The Organizational Context of Tracking in Schools

The study of tracking patterns in secondary schools is central to understanding the educational attainment process. In this paper I offer a conceptualframeworkfor evaluating school tracking patterns as meritocratic, arbitrary, exclusive, or inclusive. Tracking patterns are hypothesized to emerge under different organizational contingencies. In particular, the type of structural constraints, the informationflow within the school, and the cultural milieu evident among the staff are thought to affect the likelihood that one type of tracking pattern would emerge rather than another. A preliminary analysis suggests that student demand for a given track, which is a structural constraint, affects the degree to which exclusive tracking occurs. Social networks among students and teachers as well as teacher control over grouping policy are found to affect the likelihood of inclusive or exclusive tracking patterns, and the cultural milieu of the staff affects the degree to which exclusive or inclusive tracking occurs. No clear evidence for a press toward arbitrary tracking is observed.