Relief or burden? Perspectives of school principals in German-speaking Switzerland on school selection

Abstract

Tracking decisions shape students’ educational trajectories and are a controversial topic due to potential disadvantages. To date, school principals have hardly been studied in the context of tracking. This paper addresses this desideratum by taking an explorative approach and examining the perspectives of 317 Swiss school principals on school tracking. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The perspectives of the school principals are heterogeneous and range from positions in which tracking is valued and legitimized to complete rejection of tracking. The data suggest that the examined school principals tend to deal with tracking from an organizational-functionalist position rather than from a substantive one.