todd (2020) \"A Critical Historical Examination of Tracking as a Method for Maintaining Racial Segregation,\" Educational Considerations: Vol. 45: No. 2. [https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2186](https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2186)  \n[This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in](This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in)[ ](This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in)[Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information](Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information), please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu).  \nA Critical Historical Examination of Tracking as a Method for Maintaining Racial Segregation  \nTodd McCardle  \nIntroduction  \nThe past and present are in constant dialogue with each other. In order to understand fully  \ncontemporary structures, it can prove valuable to trace the historical roots of how such  \ninstitutions were implemented and how they have evolved over time. Tracking, or the  \norganization of students for instruction into different academic paths, is one such structure with a troubled history that continues to segregate students along curricular and racial lines in American  \npublic schools. Through written and oral accounts (Anderson 1988; Baker 2001; Burkholder  \n2011; Loveless 1998; Rury 2012), historians have illustrated how educational tracks have  \nharmed students of color, altering their career aspirations and academic achievement since  \nSpanish and British colonists created formal schools in the New World. Addressing tough  \nquestions about America’s past is important, especially when attempting to understand fairness  \nin educational access. This article examines tracking as a form of educational inequity and its  \nhistorical intersectional influences.  \nI define tracking as a form of curricular differentiation where schools organize students for  \ninstruction by their abilities into one of several academic paths. There are different measures  \nindividual schools and school districts use to sort students. Historically, the first tests used to  \ntrack students were IQ tests. The most common evaluation instruments today include results  \nfrom standardized achievement examinations, such as the Stanford Achievement Test. Many  \nsources conflate the terms tracking and ability grouping. The two are not synonymous. Tracking differs from ability grouping in both scale and permanence (Gamoran 1992). Ability groups are  \ntypically small, short-term clusters teachers create at the classroom level. For instance, teachers  \nmay assign students to groups based on their speed in mastering subject-specific standards or  \nusing any other set of classroom data. Tracking, in contrast, refers to curricular assignments of an  \nentire school population based on measures decided upon by individual schools and school  \nsystems. Historically, tracking policies allow students minimal flexibility with course selection  \nand exhibit rare student mobility from one track","cbCaifCCrEBNz7vU","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifCCrEBNz7vU","pdf",236447,15,"English","# Introduction\n# Theoretical Considerations","[{\"question\":\"What is tracking, and how is it different from ability grouping?\",\"answer\":\"Tracking is curricular differentiation that assigns an entire school population to academic paths based on school-determined measures. Ability grouping is usually small, short-term clusters created at the classroom level, differing in scale and permanence.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article treat tracking as a form of educational inequity?\",\"answer\":\"The article argues that tracking harms students of color, affecting career aspirations and academic achievement while maintaining racial and ethnic segregation through ongoing curricular and racial sorting.\"},{\"question\":\"Which theoretical framework does the article use to analyze tracking’s role in segregation?\",\"answer\":\"It uses Critical Race Theory and the interest convergence principle to examine tracking as an institutional strategy that sustains racial segregation in American public schools.\"}]","Educational Considerations - Vol 45 - Issue 2 - Intersectionality and the History of Article 4 - A Critical Historical Examination of Tracking as a Method for Maintaining Racial Segregation | PDF",1792093763,38]