"Tracking: Why schools need to take a new route"
Jeannie Oakes

In this article, the author Jeannie Oakes argues that the education system need to take measures in order to have successful heterogeneous classroom instead  of the controversial homogeneous ones. a heterogeneous classroom  is where children of approximately the same age are placed in different classrooms in order to create a relatively even distribution of students of different abilities as well as different educational and emotional needs. They think that in order for this to happen it needs to be implemented in the school curriculum at an early stage because by the time the students get to middle and high school it will be too late. They believe this is the case because at the high school level sorting, standardizing and competition is already grounded.



Since research have shown that "academic ability is not unchangeable but developmental and grows throughout childhood." it is unfair to place those considered to be academically inclined in the same classroom. with better resources, teachers, curriculum and smaller classes than the ones considered to be less talented. This promotes inequality because the less talented students are not truly given a chance to show what they are truly capable of. this holds them to a certain standard. A stigma that will follow them throughout the rest of their education life, Which will dictate their attitude towards school and in the long run, their level of success.
I'm reminded of the movie "Freedom Writers" which we watched in class this week. one particular scene i remembered was when the staff in charge of the distribution of the books didn't want to give them to the students she considered to be less than. She didn't think that they would make good use of the books. That the students would only rip and lose them. however, when this same group of students were given new books paid for by the teacher. they were excited about it, they took pride in it, they actually read the books and showed the school and community what they were capable of if they were shown interest and not being stereotyped or held to a certain standard.

"Becoming Something Different"

COLLEEN M. FAIRBANKS
PENNY MASON CROOKS
In this article the authors Coleen and Penny did a study on girl named Esme from the sixth to eleventh grade. the purpose of this study was done to see how the education system is helping or failing students who are of a different culture and if/when/how these students are conformed over time by the interactions that school entails. they believe that school practices decides a students' path and at time limits their potential.



 Esme who was a Latina student went through several changes. both academically and socially. Esme was a english language learner and instead of putting her in the appropriate class for this she was placed in a remedial reading class from the sixth grade through some parts of high school. this can be seen as the school limiting her. Just because she wasn't able to read and write the english language fluently  it doesn't mean that she was incapable of performing at the level of the other students. there was just a communication barrier. Esme considered this to be helpful at the time because it helped her to read and communicate the english language better. which in returned helped her to come out of her shell because she was always intimidated when it comes to taking part in class due to the fear of embarrassment. However, after becoming more fluent she began to find her tasks monotonous and tedious. she also found this type of class in high school to be more disruptive. she would get distracted by the commotion caused by her classmates when she was trying to concentrate on her work. this  depletes the quality of her education because she didn't belong there to begin with. some students might be deterred by this and may not want to return to school. luckily, Esme knew the value of education and continued with her studies.

Tim Wise
"Between Barack and a hard place"

This presenter Tim Wise, argues that we are predisposed to certain beliefs and ideologies which causes us to subconsciously discriminate against others. These discriminations include but are not limited to: racism, gender inequality, sexual orientation etc. However, his presentation mainly focused on the problem on racism. He thinks we have been exposed to racism from childhood onwards. That this is not something we were born with rather it is something learned. We learn this because it has been institutionalized. this institutionalization stems from stereotypical beliefs that have been instilled in us. He spoke about being treated differently from his black schoolmates. that because of privilege they were graded and punished differently. They had different expectations of him and others of his race over those who are black or of a minority group. This differential treatment caused a strain on the relationship between him and his black friends. Not because they grew weary of each other but because of the structure of society.

Unfortunately, these types of behaviors don't stop there. It can be seen in so many different place in our society and on so many different levels. Places this can be seen are: the police forces, healthcare center, banks, investment firms, money markets etc.
He thinks the only way we can start taking steps to fixing this problem is by acknowledging that racism exist. That at some point or another we discriminate. knowingly or unknowing. This he thinks will lead to an open and honest conversation that is needed to truly address this troubling issue.
As i listen to wise i am reminded of Mcintosh "white privilege and  Jane Elliot's "Brown eye-blue eye experiment" which also speaks about racism and the privilege of one at the disadvantage of another.

Here is the link to a funny video that i think relates to racism and privilege.

https://screen.yahoo.com/white-000000112.html