Achievement and Social Inequality in Education Systems with Strict Ability Tracking. A Critical Examination of the Model of Ability Tracking (MoAbiT)

How ability tracking affects student achievement and educational inequality is a key question in the sociology of education. This study examines how the strictness of ability tracking (e. g., created through binding teacher recommendations) relates to students' scholastic performance and socioeconomic achievement gaps. The starting point is a critical reflection on Hartmut Esser's 'Model of Ability Tracking' (MoAbiT). Analyses of two IQB Trends in Student Achievement studies question the following fundamental assumptions proposed by the MoAbiT: first, that strict ability tracking fosters cognitive homogeneity among students within school classes and, second, that cognitive homogeneity associates positively with scholastic performance. The present study's results concerning the effects of strict ability tracking on socioeconomic achievement gaps are mixed. These findings challenge the MoAbiT's key premise, which suggests that ability tracking is an effective measure to improve student achievement and reduce educational inequality.