Jani
Professor B.
English 113B
12 April 2014
Professor B.
English 113B
12 April 2014
Summary of the article “Live and Learn?
Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics”
In her research article, “Live and
Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics,” Beth A.
Tarasawa analyzes how segregation differs among the neighborhoods and schools
in the Atlanta city metro area. Tarasawa finds that in areas where there is no
or little integration between races white students attend the schools in their
own neighborhood. On the contrary, in the integrated neighborhoods most white
students are sent to private or charter schools that are not integrated
racially. Tarasawa also points out that most inner city schools are in
integrated neighborhoods, but most of the students that enroll in those schools
are African-American. Tarasawa suggests that to end segregation the government
should consider both neighborhood and educational segregation at the same time.
Work Cited
Tarasawa,
Beth A. “Live and Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics.” Education and Society 44 (2011): 655-671. Sage Publications. Web. 11 Apr.
2014.
SUMMARY EIGHT
Jani
Professor B.
English 113B
11 April 2014
Professor B.
English 113B
11 April 2014
Summary of the article “Does Segregation
Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in High
School”
In their article, “Does Segregation
Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in High
School,” the authors Russel W. Rumberger and Gregory J. Palardy argue that in
order to provide equal educational opportunities for everyone the student
composition in high schools should be socioeconomically mixed. Rumberger and
Palardy state that students success is closely related to their peers and their
family’s income. Rumberger and Palardy found that lower income students get
better grades when they attend schools with less than 50% low-income students.
Rumberger and Palardy suggest that in order to support equal education the
government should work on integrating the socioeconomic backgrounds of
students. Rumberger and Palardy also found that at the moment the government is
only working on providing equal resources for all the schools. In addition, the
schools with underachieving low-income students are faced with lower
expectations academically, which, according to Rumberger and Palardy, only
works to lower the quality of education.
Work Cited
Rumberger,
Russel W. and Palardy, Gregory J. “Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of
Student Composition on Academic
Achievement in High School.” Teachers
College Record 107:9 (2005):
1999-2045. Academic Search Elite.
Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
SUMMARY NINE
Jani
Professor B.
English 113B
9 April 2014
Professor B.
English 113B
9 April 2014
Summary of the article “Exacerbating
Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act”
In his article, “Exacerbating
Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act,” the author
David Hursh argues that the No Child Left Behind, NCLB, has failed to serve
it’s purpose to provide equality in education. Hursh states that the greatest
reason for the failure of NCLB is that too much weight is put on the
standardized test scores of each school. Hursh argues that standardized tests
that are composed on the state level are not accurately formed to measure the
skills they are supposed. In addition the NCBL pushes schools to provide
students with skills to succeed in the tests instead of teaching a wide array
of topics in different academic areas. Hursh claims the NCLB to be the reason
why schools are forcing weak students to grade retention or being dropped out
from school. Hursh states that the failing schools are often the schools which
students of color attend. Hursh concludes that taking away funding from the
already struggling schools makes things even worse for the students that have
the most difficulty in getting a quality education.
Work Cited
Hursh,
David. “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind
Act.” Race, Ethnicity and Education 10:3 (2007): 295-308. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Apr. 2014.
SUMMARY TEN
Jani
Professor B.
English 113B
10 April 2014
Professor B.
English 113B
10 April 2014
Summary of the article “Racial Segregation and the
Black-White Test Score Gap.”
In their research article, “Racial Segregation and the
Black-White Test Score Gap,” the authors David Card and Jesse Rothstein evaluate
the effect of segregation in the test gap between black and white students.
Card and Rothstein use the SAT test scores as an implication of learning
differences between students. Card and Rothstein hypothesize that the more
segregated the environment is, the lower are the test scores among black
students. Card and Rothstein find that the more segregated a city is, the wider
is the test score gap between black and white students. In addition they also
found that neighborhood segregation has a bigger effect on the test cap than
school segregation. Using the mathematical model Card and Rothstein formed,
they found that the shift from totally segregated schools to totally integrated
schools would remove 70% of the test cap between black and white students.
Work Cited
Card, David and Rothstein, Jesse. “Racial
Segregation and the Black-White Test Score Gap.” Journal of Public
Economics 91 (2007): 2158-2184. Elsevier.
Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
ESSAY THREE, DRAFT ONE
Jani
Professor B.
English 113B
14 April 2014
Professor B.
English 113B
14 April 2014
Quality Education Is a Right Not a
Privilege
Officially segregation has ended
decades ago, but some of the practices are still present today. Whether we want
to admit it or not segregation affects the lives of many African-Americans
especially during their academic career in high school. Segregation today isn’t
a law or a set of customs purposely meant to hurt anyone. Modern segregation in
the field of education is closer to a combination of misunderstanding and
misinterpreting the statistic, facts and information. Unfortunately segregation
affects the education system and provides inequality especially for the young
African-American students. There are several reasons for the educational
inequality and they include partial or whole neighborhood and school
segregation. Whether intentional or not, segregation has a significant impact
on the academic success of the student especially in the low-income families. The
government has tried to confront the issue of inequality in education, but so
far there has been little or no success. To eliminate educational inequality
among African-Americans, segregation in schools has to end.
