The Effects of Educational Tracking on the Social Mobility of African Americans

  • The article provides a historical analysis of African Americans’ relations with the education system.
  • Census data show that there has not been much upward social mobility for Blacks.
  • The education gap between Blacks and Whites has narrowed but the income gap has widened from 1960-1983.
  • The author examines the long term effects of school tracking for African Americans and argues that school tracking is a structural factor which explains this contradiction. Different tracks have different effects for social mobility.
  • The disproportionate tracking of African Americans into non-college prep classes negatively influences economic outcomes, and results in fewer opportunities for Black social mobility.