Tracking kids when they're young is unfair and can cause a massive loss of talent according to Malcom Gladwell, author of Outliers. His example of Canadian Hockey indicates that most professional hockey players have birthdays in January, February and March thus showing that they were simply older when they were being chosen for hockey leagues at the ages of 4 or 5. How does this concept translate into tracking in early elementary schools? It would be interesting to see the actual birthdays of the students chosen for "Gifted and Talented" Programs. Currently, most cut off dates are in the Fall. So we wouldn't necessarily be seeing January, February March Birthdays but rather September, October, November and December birthdays.
If there has to be tracking, it should be done when children are older, more developmentally ready. Tracking shouldn't determine age and maturity but intelligence, talent and willingness to excel. In Japan, there is no tracking until the 10th grade.
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