| Melissa Roderick
The University of Chicago
Peering into the black box of tracking: Opportunities to learn, classroom contexts, and mathematics achievement
FINAL REPORT:
This study uses data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey to take an intensive look at the uses and effects of curriculum tracking in American high schools. We focus on three questions. First, how does the use of tracking by teachers and schools currently shape coursetaking and the nature of learning experiences in mathematics? Second, what processes generate across track differences in pedagogy? And, third, is there evidence that when students in the general track receive more training in math, are asked to grapple with material, and have teachers that focus on higher order thinking skills, they learn more and are more engaged? We use Rasch analysis to develop discipline specific measures of teacher's instructional focus, practices, content coverage and student/teacher relationships. Findings paint a striking picture of the extent to which teacher differentiate instruction across classrooms. Our analysis examines both the determinants and effects of that differentiation. We test alternative hypotheses for what generates across track differences in teacher's decision making and opportunities to learn. An unique aspect of this research is that it links teacher reports of beliefs and instructional practices to student reports of classroom experiences, and ultimately, to mathematics achievement. Finally, we examine the extent to which track differences in mathematics achievement and engagement, as they develop throughout students' high school careers, are influenced by differences in coursetaking, opportunities to learn within courses, and student attributes across track. We employ Hierarchical Linear Modeling to estimate growth curves and to control for school contextual effects. By understanding how and why the current practices of high schools influence the distribution of opportunity and achievement, this study seeks to provide critical insight and direction for policy.
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