Citizenship in School, Kliewer Response

In my experience in grade school, they, the school system, had a place specifically for those with disabilities and tempers, the were sent to a building separate from the main one where all of the "normal" students reside. If you had a disability you were sent to this building. If you were disrespectful to the extreme and were viewed as violent, you were sent to this building. The only time either students interacted with each other was during a fire drill. Neither the "normal" students or special needs students saw each other, some not at all. In my time at my highschool I had no interaction with special needs students and may have benefited through interaction, expanding my view of the world. Unfortunately this did not happen and thus I remained blind until College where I met a handicapped man with one leg, though he was not mentally handicapped we did share a few interests and became friends. If he were at my highschool we may never have met. Even when we transferred to RIC we remained friends to this day. Because of the walls put forth by the school enlightenment is difficult to achieve for both sides. This only serves to enforce the stigma between special needs people and the "normal" people. A Stigma that still resonates today, though steps have been taken to break this metaphorical wall.

Tracking and Oaks Response

Tracking a student's progress and grouping them into a class at their level can be very detrimental to their education. A lower level student given the resources of a lower level student will have difficulties excelling do to the limitations of the materials and staff provided. Teachers who teach children of this sort are usually disinterested thinking that because they are of a lower level their performance will be as well. The materials presented are usually of a grade behind or more or not provided at all and so these poor stimuli can only decrease the progression of said students. It is a vicious circle that continues through their school lives, likely putting them off from attending college, thinking that the instructors are as enthusiastic as their grade school counterparts. The one's that are sent to the higher level classes however receive special treatment, with the expectation of greatness from them, these students receive high grade books detailing their subjects to a T, barely missing any information at all as the teachers enthusiastically instruct them and give them special treatment in hopes of spawning a genius amongst the group, since the seed of intelligence is clearly shown through these children's grades. In doing this we are separating these children into two categories, Dull and lesser and bright and greater, we label them even before they are sent into the real world where those labels influence the rest of their lives and in doing so reflects the great divide between classes. It is terrible to assume that a student who does not excel at one subject will not be able to learn it effectively, we are branding them because the teachers and staff are too lazy to focus on them, they would rather throw them away and get on to the next batch so they can continue earning their paychecks according to schedule.

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/ability-grouping-and-tracking-in-schools-advantages-and-disadvantages.html#lesson