How a small town High School in the early 60s did it.

[MineralMan]

The high school I went to in a small agricultural town in California, from 1959 to 1963 had just 600 students. It also had three separate academic tracks. It had a vocational track, a standard academic track, and a college prep track. You either got placed in or selected one of those tracks in your freshman year. There were paths between the tracks, but most kids stayed in one of them.

How was the selection done? Well, it all started in the elementary schools, where learning capabilities were assessed and measured. In middle school, too, which we called junior high, further refinements were made in tracking students. The whole system was part of a single school district, under a single administration. A few teachers, like the band and choral teacher, taught all grades, from elementary to high school. Otherwise teachers taught whatever they taught. In elementary school, we had a single teacher for all subjects. In my class, there were three teachers who handled all 100 or so students for each grade. We'd get a new teacher each year. Tracking existed in elementary school, too, in three tracks, with a lot of movement between tracks in those years.

We had standardized testing in those days, too. Not every year, but every couple of years. The results of those tests helped determine your track. Even in elementary school, the tracking began, although we didn't know it was happening. Some kids moved between tracks, and some kids didn't, but just about everyone was trying hard to do well.

The result? Not bad at all. Almost every kid who started in my class in 1st grade was there at high school graduation. Everyone learned to read, do basic math, and got basic academic skills. We had great vocational classes, too. The college prep track sent about a third of my class to college, and all of the folks I know of did OK. Of my class of 104, 60 were at our 50th reunion last year. They all seemed to be doing OK, too, and it was great to see everyone. Despite the tracking, we all knew each other throughout our school experience, and there was not much bullying or other problems on a social level.

Is that how schools are today? If not, I wonder why not. It seems to have worked OK.