Ability tracking is used in schools in the U.S. and other industrialized countries to stratify students into homogeneous ability groups as a method for delivery of instruction (Falkenstein, 2007). The strong tradition of tracking in America has socio-economic repercussions for the Nation and its students, and it continues to be debated because of the way it locks students into specific times at which they are exposed to defined curricular concepts and content, limiting college and career opportunities for low-tracked students.
Like most other high schools across the state and country, Fairmont High School in the Kettering City School District in southwest Ohio utilizes a tracked curriculum. Specifically in mathematics at Fairmont, the college bound track begins with Algebra I in the ninth grade, which research shows is the gatekeeper to a college bound track. Once placed in a lower track upon entering high school, students have almost no chance of moving into the higher track.
The purpose of this curriculum and administrative case study is to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of an Algebra I mathematics program that was piloted in the 2009-2010 school year at Fairmont High School that aims to move a cohort of low-tracked ninth-graders into the college-bound math track at the high school level. It is called the Crossover Project.
This study reveals the student achievement data from the Crossover Project students compared to students not in the program and investigates the critical components for student success. The study found that under specific conditions, high school students in the lowest track can be caught up in subjects such as mathematics sufficiently to prepare them for success in the college bound track. Due to the findings of this research, the Crossover project at Fairmont High School is being expanded to include low tracked English students and a larger segment of low tracked math students in an effort to make all students college and career-ready.
The evaluation of this program may serve to provide evidence that students with skill deficits in math can “catch up” to their college bound peers in math, once at the high school level.