| Type of Document |
Master's Thesis |
| Author |
Shapiro, Bradley Thomas
|
| Author's Email Address |
bshapiro@vt.edu |
| URN |
etd-05082009-135138 |
| Title |
Ability Tracking and Class Mobility in High School Mathematics: The Case of Low Achievers |
| Degree |
Master of Science |
| Department |
Mathematics |
| Advisory Committee |
| Advisor Name |
Title |
| Floyd, William J. |
Committee Chair |
| Norton, Anderson H. III |
Committee Member |
| Tideman, Thorwald Nicolaus |
Committee Member |
|
| Keywords |
- Economics of Education
- Secondary School Mathematics
- Ability Tracking
|
| Date of Defense |
2009-05-01 |
| Availability |
unrestricted |
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to evaluate commonly held criticisms of the practice of ability tracking in high school mathematics. To do so, I employ data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 and follow-ups to model classroom selection and education production. This paper will focus only on the causes and effects of tracking on students who were tracked as low-ability in eighth grade. From this, we can see how many students, if any, switched out of the low-ability track by tenth grade and how various switches have affected their test scores in mathematics. I find that students exercise mobility between ability-tracks as late as tenth grade and that ability-track placement is largely determined by test scores. In addition, I find evidence that there would be minimal, if any, test score improvement among low-ability students if they were all moved to a class of heterogeneous ability.
|
| Files |
| Filename |
Size |
Approximate Download Time
(Hours:Minutes:Seconds)
|
| 28.8 Modem |
56K Modem |
ISDN (64 Kb) |
ISDN (128 Kb) |
Higher-speed Access |
| |
Shapiro_MS_Thesis_1_2009.pdf |
391.63 Kb |
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00:00:55 |
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