The Track System


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Although racial tension was at the heart of many of the problems in D.C. public schools, it was not the only problem the schools faced. Many teachers had to deal with a wide range of student abilities in the same classroom; some of the brighter students were literally years ahead of some of the slower ones. This situation was difficult for the teachers, the brighter students, and the slower students. The problem tied directly into integration; the vast majority of the brighter students were white, while nearly all the slower students were black. To alleviate this problem, Carl Hansen, the superintendant, set up a "track system." School officials placed students in tracks based on I.Q. tests and on teacher recommendations; students with an I.Q. below 75 entered the remedial or "basic" track, students with an I.Q. above 120 went to the "honors" track, and the rest of the students could choose between the "general" track and the "college preparatory" track. The track system had its critics, but its results spoke for themselves. Scores on acheivement tests rose by as much as 14 percentile points in the first few years of the system. [5] Hansen later extended tracking to the city's junior high and elementary schools, but this proved to be quite controversial and in Hobson v. Hansen, Judge Skelly Wright ordered the destruction of the track system.


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