Segregation in schools is apparent and it is appearing more frequently than before. Beth A. Tarasawa the author of the article, “Live and Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics,” states the American schools are following a general trend in which racial segregation is increasing. According to Tarasawa this newly recovered segregation is especially harmful for the African-American students. Increasing rates of segregation leave the inner city schools to struggle with students from difficult backgrounds that are mostly from low-income families. Tarasawa’s research shows how the white families avoid enrolling their children in schools that have less than 75 percent of white students in them. Usually this leads into a situation where the white families live in the suburbs and their kids attend the local public schools where the majority of students are white. Or, if the white families live in integrated neighborhoods, they most often sent their kids to private or charter schools (Tarasawa). Tarasawa also points out that many African-American families cannot afford to send their children to a private school or move to the suburbs. This leads to segregated, mostly African-American inner city schools.
School segregation is extensively visible especially in high schools. Certain high schools have a high rate of troubled students combined with inferior resources such as unqualified teachers and below the average curriculums. According to Motoko Rich the author of the article, “School data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines,” nearly 50 percent of all African-American students attend a high school where they don’t have an access to a full range of math and science courses. This means that even if a student would want to get educated in a certain subject they might not be able to. In the longer run this might have an effect on which colleges one might be able to get in or how well one is going to succeed in their college career.
The reason why these substandard curriculums are offered might be as simple as funding. When there is not enough funding the schools have to cut programs and high-level courses with few students attending them are an easy target. On the other hand the reason for the substandard curriculum might also be that students simply aren’t attending these classes. This might be an outcome of the quality of the education of a specific school. If the students aren’t learning the basics well enough, they will not want to participate in the courses that are even more demanding. Russel W. Rumberger and Gregory J. Palardy the authors of the article, “Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in High School,” points out that the expectations for students are often low in the schools that have a majority of African-American students. Setting expectations low causes the students to try less and most likely be less successful. Most importantly the teachers set their expectations lower which basically automatically leads to lower grades among many African-American students
Indeed, the teachers in the segregated, African-American schools are another big challenge. Compared to the students in other races, African-American students are four times as likely to attend schools where 20 percent or more of the teachers are unqualified (Rich). Combining unqualified teachers and students that mostly come from low-income homes is not a great solution. First of all, the teachers that are unqualified cannot teach their students as well as those with a full set of teaching skills. This might be especially important with students that have trouble learning. Secondly, if the teachers of certain schools are not capable of teaching as well as the teachers in other schools, many talents are lost because of this. The good students don’t have an opportunity to develop their skills to the same level as the good students in schools with proper teachers. It is far from equal to provide a certain group of students with inferior curriculums and teachers.
The inequality that unqualified teachers represent can largely be explained by one factor and it is money. The teachers in the schools with mostly low-income students get paid far less than their counterparts in wealthier neighborhoods. Rich states that the salary cap between the teachers in schools with mostly wealthy students and the teachers in schools with mostly low-income students is over 5000 dollars. It isn’t necessarily that the qualified teachers wouldn’t want to work with low-income students, but rather that the government policy on salaries supports inequality in the distribution of qualified teachers. This type of salary cap does not serve as an incentive to teach in the schools that are facing many challenges. The salary cap leads to a situation where the most qualified teachers will apply to jobs in the schools with students from fortunate backgrounds and vice versa.
The government has tried to fix the educational inequalities with several policies including the No Child Left Behind Act. David Hursh points our in his article, “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act,” that the NCLB has done nothing but bad for the education of African-Americans. Hursh states that eliminating resources from the so-called underachieving schools hits the inner city schools very hard. Because of the lack of resources to begin with, there is no way that the schools serving certain neighborhoods would reach the required level. Hursh also argues that the NCLB policy should take into account the relative progress that the schools make rather than just setting boundaries based on standardized tests. This kind of policies from the government prove that they have yet to actually understand the issue of inequality in education and the effect of segregation.
The solutions to provide equal educational opportunities for all the students and especially for African-Americans are nor simple or fast. First of all the lack in curriculums and qualified teachers has to be addressed. The government should grant more funding to provide over the average salaries for teachers in the mostly African-American inner city schools. Secondly the curriculums of all high schools should be brought up to date to a level, which equals the highest possible. Naturally, to do this would require extra funding as well. The harder part of the solution is to intergrade all high schools, so that the student composition isn’t only African-American in certain schools. To do this more research is needed for the reasons why the white middle class sends their children to other than public schools in their neighborhood. No matter what the reasons are, the public should be encouraged to send their children in the public schools to stop the circle of segregation and educational disparity.
