De-Tracking

Reducing or eliminating Grouping Students by Ability, especially at the school level, resulting in classes with students from all ability levels. The result of de-tracking is also called heterogeneous rather than homogeneous (or ability) grouping.

Tracking refers the grouping of students by academic ability for specific subjects and curriculum, or in all of their classes. Advocates of de-tracking (or un-tracking), point to research (Oakes, 2005; Oakes, Wells, Jones, & Datnow, 1997) indicating that when students are grouped by ability, those in lower tracks are usually not get exposed to "high-status" knowledge. They see de-tracking as part of a broader restructuring of schools in which student differences are provided for within each class (differentiation). Opponents of de-tracking say ability grouping is easier for teachers and better for students, that those who are academically able should not be held back, and those who are not as able should have attention to their special needs.

References:

Oakes, J. (2005). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.

Oakes, J., Wells, A. S., Jones, M., & Datnow, A. (1997). Detracking: The Social Construction of Ability, Cultural Politics, and Resistance to Reform. Teachers College Record, 98(3).