What is the process of separating students into groups based on their academic achievement called?

The process of separating students into groups based on their academic achievement is referred to as tracking. This involves categorizing students into different levels or classes according to their demonstrated abilities, achievements, or performance in educational settings. Tracking can influence the educational experiences that students encounter, as it often results in differentiated instruction and curriculum tailored to the perceived capabilities of the students within each track.

Educational stratification is related but does not specifically refer to the grouping of students based on academic achievement in the context of individual classrooms; it more broadly addresses how educational opportunities and outcomes can vary based on broader social factors like socioeconomic status, race, or gender within the system. Thus, while educational stratification encompasses the inequalities that exist in educational systems, tracking specifically addresses the practice of arranging students by achievement levels.

The term social stratification refers to the hierarchical arrangement of individuals within a society, based on various factors like wealth, ethnicity, and power, rather than specifically focusing on academic performance. Academic segregation, while it might imply a similar concept to tracking, lacks the nuance of indicating an educational context explicitly. Hence, tracking is the most accurate term for the process in question, as it directly describes the practice of grouping students by their academic accomplishments within educational structures.