Segregation in schools is apparent and it is appearing more frequently than before. Beth A. Tarasawa the author of the article, “Live and Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics,” states the American schools are following a general trend in which racial segregation is increasing. According to Tarasawa this newly recovered segregation is especially harmful for the African-American students. Increasing rates of segregation leave the inner city schools to struggle with students from difficult backgrounds that are mostly from low-income families. Tarasawa’s research shows how the white families avoid enrolling their children in schools that have less than 75 percent of white students in them. Usually this leads into a situation where the white families live in the suburbs and their kids attend the local public schools where the majority of students are white. Or, if the white families live in integrated neighborhoods, they most often sent their kids to private or charter schools (Tarasawa). Tarasawa also points out that many African-American families cannot afford to send their children to a private school or move to the suburbs. This leads to segregated, mostly African-American inner city schools.
School segregation is extensively visible especially in high schools. Certain high schools have a high rate of troubled students combined with inferior resources such as unqualified teachers and below the average curriculums. According to Motoko Rich the author of the article, “School data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines,” nearly 50 percent of all African-American students attend a high school where they don’t have an access to a full range of math and science courses. This means that even if a student would want to get educated in a certain subject they might not be able to. In the longer run this might have an effect on which colleges one might be able to get in or how well one is going to succeed in their college career.
The reason why these substandard curriculums are offered might be as simple as funding. When there is not enough funding the schools have to cut programs and high-level courses with few students attending them are an easy target. On the other hand the reason for the substandard curriculum might also be that students simply aren’t attending these classes. This might be an outcome of the quality of the education of a specific school. If the students aren’t learning the basics well enough, they will not want to participate in the courses that are even more demanding. Russel W. Rumberger and Gregory J. Palardy the authors of the article, “Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in High School,” points out that the expectations for students are often low in the schools that have a majority of African-American students. Setting expectations low causes the students to try less and most likely be less successful. Most importantly the teachers set their expectations lower which basically automatically leads to lower grades among many African-American students
Indeed, the teachers in the segregated, African-American schools are another big challenge. Compared to the students in other races, African-American students are four times as likely to attend schools where 20 percent or more of the teachers are unqualified (Rich). Combining unqualified teachers and students that mostly come from low-income homes is not a great solution. First of all, the teachers that are unqualified cannot teach their students as well as those with a full set of teaching skills. This might be especially important with students that have trouble learning. Secondly, if the teachers of certain schools are not capable of teaching as well as the teachers in other schools, many talents are lost because of this. The good students don’t have an opportunity to develop their skills to the same level as the good students in schools with proper teachers. It is far from equal to provide a certain group of students with inferior curriculums and teachers.
The inequality that unqualified teachers represent can largely be explained by one factor and it is money. The teachers in the schools with mostly low-income students get paid far less than their counterparts in wealthier neighborhoods. Rich states that the salary cap between the teachers in schools with mostly wealthy students and the teachers in schools with mostly low-income students is over 5000 dollars. It isn’t necessarily that the qualified teachers wouldn’t want to work with low-income students, but rather that the government policy on salaries supports inequality in the distribution of qualified teachers. This type of salary cap does not serve as an incentive to teach in the schools that are facing many challenges. The salary cap leads to a situation where the most qualified teachers will apply to jobs in the schools with students from fortunate backgrounds and vice versa.
The government has tried to fix the educational inequalities with several policies including the No Child Left Behind Act. David Hursh points our in his article, “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act,” that the NCLB has done nothing but bad for the education of African-Americans. Hursh states that eliminating resources from the so-called underachieving schools hits the inner city schools very hard. Because of the lack of resources to begin with, there is no way that the schools serving certain neighborhoods would reach the required level. Hursh also argues that the NCLB policy should take into account the relative progress that the schools make rather than just setting boundaries based on standardized tests. This kind of policies from the government prove that they have yet to actually understand the issue of inequality in education and the effect of segregation.
The solutions to provide equal educational opportunities for all the students and especially for African-Americans are nor simple or fast. First of all the lack in curriculums and qualified teachers has to be addressed. The government should grant more funding to provide over the average salaries for teachers in the mostly African-American inner city schools. Secondly the curriculums of all high schools should be brought up to date to a level, which equals the highest possible. Naturally, to do this would require extra funding as well. The harder part of the solution is to intergrade all high schools, so that the student composition isn’t only African-American in certain schools. To do this more research is needed for the reasons why the white middle class sends their children to other than public schools in their neighborhood. No matter what the reasons are, the public should be encouraged to send their children in the public schools to stop the circle of segregation and educational disparity.
Works Cited
Hursh, David.
“Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act.” Race,
Ethnicity and Education 10:3 (2007): 295-308. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Apr.
2014.
Rich, Motoko. “School
data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines.” The New York Times.
The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2014. Web 1 Apr. 2014.
Rumberger, Russel W. and Palardy, Gregory J. “Does
Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student
Composition on Academic Achievement in High School.” Teachers College Record
107:9 (2005): 1999-2045. Academic Search
Elite. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Tarasawa, Beth A. “Live and Learn? Contradictions in
Residential Patterns and School Demographics.”
Education and Society 44 (2011):
655-671. Sage Publications. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
ESSAY THREE, DRAFT TWO
Jani
Professor B.
English 113B
24 April 2014
Professor B.
