Keeping Track; How Schools Structure Inequality, Second Edition

Selected by theAmerican School Board Journalasa "Must Read" book when it was first published and named one of 60 "Books of the Century" by the University of South Carolina Museum of Education for its influence on American education, this provocative, carefully documented work shows how trackingthe system of grouping students for instruction on the basis of abilityreflects the class and racial inequalities of American society and helps to perpetuate them. For this new edition, Jeannie Oakes has added a new Preface and a new final chapter in which she discusses the "tracking wars" of the last twenty years, wars in whichKeeping Track hasplayed a central role. From reviews of the first edition: "Should be read by anyone who wishes to improve schools."M. Donald Thomas,American School Board Journal "[This] engaging [book] . . . has had an influence on educational thought and policy that few works of social science ever achieve."Tom Loveless inThe Tracking Wars "Should be read by teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents."Georgia Lewis,Childhood Education "Valuable. . . . No one interested in the topic can afford not to attend to it."Kenneth A. Strike,Teachers College Record

Jeannie Oakes is Presidential Professor and Director of the Institute for Democracy Education and Access at University of California, Los Angeles.