An honorable solution to tracking

Rebecca AsoulinStaff WriterAs I walk through the Technology Building Thursday afternoon, I look at the faces of the people who walk by me. I have a vague recollection of meeting some, maybe once or twice, when we were freshman. Most, however, walk by me, and although I recognize them as members of my junior class, I realize I don’t even know their names, let alone anything about them.While many would argue that this is just one of the inevitable effects of attending a school as large as Samo, which boasts a student body of over 3,000, I believe that the reason for the creation of this gulf has a far deeper source: student tracking.Matt Rascher of Sacramento’s college newspaper The State Hornet breaks tracking into three basic categories: the slower kids, the middle-of-the-pack kids and the smart kids. Rascher continues on to discuss how tracking is disguised in our society by advanced placement (AP) courses.AP classes were created in order to offer advanced courses that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college.These courses were initially envisioned as courses for students extremely interested in a particular subject. Taking AP classes would allow those student to skip the equivalent introductory college courses. However, as our society has become increasingly more competitive, the expectation to take more and more AP classes has risen.At Samo, we have an “open door” policy which allows any student to take any class they are interested in — including AP classes. So, unlike other school districts, we don’t have an official tracking system. But we, the students, have witnessed the unofficial tracking that has gone on since kindergarten. We have been broken up into levels based on ability and skill since the first day we walked into school eager to learn. I believe that this division is essential to allow students to learn at their ability levels.  However, our education system threatens to turn into one that caters only to the high achieving, and leaves the rest in the dark.The disparities seen between students at Samo exist on an even larger scale in schools all across America. Some schools are fabulous, premier institutions, while others are seriously lacking in even the basics.Samo is a social, economic and racial melting pot.  Our API scores continue to improve.  Our graduation rate is 96 percent, which looks great compared to California’s graduation rate of 94 percent, according to the Public School Review. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, nationally about 71 percent of all students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma.It seems that by combining different student ability levels, we are able to create a school that performs well statistically. However, in our day-to-day school lives, we are divided.Advanced placement has caused schools nationwide, including Samo, to bifurcate into two entirely separate schools. However, I do not suggest we eliminate AP courses, for they are keys to further learning.The ideal model that would avoid this drastic separation and allow equal learning opportunities for all would be to have classes of different levels offered for more subjects.At Samo, we are faced with the very difficult decision of selecting our classes junior and senior years. The reality that they must decide between an AP class and the regular course is daunting. Only a few honors courses, including Pre-Calculus and Marine Biology, are available to juniors. We are faced with the pressure of deciding between overextending ourselves by taking too many AP classes or taking regular classes we may not find challenging. There is nothing in between these two extremes.Honors classes would provide students who do not belong in the regular or college level classes with the appropriate placement.  A broader honors program, properly managed, might alleviate the disparity between advanced and regular classes that has been created at Samo.Although it seems counterintuitive that having more class levels would actually make the school a more cohesive place to learn, I believe that most students would fall into that honors category.  Maybe then this chasm between the students of Samo will begin to subside, and we will merge together to form one school. And one day, perhaps my children or my children’s children will walk down a school hallway and see not the passing bodies of complete strangers, but the features of familiar faces.rasoulin@thesamohi.com