English 113B
24 April 2014
Quality Education Is a Right Not a
Privilege
Officially segregation has ended
decades ago, but some of the practices are still present today. Segregation
today isn’t a law or a set of customs purposely meant to hurt anyone. Modern
segregation in the field of education is closer to a combination of
misunderstanding and misinterpreting
the statistics, facts, and information. Unfortunately segregation
affects the education system and provides inequality especially for the young
African-American students. There are several reasons for the educational
inequality and they include partial or whole neighborhood and school
segregation. Whether intentional or not, segregation has a significant impact
on the academic success of the student especially in low-income families. The
government has tried to confront the issue of inequality in education, but so
far there has been little or no success. To eliminate educational inequality
among African-Americans, the unintentional segregation in schools has to end.
Segregation in schools is apparent and it is appearing more frequently than before. Beth A. Tarasawa, the author of the article, “Live and Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics,” states the American schools are following a general trend in which racial segregation is increasing. According to Tarasawa this new form of segregation is especially harmful for the African-American students, many of who come from low-income families. Usually low-income families live in neighborhoods that do not provide a proper example for a success in school. Increasing rates of segregation leave the inner city schools to struggle with students from difficult backgrounds that are mostly from low-income families. Tarasawa’s research shows how the white families avoid enrolling their children in schools that have less than 75 percent of white students in them. Usually this leads into a situation where the white families live in the suburbs and their children attend the local public schools where the majority of students are white. Or, if the white families live in integrated neighborhoods, they most often sent their children to private or charter schools (Tarasawa). Tarasawa also points out that many African-American families cannot afford to send their children to a private school or move to the suburbs. This leads to segregated inner city schools with students that are mostly African-American.
School segregation is especially visible in high schools. Certain high schools have a high rate of troubled students combined with inferior resources such as unqualified teachers and below average curriculums. Many low-income students come from troubled or challenged backgrounds. This is due several things like, they most likely have no preschool education or the neighborhood they live in doesn’t provide an environment, which would set an example for academic success. According to Motoko Rich, the author of the article, “School Data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines,” nearly 50 percent of all African-American students attend a high school where they don’t have access to a full range of math and science courses. This means that even if a student would want to get educated in a certain subject they might not be able to. In the longer run this might have an effect on which colleges one might be able to get in or how well one is going to succeed in their college career.
The reason why these substandard curriculums are offered might be as simple as funding. When there is not enough funding the schools have to cut programs, and high-level courses with few students attending them are an easy target. On the other hand the reason for the substandard curriculum might also be that students simply aren’t attending these classes. This might be an outcome of the quality of the education of a specific school. If the students aren’t learning the basics well enough, they will not want to participate in the courses that are even more demanding. Russel W. Rumberger and Gregory J. Palardy, the authors of the article, “Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in High School,” point out that the expectations for students are often low in the high schools that have a majority of African-American students. This is a result of the fact that many African-American students come from low-income families. Students from less fortunate backgrounds tend have less preschool, which reflects to their highs school careers as well. Teachers knowledge this and many set the expectations on a lower level because they think the students aren’t capable of achieving higher goals. Setting expectations low causes students to be less likely successful. Indeed, the teachers in the segregated schools with primarily African American students are also problematic. African-American students are four times as likely to attend schools where 20 percent or more of the teachers are unqualified (Rich). Combining unqualified teachers and students that mostly come from low-income homes is not a great solution. First of all, the teachers that are unqualified cannot teach their students as well as those with a full set of teaching skills. This might be especially important with students that have trouble learning. Secondly, if the teachers of certain schools are not capable of teaching as well as the teachers in other schools, many talents are lost because of this. The good students don’t have an opportunity to develop their skills to the same level as the good students in schools with proper teachers. It is far from equal to provide a certain group of students with inferior curriculums and teachers.
The inequality that unqualified teachers represent can largely be explained by one factor and it is money. The teachers in the schools with mostly low-income students get paid far less than their counterparts in wealthier neighborhoods. Fully qualified, experienced teachers are more likely to work in schools where their salary reflects their professional level. Rich states that the salary cap between the teachers in schools with mostly wealthy students and the teachers in schools with mostly low-income students is over 5000 dollars. It isn’t necessarily that the qualified teachers wouldn’t want to work with low-income students, but rather that the government policy on salaries supports inequality in the distribution of qualified teachers. This type of salary cap does not serve as an incentive to teach in the schools that are facing many challenges. The salary cap leads to a situation where the most qualified teachers will apply to jobs in the schools with students from fortunate backgrounds.
The government has tried to fix the educational inequalities with several policies including the No Child Left Behind Act. David Hursh points out in his article, “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act,” that the NCLB has hindered education for African-American students. Hursh states that eliminating resources from the so-called underachieving schools hits the inner city schools very hard. Because of the lack of resources to begin with, there is no way that the schools serving certain neighborhoods would reach the required level mandated by NCLB. Hursh also argues that the NCLB policy should take into account the relative progress that the schools make rather than just setting boundaries based on standardized tests. These kinds of policies from the government prove that they have yet to actually understand the issue of inequality in education and the effect of segregation.
