A federal study released last week on the achievement gap between black and white students in the nation’s major urban school systems paints a dismal picture. According to the statistics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, considered the nation’s report card, in most major urban areas there has been little or no progress in closing the gap.
Study results confirmed that in New York City little progress had been made in reducing the gap in test scores between white students and black and Hispanic students. According to the study, “the city’s white students scored better than black and Hispanic students by margins ranging from 22 points to 31 points. Any reduction in the gap between 2003 and 2011 was not statistically significant.”
Schools in the nation’s Capitol faired worst of all. D.C. public schools have the largest achievement gap between black and white students among the major urban school systems in the nation and the national average. The same gap is seen between white and Hispanic students.
But what other outcome can be expected when there has been and continues to be a disparity in the level of investment of resources, from educational facilities, quality of teachers, books and other learning tools. Data abound about the level of investment per pupil in urban schools compared to suburban schools.
One has only to look at the level of access to technology as an essential tool in schools that boast of delivering a high-quality education to see the institutionalized disparities in the educational system in the United States. The “haves” have access to the technology. The “have nots” do not. More often than not, the disparities are existent along racial and socio-economic lines.
In speaking with a colleague the other day, she was expressing her conflicting feelings about her children, in grade school, already having access to the IPad as a learning tool. Most minorities and students in depressed urban areas do not have access to desktop computers, let alone, laptops and mobile devices such as the IPad, IPhone, or Ipod.
Suspend the technological or digital divide for a moment. The pernicious and institutional racism is evident in how resources are allocated, how students are assigned to learning tracks and teachers, and how we continually push a curriculum with a scarcity, or even worse, the complete absence of minority authors, inventors, scientists, and other contributors to American history.
Institutionalized racism is so prevalent and entrenched — even invisible — in this country that it seems normal to many. Practices in the educational system are merely a microcosm of it in action.
Nothing reminds us of this as poignantly as the ongoing debate around affirmative action. Affirmative action was designed to rid this society of its entrenched discriminatory practices in education, from grade schools to institutions of higher learning, along with other social and economic disparities. Yet, education seems to be the area where affirmative action is most challenged.
It seems perfectly okay to give preferential treatment to students whose parents are alumni of a school, or have some other social, political, or economic standing, even if the students applying have a marginal “C” average. This is common practice at most elite institutions of higher learning.
It would be interesting to find out how many African-Americans with “C” averages have been admitted to Yale University and Harvard Business School, or to graduate school or law school at the University of Michigan, for that matter.
Isn’t admitting students because of name, money, and position of influence another form of affirmative action? If race is to be dropped from the admittance equation, shouldn’t name, money, and position be dropped as well?
There are those who would argue that educational achievement at any level is based primarily on parents, home life, and economic status. While these factors definitely play an important role, their effects are severely compromised when confronted by an unlevel playing field, which institutionalized racism injects into the equation.
Institutionalized racism — biased attitudes, practices, and expectations in the classroom, whether in grade school or college — continues to cripple many of our children and youth disproportionately.
The infusion of millions of dollars into buildings, busing at the grade school level, and the use of point systems at the college level have done little to address the destructive attitudes and practices that continue inside and outside the classroom.
If the current conversation about America falling behind on the global stage when it comes to the educational achievement and competitiveness of our children, or the challenge we face nationally in closing the achievement gap between whites and blacks, does nothing else, it highlights the tremendous work that still needs to be done. We must make it a priority to eliminate institutionalized racism in our educational system. That is the only way to ensure that all children will receive the quality of education they need to have productive lives and become productive citizens to secure and advance us as a nation, and for us to remain competitive globally.
What do you think?
Comments
The problem is education is
The problem is education is about accountability and grades now. If our students do not score well, we lose funding. Scores are lower in black and Hispanic area schools, and therefore, they lose funding. The problem is, they are the ones who need the funding the most. White schools usually have the money or have students who have money, and therefore, they have the resources to achieve high grades. We need to GIVE the funding to these low achieving schools so that they have the resources to better the students achievement, not TAKE it away.
Also, white students tend to have better home lives where reading is fostered and they have the technology to learn. If minority students had these resources at home maybe achievement would improve.
However, a lot of the problems have to do with teaching in my opinion. As an education major, I believe that teachers do not teach to ALL of their students. They tend to see black or Hispanic children as low achievers and do not give them the chance to improve. They believe they are on a lower level, teach to that level and never challenge them. As teachers we are not supposed to be biased and we are supposed to teach to all of our students. We also need to challenge all over our students to help them move to a higher level of thinking. Also, we need to provide all of our students with the resources they need. Again, however, this has to do with funding.
We need to improve education and close the gap of achievement. The students, teachers, administration, board of education and government need to work together to do so. It cannot be done by one group without the other.
question
History shows that "coming together" almost seems impossible, does this make the opportunity for equal education impossible?
The school problem
I believe the problem in schools is that students in public school do not receive the same level of education that private or expensive school provide. In private school they provide courses such as accounting, economics, and some other courses that students in public school do not get to take. All of these is caused by funds because the government keeps sending more money and resources to schools in wealthy areas, instead of sending more funds to public schools.
I highly believe that race,
I highly believe that race, name, position and money should be dropped from all applications. An application should include your educational background, skills and talents and experience. An address or email is the only personal attribute on the application so that you can know if you were accepted. I believe race, position and money do play a big part in determining acceptance. The acceptance process would be more fair if only the important factors were considered.
Education
One argument that many can agree upon is that education is truly important and needed in this country. Public schools shouldn't be made to compete private schools, therefore everyone should have equal education. The system must not be working if everyone isnt scoring around the same range. The school system in the United States doesnt work fully and it should be fixxed. Equality should be a key component with education.
Equality
Equality should be a key component with education. The areas that people live in though contribute to the problems with the gap. I think a lot of things need to be changed when it comes to Education so that everyone gets educated equally. Not all teachers are good teachers so we need to get rid of those who are not teaching well.
Acceptance
I ultimately believe that all race issues can be boiled down to acceptance issues. If everyone was accepted (therefor everyone was willing to accept others) discrimination would be eliminated. If all private schools were to become private, I think it would decrease any chances at acceptance. If all schools taught the same curriculums, a public education would no longer be inferior. A public education exposes children to reality (as opposed to a private education) therefore, I do not believe a private education will lead to less discrimination or race issues.
Close the gap
I totally agree that there is a gap between races when test scores are tallied up for students even without seeing the numbers of 22-31 point margins. The lack of funding is appalling and it makes the minority at a disadvantage, yet I always think about the class room environments that these young people of color are in are they being taught to succeed as a strong minority, or a person of color in a white world by sheer hard work and devotion. The odds are stacked against the black or Latino and without an entire community behind them to motivate them to strike out into a world that bluntly shows by its actions that "we can make it without you". The Federal government has to step in and provide affirmative action or else “what” businesses have a true face (discrimination) to expose. I believe children see real faces and working for someone or around people forced to like you is a horrible feeling that is not enticing for most too “run to be around”.