It’s OK to track middle school math, Cambridge
Boston Globe:
Separating kids into different math classes based on their abilities is the the least-bad way for schools to meet the needs of student who learn at different speeds.
An age-old debate well-discussed in education circles has resurfaced because of the controversy in Cambridge over teaching algebra to eighth-graders: whether to group kids into different classes based on their abilities, a practice known as tracking.
Tracking comes with downsides. But it’s often the least-bad way for public schools to meet the needs of kids who learn at different paces, and Cambridge shouldn’t be afraid of returning to some form of eighth-grade tracking if its current system continues to struggle.
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This 2009 (!) University of Wisconsin-Madison Placement Office study of “reform vs traditional math” outcomes came to mind when reading Corrinne Hess’s 7 July 2026 article: “Fewer than half of Wisconsin students are proficient at math“.
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