The solutions to provide equal educational opportunities for all the students and especially for African-Americans are neither simple nor fast. First of all the lack in curriculums and qualified teachers has to be addressed. The government should grant more funding to provide higher salaries for teachers in the mostly African-American inner city schools, thereby attracting more qualified teachers. Secondly, the curriculums of all high schools should be brought to the same level. Naturally, to do this would require extra funding as well. The hardest part of the solution is to desegregate all high schools, so that the student composition isn’t only African-American in certain schools. To do this more research is needed for the reasons why the white middle class send their children to schools other than the public schools in their neighborhood. No matter what the reasons are, the public should be encouraged to send their children to the local public school in order to stop the circle of segregation and educational disparity.
Segregation in schools is apparent and it is appearing more frequently than before. Beth A. Tarasawa, the author of the article, “Live and Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics,” states the American schools are following a general trend in which racial segregation is increasing. According to Tarasawa this new form of segregation is especially harmful for the African-American students, many of who come from low-income families. Usually low-income families live in neighborhoods that do not provide a proper example for a success in school. Increasing rates of segregation leave the inner city schools to struggle with students from difficult backgrounds that are mostly from low-income families. Tarasawa’s research shows how the white families avoid enrolling their children in schools that have less than 75 percent of white students in them. Usually this leads into a situation where the white families live in the suburbs and their children attend the local public schools where the majority of students are white. Or, if the white families live in integrated neighborhoods, they most often sent their children to private or charter schools (Tarasawa). Tarasawa also points out that many African-American families cannot afford to send their children to a private school or move to the suburbs. This leads to segregated inner city schools with students that are mostly African-American.
School segregation is especially visible in high schools. Certain high schools have a high rate of troubled students combined with inferior resources such as unqualified teachers and below average curriculums. Many low-income students come from troubled or challenged backgrounds. This is due several things like, they most likely have no preschool education or the neighborhood they live in doesn’t provide an environment, which would set an example for academic success. According to Motoko Rich, the author of the article, “School Data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines,” nearly 50 percent of all African-American students attend a high school where they don’t have access to a full range of math and science courses. This means that even if a student would want to get educated in a certain subject they might not be able to. In the longer run this might have an effect on which colleges one might be able to get in or how well one is going to succeed in their college career.
The reason why these substandard curriculums are offered might be as simple as funding. When there is not enough funding the schools have to cut programs, and high-level courses with few students attending them are an easy target. On the other hand the reason for the substandard curriculum might also be that students simply aren’t attending these classes. This might be an outcome of the quality of the education of a specific school. If the students aren’t learning the basics well enough, they will not want to participate in the courses that are even more demanding. Russel W. Rumberger and Gregory J. Palardy, the authors of the article, “Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in High School,” point out that the expectations for students are often low in the high schools that have a majority of African-American students. This is a result of the fact that many African-American students come from low-income families. Students from less fortunate backgrounds tend have less preschool, which reflects to their highs school careers as well. Teachers knowledge this and many set the expectations on a lower level because they think the students aren’t capable of achieving higher goals. Setting expectations low causes students to be less likely successful. Indeed, the teachers in the segregated schools with primarily African American students are also problematic. African-American students are four times as likely to attend schools where 20 percent or more of the teachers are unqualified (Rich). Combining unqualified teachers and students that mostly come from low-income homes is not a great solution. First of all, the teachers that are unqualified cannot teach their students as well as those with a full set of teaching skills. This might be especially important with students that have trouble learning. Secondly, if the teachers of certain schools are not capable of teaching as well as the teachers in other schools, many talents are lost because of this. The good students don’t have an opportunity to develop their skills to the same level as the good students in schools with proper teachers. It is far from equal to provide a certain group of students with inferior curriculums and teachers.
The inequality that unqualified teachers represent can largely be explained by one factor and it is money. The teachers in the schools with mostly low-income students get paid far less than their counterparts in wealthier neighborhoods. Fully qualified, experienced teachers are more likely to work in schools where their salary reflects their professional level. Rich states that the salary cap between the teachers in schools with mostly wealthy students and the teachers in schools with mostly low-income students is over 5000 dollars. It isn’t necessarily that the qualified teachers wouldn’t want to work with low-income students, but rather that the government policy on salaries supports inequality in the distribution of qualified teachers. This type of salary cap does not serve as an incentive to teach in the schools that are facing many challenges. The salary cap leads to a situation where the most qualified teachers will apply to jobs in the schools with students from fortunate backgrounds.
The government has tried to fix the educational inequalities with several policies including the No Child Left Behind Act. David Hursh points out in his article, “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act,” that the NCLB has hindered education for African-American students. Hursh states that eliminating resources from the so-called underachieving schools hits the inner city schools very hard. Because of the lack of resources to begin with, there is no way that the schools serving certain neighborhoods would reach the required level mandated by NCLB. Hursh also argues that the NCLB policy should take into account the relative progress that the schools make rather than just setting boundaries based on standardized tests. These kinds of policies from the government prove that they have yet to actually understand the issue of inequality in education and the effect of segregation.
