Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS: 88) are used to examine differential student placement and to assess the independent effects of race on academic tracking within the vocational program. The study examines how the structure of tracking within the vocational program shapes both academic achievement outcomes and career opportunities among high school students. Student's placement in the vocational program is argued to function as a unique track program that disadvantage students academically, particularly students of color. Racial-ethnic minority students are disproportionately placed into lower level academic courses and programs including vocational education. Once so placed, their subsequent enrollment patterns in specific vocational courses may have varying effects on academic and career outcomes. Few studies have attempted to disaggregate how students are further tracked once they are placed into broad high school curriculum tracks. This study analyzes the specific variations in patterns of race-ethnic student placement within vocational programs and examines the consequences of such placement for academic achievement and career attainment outcomes. Findings reveal that several racial-ethnic variations are associated with the tracking processes within the vocational program and subsequent student academic and career outcomes. Race-ethnicity most often was negatively associated with performance on standardized achievement tests and enrollment into low vocational tracks, primarily among males. There were noteworthy gender differences in the assignment within vocational tracks, academic success, and eventual employment status and occupational placement.

Policy tends to be formulated at the upper level of an organization and handed down to policy actors on the frontline for enactment. Since policy can be vague, ambiguous, or send conflicting messages, it can create uncertainty about its meaning. Moreover, policy is rarely accompanied by explicit instructions for implementation. Therefore, when frontline workers, or streetlevel bureaucrats, are pressed to make sense of policy's meaning in realistic terms, they engage in what Weick describes as sensemaking (1995). Sensemaking is a cognitive process entered into during times of uncertainty or change. Streetlevel bureaucrats engage in sensemaking by drawing on cues in their environment, their prior experience, professional identity, and social interactions to understand and interpret policy. They rely upon their understanding to exercise professional discretion while incorporating the new policy into their daily work. It is their use of discretion that accounts for variations in policy implementation and outcomes (Lipsky, 1980, Mills, 1998, Spillane, 2004). This study explored how streetlevel bureaucrats in higher education institutions engaged in sensemaking during policy implementation. For this study, academic tracking initiatives were regarded as policy that academic advisors (streetlevel bureaucrats) were tasked with enacting. Historically, academic advisors have been identified as advocates for holistic student development while academic tracking has been defined as a prescriptive approach to advising aimed at accountability and efficiency. This qualitative study presents the findings from interviews with 16 academic advisors from three public institutions involved in the implementation of tracking. The study's findings suggest recommendations that may be helpful to leaders seeking to close the gap between policy and practice. Implications for practice include developing a strategic approach to implementation in which upper level administrators guide change by acting as sensegivers. As such, administrators would serve as filters for the messages received by streetlevel bureaucrats. Additionally, findings suggest the inclusion of frontline workers in decision making and the provision of planned learning opportunities for collective sensemaking during the implementation process. This study seeks to inform leaders involved in policy change about the critical role of sensemaking in initiating, guiding, and sustaining organizational change.

Latino students are at risk for poor social and academic outcomes in American schools, yet contextual models for understanding this risk have been elusive. Considerable research has attempted to understand the relation between the ethnic composition of schools and outcomes for Latino students, with inconsistent findings. It was hypothesized that school ethnic composition would be differentially related to outcomes in this population of students, depending on other school contextual factors. Using secondary data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the present study examined individual and school-level moderators of the slopes of same-ethnicity representation (i.e., the percentage of same-ethnicity peers) and ethnic diversity predicting feelings of school belonging and the odds of high school completion among Latino youths. The results illustrate moderation of the slopes of ethnic composition variable depending on the socioeconomic status (SES) of schools as well as the extent of academic tracking. In low SES schools, same-ethnicity representation was positively related to both outcomes (belonging and completion) when academic tracking was low. In high SES schools, the slope of same-ethnicity representation predicting the odds of high school completion was negative under conditions of low ethnic diversity. Diversity was itself positively associated with high school completion across contexts, yet this relation was moderated by SES at the student level. Specifically, the association between diversity and completion diminished as student SES decreased, relative to the mean SES of students in a school. Altogether, the results suggest that conditions associated with reduced inequality among students, namely low systemic strain (higher SES) and low academic tracking, are related to more positive associations between both same-ethnicity representation and diversity, and social and academic outcomes for Latino students. Future research is advised to consider the intersection of school ethnic composition with other aspects of the school context as well as with characteristics of individual students.