ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how and why schools categorize and group students into separate classrooms and programs for instruction. In doing so, it addresses one of the core ways that the school’s structure influences students’ opportunities to learn. Specifically, the chapter focuses on ability grouping and curriculum tracking,1 as well as on the multitude of special classes and programs created to respond to differences among students. We explain the socially constructed nature of the categories and labels schools assign to studentslabels like special education, gifted, compensatory, and limited English proficient (LEP)—and we provide some of the history behind labeling and sorting in American schools. We then review some of the evidence showing that these practices often do as much to create differences as they do to meet students’ different needs. Finally, we describe the work of educators who seek to avoid these damaging practices and instead use more multidimensional, developmental, and socially just approaches for meeting students’ needs.