The solutions to provide equal educational opportunities for all the students and especially for African-Americans are neither simple nor fast. First of all the lack in curriculums and qualified teachers has to be addressed. The government should grant more funding to provide higher salaries for teachers in the mostly African-American inner city schools, thereby attracting more qualified teachers. Secondly, the curriculums of all high schools should be brought to the same level. Naturally, to do this would require extra funding as well. The hardest part of the solution is to desegregate all high schools, so that the student composition isn’t only African-American in certain schools. To do this more research is needed for the reasons why the white middle class send their children to schools other than the public schools in their neighborhood. No matter what the reasons are, the public should be encouraged to send their children to the local public school in order to stop the circle of segregation and educational disparity.
Works Cited
Hursh,
David. “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind
Act.” Race, Ethnicity and Education 10.3
(2007): 295-308. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 5 Apr. 2014. Provides a
critical view toward the NCLB act. Criticizes especially standardized testing and decreasing school
budgets based on test results. This article is a good example of a failed government policy in education.
Rich,
Motoko. “School data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2014. Web 1 Apr. 2014.
This article brings out the statistical
information from a nationwide public school survey. It states how black students are more likely to get
suspended and that most of the black students study in inner city public schools, which are basically segregated. This
article argues that many black
students still get their education in schools with inferior resources.
Rumberger, Russel W. and Palardy, Gregory J.
“Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student
Composition on Academic Achievement in High School.” Teachers College Record
107.9
(2005): 1999-2045. Academic Search Elite.
Web. 8 Apr. 2014. Provides research
about the optimal student composition in terms of socioeconomic factors. States that students from low-income
families get better grades when they don’t make up more than 50% of the student body in a certain school. Argues that
government policies should concentrate
on creating schools where student composition is mixed based on socioeconomic factors.
Tarasawa, Beth A. “Live and Learn?
Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics.” Education
and Society 44 (2011): 655-671. Sage
Publications. Web. 11 Apr.
2014. Introduces a study, which shows how white families avoid schools with
less than 75% white students. Also
states that public schools in racially integrated neighborhoods are segregated because white students are sent
to private schools. The article
suggests that to end segregation both, the neighborhood and school segregation issues should be addressed at the same
time.
ESSAY THREE, FINAL DRAFT
ESSAY THREE, FINAL DRAFT
Jani
Professor B.
English 113B
1 May 2014
Professor B.
English 113B
1 May 2014
Quality
Education Is a Right Not a Privilege
Officially segregation has ended decades ago, but some of
the practices are still present today. Segregation today isn’t a law or a set
of customs purposely meant to hurt anyone. Modern segregation in the field of
education is a misunderstanding and misinterpreting the statistics, facts, and
information. Unfortunately segregation affects the education system and
provides inequality of education, especially for young African-American
students. Whether intentional or not, segregation has a significant impact on
the academic success of the student, especially students from low-income African-American
families. The government has tried to confront the issue of inequality in
education, but so far there has been little or no success. To eliminate
educational inequality among African-Americans, the unintentional segregation
in schools has to end.
Segregation in schools is apparent and it is appearing more frequently. American schools are following a general trend in which racial segregation is increasing (Tarasawa). According to Tarasawa this new form of segregation is especially harmful for African-American students, many of who come from low-income families. Usually low-income families live in neighborhoods that do not offer high performing schools. Increasing rates of segregation leave the inner city schools to struggle with students from difficult backgrounds. Tarasawa’s research shows how the white families avoid enrolling their children in schools that have less than 75 percent of white students in them. Usually this leads to a situation where the white families live in the suburbs and their children attend the local public schools where the majority of students are white. Or, if the white families live in integrated neighborhoods, they most often send their children to private or charter schools (Tarasawa 658). Tarasawa also points out that many African-American families cannot afford to send their children to a private school or move to the suburbs, which leads to segregated inner city schools with students that are mostly African-American (662,663).
School segregation is especially visible in high schools. Certain high schools have a high rate of troubled students combined with inferior resources such as unqualified teachers and below average curriculums. Many low-income students come from troubled or challenged backgrounds. Generally these students have not had a preschool education or the neighborhood they live in doesn’t provide an environment which would set an example for academic success. According to Motoko Rich nearly 50 percent of all African-American students attend a high school where they don’t have access to a full range of math and science courses. This means that even if a student would want to get educated in a certain subject they might not be able to, which might have an effect on which colleges one might be able to get admitted to or how well one is going to succeed in their college career.
The reason why these substandard curriculums are offered might be as simple as funding. When there is not enough funding the schools have to cut programs, and high-level courses with few enrolled students are an easy target. On the other hand, the reason for the substandard curriculum might also be that students simply aren’t attending these classes. This might be an outcome of the quality of the education of a specific school. If the students aren’t learning the basics well enough, they will not want to participate or are not able to participate in more challenging courses. Russel W. Rumberger and Gregory J. Palardy point out that the expectations for students are often low in the high schools that have a majority of African-American students (2002). Teachers in these schools keep their expectations low because they know that a majority of the students do not have a preschool background. Getting preschool education is an important indicator of how well the student will perform in their future academic career. Many African-American students come from low-income families and tend to not attend preschool, which reflects on their high school careers. Many teachers set the low expectations because they think the students aren’t capable of achieving higher goals. Setting expectations low generally causes students to less likely be successful.
