----- Original Message ----- From: Gail To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 5:45 PM Subject: Re: Stpaul Digest, Vol 6, Issue 14 tracks in schools Mary wonders if there are stats on how kids actually perform in various tracked or untracked schools. I think there are, and SPPS would have them. One thing that has seemed to work since the 18th century is mixing kids, letting the older help the younger, in fairly small groups. At least that's true of, say, K-5. We did it through 8th grade in my '60s school, with mixed results. I was a tutor to kids with weaker skills, but they were mostly from Mexican migrant worker families. I was uncomfortable in that role with kids my own age or even older, who pretty much attended our school on the off-agricultural season. But we got to know each other! Of the 5 I remember well, 3 were at least as bright as I , one pretty average, one older and humiliated to be still in 8th grade - their problem was they were so hopelessly behind. Same with kids moving in and out of schools today. One thing I'm certain has worked to kids' advantage is having fairly small systems in which to work. Clusters of kids, perhaps all interested in a particular curriculum, who know each other and are known by their teachers. My senior high school - just 3 grades - numbered 2000. It's possible to be completely lost in that kind of set-up. And it's even more alienating if the work seems irrelevant to kids who are far more experienced in life than those for whom the model high school curriculum was designed. I know lots of people who were fine students who goofed off, waiting for Life to start. Those who have fewer skills feel even more like outsiders. I don't think mixing them in with better students will help unless it's a subject approached in a genuinely interesting way. One of those ways is to continuously reinforce real world applications. I've balked at the emphasis on job preparation myself, but it doesn't have to be assembly line production. For instance, I kind of liked biology. But I'd have loved it if I'd known I might study mountain sheep in British Columbia or teach mammalogy - or be a vet tech. Dissecting a worm didn't seem all that engaging. _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
