SCHOOL DIFFERENCES IN TRACKING EFFECTS ON ACHIEVEMENT

This article examines whether tracking students for instruction can ha ve a differential effect on student achievement across schools. Two me chanisms are posited for possible school effects: (1) school differenc es in the determinants of track placement and (2) school variance in t he opportunities for learning presented to students by track. I argue that track placement is influenced by characteristics of a school's tr ack structure, by assignment criteria, by the flexibility of track mem bership, and by a school's scheduling priorities. Differential growth in achievement within track level across schools is explained by schoo l differences in track size and homogeneity, in the quantity and quali ty of instruction within track, and in the determinants of academic ac hievement. Longitudinal data from two cohorts of more than 4,000 stude nts provide empirical evidence of school differences in tracking pract ices and tracking effects on learning. Policy implications of the resu lts for the school choice debate and for organizational and pedagogica l practice are discussed.