Moreover, the teachers in the segregated schools with primarily African American students are also problematic. African-American students are four times as likely to attend schools where 20 percent or more of the teachers are unqualified (Rich). Combining unqualified teachers and students that mostly come from low-income homes is not a great solution. First of all, the teachers that are unqualified cannot teach their students as well as those with a full set of teaching skills. This might be especially important with students that have trouble learning or lack home support for a variety of reasons. Secondly, if the teachers of certain schools are not capable of teaching as well as the teachers in other schools, many talented students are lost, as they don’t have an opportunity to develop their skills to the same level as the good students in schools with better-qualified teachers. It is far from equal to provide a certain group of students with inferior curriculum and teachers.
The inequality that unqualified teachers represent can largely be explained by one factor and it is money. The teachers in the schools with mostly low-income students get paid far less than their counterparts in wealthier neighborhoods. Fully qualified, experienced teachers are more likely to work in schools where their salary reflects their professional level. Rich states that the salary cap between the teachers in schools with mostly wealthy students and the teachers in schools with mostly low-income students is over 5,000 dollars. It isn’t necessarily that the qualified teachers wouldn’t want to work with low-income students, but rather that the government policy on salaries supports inequality in the distribution of qualified teachers. This type of salary cap does not serve as an incentive to teach in the schools that are facing many challenges. The salary cap leads to a situation where the most qualified teachers will apply to jobs in the schools with students from fortunate backgrounds.
The government has tried to fix the educational inequalities with several policies including the No Child Left Behind Act. David Hursh points out in his article “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act,” that the NCLB has hindered education for African-American students. NCLB takes funding away from schools that don’t reach a certain level of points in the standardized tests. This is problematic because the students in those schools usually have more learning issues and less preschool. So what this means is that the opportunity for learning is taken away from those students who never even had it to begin with. Hursh states that eliminating resources from underachieving schools hits the inner city schools very hard. Because of the lack of resources, there is no way that the schools serving certain neighborhoods would reach the required level mandated by NCLB. Hursh also argues that the NCLB policy should take into account the relative progress that the schools make rather than just setting requirement levels based on standardized tests. These kinds of policies from the government prove that they have yet to actually understand the issue of inequality in education and the effect of segregation.
The solutions to providing equal educational opportunities for all students and especially for African-American students are neither simple nor fast. First of all the lack in curriculums and qualified teachers has to be addressed. The government should grant more funding to provide higher salaries for teachers in the mostly African-American inner city schools, thereby attracting more qualified teachers. Secondly, the curriculum of all high schools should be brought to the same level. Naturally, to do this would require extra funding as well. The hardest part of the solution is to desegregate all high schools, so that the student composition isn’t only African-American in certain schools. To do this more research is needed for the reasons why the white middle class send their children to schools other than the public schools in their neighborhood. No matter what the reasons are, the public should be encouraged to send their children to the local public school in order to stop the circle of segregation and educational disparity.
Segregation in schools is apparent and it is appearing more frequently. American schools are following a general trend in which racial segregation is increasing (Tarasawa). According to Tarasawa this new form of segregation is especially harmful for African-American students, many of who come from low-income families. Usually low-income families live in neighborhoods that do not offer high performing schools. Increasing rates of segregation leave the inner city schools to struggle with students from difficult backgrounds. Tarasawa’s research shows how the white families avoid enrolling their children in schools that have less than 75 percent of white students in them. Usually this leads to a situation where the white families live in the suburbs and their children attend the local public schools where the majority of students are white. Or, if the white families live in integrated neighborhoods, they most often send their children to private or charter schools (Tarasawa 658). Tarasawa also points out that many African-American families cannot afford to send their children to a private school or move to the suburbs, which leads to segregated inner city schools with students that are mostly African-American (662,663).
School segregation is especially visible in high schools. Certain high schools have a high rate of troubled students combined with inferior resources such as unqualified teachers and below average curriculums. Many low-income students come from troubled or challenged backgrounds. Generally these students have not had a preschool education or the neighborhood they live in doesn’t provide an environment which would set an example for academic success. According to Motoko Rich nearly 50 percent of all African-American students attend a high school where they don’t have access to a full range of math and science courses. This means that even if a student would want to get educated in a certain subject they might not be able to, which might have an effect on which colleges one might be able to get admitted to or how well one is going to succeed in their college career.
