Final answer:
High school tracking assigns students to different educational courses based on their perceived academic abilities, often perpetuating inequalities and serving as a self-fulfilling prophecy regarding student achievement.
Step-by-step explanation:
In high school, tracking is a practice where students are assigned to different educational paths or courses based on their perceived academic merit or potential. This formalized sorting system categorizes students into groups, often labeled as advanced or low achievers, thereby influencing the educational opportunities and resources they receive. Tracking can perpetuate inequalities as it can lead to unequal learning environments and reinforce pre-existing societal biases regarding student abilities and futures.
Conflict theorists argue that students may end up living up to the expectations set for them by these tracks, which can be seen as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This can be especially problematic in overcrowded schools where resources, including individual attention from teachers, are limited, and where certain demographics of students, such as those from minority backgrounds, might be overrepresented in noncollege tracks. These systems can unintentionally contribute to the continuation of educational disparities between different groups of students.