Tracking and linguistic minority students: Consequences of ability grouping for second language learners
Abstract Tracking is a ubiquitous practice in American high schools, whereby students are sorted according to perceived academic ability and then instructed separately with different curricula. In recent years, numerous educational inequities have been identified in association with this practice, including the concentration of language minority students in the lowest status rungs of the system. This article addresses linguistic features associated with the differentiated curricula of high school classrooms, and consequences for learners of the school language. The article also explores processes by which language minority students are placed in tracked classrooms, and the means by which some of them negotiate the system in order to change tracks after they ore placed.