According to Nieto & Bode, there are ten school policies and practices

that help to influence inequality in schools. One of these practices is

tracking, which many believe that it should not be used because many
students can feel out casted and, according to Nieto & Bode, it helps prepare
students for their place in the larger society (111). In addition, teachers are
also being segregated according to their experience and knowledge; those
who are highly experienced are most likely to get the better students than
the new or less prepared teachers who get the low-track classes/students
(111). Studies also show that students placed in the lower tracking classes
are most likely to be taught the basics such as memorization, repetition and
static learning. As a result, some students become discouraged and drop out
of school. I find this to be true because when I was going to high school I had
many Mexican friends who were placed in lower level class who felt alienated
and believed that both the school and teachers were giving up on them so
most of them dropped out of school. In order to get rid of tracking some
recommend that cooperative learning, peer tutoring, multilevel teaching,
shared decision making with students, and deemphasizing the use of
textbooks should take place in schools (113-114). When it comes to
retention the book suggests that rather than retaining a student back
schools should reform other practices and policies that would help students
learn the material better. In my opinion, I feel that at times retention is
necessary only if the school will not provide other alternative means for that
student to catch up to their respective grade level. If the school does provide
other alternatives than the student should pass so that he/she wont feel left
out because I feel that those students who are retained see this practices as
a punishment rather than a benefit. Another practice that is widely used in
schools is the implementation of the standardized test. In my opinion
standardized test are one of the biggest flaws in our schools because these
test are catered to only those students that are well informed on the material
or who speak and understand English very well; most of the time these
students are those who come from better economic status and attend well
off schools or private schools. Furthermore, these test should not be used to
categorize students because not all students do well in test compared to
others. For instance, in my case I dont tend to do well in test because I feel
too much pressure to get a high score. As I stated before because these test
are catered to those who speak and understand English these tests are
biased and discriminate against English Language Learners, henceforth
these test are not equal to every student. Another concern with policies and
practices that help promote inequality is the structure of curriculums in
schools. In my opinion I feel that teachers should not be obligated to teach
exactly what that the curriculum specifies because this prohibits the teacher
from growing and learning new material herself and instead just allows

him/her to stick to the same pedagogy methods. In addition, this narrows

what can be taught in classrooms which does not allow students to be
introduced to other cultures and environments. Furthermore, schools and
teachers should use less of a disciplinary approach and allow students to
speak freely when they find a certain policy or practice challenging or unfair.