Detracking and Restructured Vocational Education Finally, a growing number of high schools have attempted to eliminate the wholesale tracking of students into discrete vocational and academic tracks by merging the two into a single integrated program, most often with a specific career- related theme. All students take a linked set of classes integrating vocational and academic work, and often work in collaborative groups. The goal of such programs is to prepare all students either to attend college or to move into the world of work following graduation. Although they appear very promising, there has been little solid research into their effectiveness. Conclusion Changes in the way students are grouped can radically change the way they are taught in schools across the nation.
Few educators agree on the nature of the most effective replacement for ability grouping, however.
While cooperative learning has received the most attention, and experience supports it, its effectiveness can be limited if it is simply used to provide low-level lessons in a cooperative setting. Similarly, within-class ability grouping and interest grouping may do little to ease concerns about equity and achievement. Both proponents and critics of tracking, thus, concede that more research is needed, particularly into the impact and effectiveness of specific detracking efforts. A look at cooperative learning as an alternative. Chartering urban school reform.