The reason why these substandard curriculums are offered might be as simple as funding. When there is not enough funding the schools have to cut programs, and high-level courses with few enrolled students are an easy target. On the other hand, the reason for the substandard curriculum might also be that students simply aren’t attending these classes. This might be an outcome of the quality of the education of a specific school. If the students aren’t learning the basics well enough, they will not want to participate or are not able to participate in more challenging courses. Russel W. Rumberger and Gregory J. Palardy point out that the expectations for students are often low in the high schools that have a majority of African-American students (2002). Teachers in these schools keep their expectations low because they know that a majority of the students do not have a preschool background. Getting preschool education is an important indicator of how well the student will perform in their future academic career. Many African-American students come from low-income families and tend to not attend preschool, which reflects on their high school careers. Many teachers set the low expectations because they think the students aren’t capable of achieving higher goals. Setting expectations low generally causes students to less likely be successful.
Moreover, the teachers in the segregated schools with primarily African American students are also problematic. African-American students are four times as likely to attend schools where 20 percent or more of the teachers are unqualified (Rich). Combining unqualified teachers and students that mostly come from low-income homes is not a great solution. First of all, the teachers that are unqualified cannot teach their students as well as those with a full set of teaching skills. This might be especially important with students that have trouble learning or lack home support for a variety of reasons. Secondly, if the teachers of certain schools are not capable of teaching as well as the teachers in other schools, many talented students are lost, as they don’t have an opportunity to develop their skills to the same level as the good students in schools with better-qualified teachers. It is far from equal to provide a certain group of students with inferior curriculum and teachers.
The inequality that unqualified teachers represent can largely be explained by one factor and it is money. The teachers in the schools with mostly low-income students get paid far less than their counterparts in wealthier neighborhoods. Fully qualified, experienced teachers are more likely to work in schools where their salary reflects their professional level. Rich states that the salary cap between the teachers in schools with mostly wealthy students and the teachers in schools with mostly low-income students is over 5,000 dollars. It isn’t necessarily that the qualified teachers wouldn’t want to work with low-income students, but rather that the government policy on salaries supports inequality in the distribution of qualified teachers. This type of salary cap does not serve as an incentive to teach in the schools that are facing many challenges. The salary cap leads to a situation where the most qualified teachers will apply to jobs in the schools with students from fortunate backgrounds.
The government has tried to fix the educational inequalities with several policies including the No Child Left Behind Act. David Hursh points out in his article “Exacerbating Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act,” that the NCLB has hindered education for African-American students. NCLB takes funding away from schools that don’t reach a certain level of points in the standardized tests. This is problematic because the students in those schools usually have more learning issues and less preschool. So what this means is that the opportunity for learning is taken away from those students who never even had it to begin with. Hursh states that eliminating resources from underachieving schools hits the inner city schools very hard. Because of the lack of resources, there is no way that the schools serving certain neighborhoods would reach the required level mandated by NCLB. Hursh also argues that the NCLB policy should take into account the relative progress that the schools make rather than just setting requirement levels based on standardized tests. These kinds of policies from the government prove that they have yet to actually understand the issue of inequality in education and the effect of segregation.
The solutions to providing equal educational opportunities for all students and especially for African-American students are neither simple nor fast. First of all the lack in curriculums and qualified teachers has to be addressed. The government should grant more funding to provide higher salaries for teachers in the mostly African-American inner city schools, thereby attracting more qualified teachers. Secondly, the curriculum of all high schools should be brought to the same level. Naturally, to do this would require extra funding as well. The hardest part of the solution is to desegregate all high schools, so that the student composition isn’t only African-American in certain schools. To do this more research is needed for the reasons why the white middle class send their children to schools other than the public schools in their neighborhood. No matter what the reasons are, the public should be encouraged to send their children to the local public school in order to stop the circle of segregation and educational disparity.
Works Cited
Hursh, David. “Exacerbating
Inequality: the Failed Promise of the No Child Left Behind Act.” Race,
Ethnicity and Education 10.3 (2007): 295-308. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Apr.
2014. Provides a critical view toward the NCLB act. Criticizes especially standardized testing and decreasing school
budgets based on test results. This article is a good example of a failed government policy in education.
Rich, Motoko. “School data
Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines.” The New York Times.
The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2014. Web 1 Apr. 2014. This article brings out the statistical information from a
nationwide public school survey. It states how black students are more likely to get suspended and that most of
the black students study in inner city
public schools, which are basically segregated. This article argues that many black students still get their education
in schools with inferior resources.
Rumberger, Russel W. and
Palardy, Gregory J. “Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement
in High School.” Teachers College Record 107.9 (2005): 1999-2045. Academic Search Elite. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Provides research about the optimal
student composition in terms of socioeconomic factors. States that students from low-income families
get better grades when they don’t make up more than
50% of the student body in a certain school. Argues that government policies
should concentrate on creating
schools where student composition is mixed based on socioeconomic factors.
Tarasawa, Beth A. “Live and
Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics.” Education and Society 44 (2011): 655-671. Sage Publications. Web. 11 Apr.
2014. Introduces a study, which shows how white families avoid schools with
less than 75% white students. Also
states that public schools in racially integrated neighborhoods are segregated because white students are sent
to private schools. The article
suggests that to end segregation both, the neighborhood and school segregation issues should be addressed at the same
time.
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