The Further Education (FE) sector in the United Kingdom has devoted time, energy, and resources in recent years to the development and improvement of information systems known as management-information systems. This report presents the findings of a research project on the use of management-information systems in student tracking. The project was established and funded by the Further Education Development Agency (FEDA) and the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) in response to demand from colleges in the FE sector. The project sought to develop a model that colleges could use when specifying software to track students' progress. The model accounts for student mobility, prior learning, credit accumulation and transfer, and records of achievement. The report also offers recommendations for sector institutions, the FEFC, software suppliers, and FEDA. Proposals for the next phase of the project are outlined. The research reflects the move from gathering global information about student populations toward gathering information about and for individuals. Ten figures are included. Appendices contain a list of project team members, case studies, a bibliography of 15 references, and a glossary. (LMI)

This collection of essays discusses some of the general concerns and issues related to tracking the flow of community college students through higher education. The chapters in the volume include: (1) "Tracking Systems and Student Flow," by Trudy H. Bers; (2) "Beyond the College: State Policy Impact on Student Tracking Systems," by Ann Kieffer Bragg; (3) "Keeping Your Admissions Office on Track: A Community College Perspective," by Alison Rutter Barrett; (4) "A Tracking Scheme for Basic Skills Intake Assessment," by Richard A. Voorhees and Sharon Hart; (5) "Computerized Tracking System for Underprepared Students," by Pat Smittle, Michael R. LaVallee, Jr., and William E. Carman; (6) "Tracking and Monitoring Students in Special Groups," by Melvin L. Gay and Costas S. Boukouvalas; (7) "Tracking Students in Community Colleges: The Unreported Challenges," by Trudy H. Bers and Alan M. Rubin; (8) "Student Intentions, Follow-up Studies, and Student Tracking," by Michael R. Stevenson, R. Dan Walleri, and Saundra M. Japely; (9) "LONESTAR: Texas's Voluntary Tracking and Developmental Education Evaluation System," by Stanley I. Adelman, Peter T. Ewell, and John R. Grable; (10) "Computers and Student Flow/Tracking Systems," by Judith W. Leslie; and (11) "Trends and Issues: Student Tracking Systems at Community Colleges," by Jim Palmer. (ALB).

Longitudinal student tracking systems now serve a multitude of masters. Growing accountability demands from states, accreditors, and the federal government prominently feature such measures as persistence and graduate rates and time-to-degree. At the same time, resource shortfalls are driving institutions and state higher education systems to examine their operations more carefully in order to achieve greater coherence and efficiency; understanding and monitoring student flow is a prominent part of this effort. In light of these developments, student tracking has come of age. This volume of New Directions for Institutional Research describes important changes in the requirements for student tracking data bases and examines the expanding technical possibilities provided by statewide administrative data bases and by the availability of greatly enhanced data-manipulation and statistical tools for constructing and analyzing longitudinal data files. This is the 87th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Institutional Research. For more information on the series, please see the Journals and Periodicals page.

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Pedagogy - School System, Educational and School Politics, grade: 1,7, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: "Almost any school system in the world features some form of assigning students to educational tracks by ability – be it tracking between school types or within schools" (Lüdemann & Schwerdt 2010). This essay will look at the different tracking systems in the United States of America and in Germany and compare these systems and approaches. Which principles underlie the tracking approach and which functions does it aim to fulfill? Schools, as a mirror of our society, are one of the major institutions in everyone’s life to implement structures and mechanisms to support the already existing social conditions. Our society can be described as a meritocratic model in which positions are distributed according to talent, effort and achievement. Within our schools, these distribution processes can best take place following a well-structured curriculum and guidance through teachers and educational counselors. "A school is run by and for the society, and, hence, it may implement any kind of selection the society considers desirable. Because the school’s curriculum represents the skills, knowledge, and values considered essential to the society’s welfare, a student’s ability to master this curriculum represents an ideal test of his capacity to take responsibility in society" (Rosenbaum 1976). Accordingly, schools are not only places of opportunity but should also fulfill selection requirements of the society. Not everyone can become a doctor or judge, therefore, schools encourage students to choose their educational courses according to their potential and aims. "Most people know that selection processes operate in different stages of their lives, but they don’t know how selection restricts their opportunities in far-reaching ways" (Rosenbaum 1976).

Longitudinal student tracking systems now serve a multitude of masters. Growing accountability demands from states, accreditors, and the federal government prominently feature such measures as persistence and graduate rates and time-to-degree. At the same time, resource shortfalls are driving institutions and state higher education systems to examine their operations more carefully in order to achieve greater coherence and efficiency; understanding and monitoring student flow is a prominent part of this effort. In light of these developments, student tracking has come of age. This volume describes important changes in the requirements for student tracking data bases and examines the expanding technical possibilities provided by statewide administrative data bases and by the availability of greatly enhanced data-manipulation and statistical tools for constructing and analyzing longitudinal data files. This is the 87th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Institutional Research.

Ability grouping. Leveling systems. Streaming. This is the modern way of talking about tracking -- the traditional practice of sorting and selecting students based on test scores and other criteria, and then steering these groups into "the most appropriate" course of study. In 1987, New York's suburban Rockville Centre School District faced the fact that its longstanding tracking system was resulting in unequal educational opportunities and allowing racial and socioeconomic stratification of its student population. School leaders embarked on an ambitious program of reform: reexamining beliefs about intelligence, ability, and instruction, and offering all students the opportunity to study a rigorous curriculum in heterogeneous classrooms. In this book, authors Carol Corbett Burris and Delia T. Garrity, veterans of the Rockville Centre School District, offer an experience-based and research-supported argument that detracking--implemented with planning, patience, and persistence--can do in every school district what it did in theirs: raise achievement across the board and dramatically narrow the achievement gap. Their main goal is a practical one: to provide educational leaders with proven strategies for launching, sustaining, and monitoring a successful detracking reform. Here, you'll read * Why detracking is necessary, the benefits it brings, and how to build support among teachers and parents * How to revise curriculum to "level-up" instruction * How to establish a multiyear, personalized professional development program to help teachers address new instructional needs * How to best support effective teaching and learning in a heterogeneous classroom Detracking for Excellence and Equity outlines a comprehensive approach built on self-reflection, direct action, vigilant supervision, and a set of very clear beliefs: that schools and opportunity matter; that acceleration and enrichment will improve all students' achievement; and that all students deserve access to the best curriculum.