Tracking and Racialization in Schools

Abstract

The tracking literature examines how academic hierarchies contribute to race and class differences in academic achievement, but it pays scant attention to how school structures also influence students’ racial and ethnic identities. Relatedly, race/ethnicity and immigration scholars focus on how schools serve as sites for observing the social construction of racial and ethnic identities but do not account for how school structures actively shape these identity outcomes. This study makes a contribution to the immigration, race/ethnicity, and education literatures by examining how academic tracking influences the racial and ethnic identities of second-generation West Indian students. Consistent with the tracking literature, the author finds that Mayfield High School’s academic hierarchy contributes to the racialization of West Indian students and, in doing so, intensifies their racial group consciousness. It also shows how academic tracking simultaneously increases the salience of ethnic identity among Afro-Caribbean students. These findings point to the significance of educational institutions in shaping racialization processes in schools and contribute to broader conversations regarding the evolution of the color line in American society.