"School Tracking" (S 285)

We expressed concerns about a piece of legislation which would have required an “individual career and academic plan (ICAP)” for all Rhode Island students in grades six through twelve. Since the ICAP process begins with students as early as sixth grade, we noted that a program like this could unintentionally turn into a rigid form of discredited “school tracking,” where students are set on a career path at a too-early age that deprives them in later years of important educational opportunities for careers that were not part of the original plan. The bill passed out of committee in the Senate but died in the House.