Teachers and Tracking in a Comprehensive High School

Designed to increase our understanding of how schools contribute to the reproduction of the social order, this case study of the tracking system in one academic department in a comprehensive high school examines the complex institutional context that mediates social reproduction. Teachers' shared preferences due to common orientations toward a diverse student population, combined with the individualistic context in which teachers must develop strategies and find rewards, result in competition among them for high-status students. This competition shapes the tracking system and the school's resulting status hierarchy, which is experienced by students and teachers alike.