User:Seanapplegate/Educational Inequality in the United States

Legend:

Regular Type: Wiki Article

Bold type: My Writing

Race
Race is often a big contributor to inequalities in education, and it can explain the widening achievement and discipline gaps between white students and students of color. Implicit bias and stereotyping perpetuate systemic injustices and lead to unequal opportunities.

Race influences teachers' expectations and in turn, influences achievement results. A 2016 study showed that non-Black teachers had much lower expectations of Black students than Black teachers who evaluated the same student. White teachers were 12% less likely to think the student would graduate from high school and 30% less likely to think they would graduate from college. Previous studies have proved the importance of teachers' expectations: students whose teachers believe they are capable of high achievement tend to do better (Pygmalion effect). In another study, they saw that white teachers were more likely to give constructive feedback on essays if they believed the student who wrote it was white. The essays perceived to be written by Black or Latino students were given more praise and less pointers on how to improve their writing. One reason for this lack of quality feedback could be that teachers don't want to appear racist so they grade Black students more easily; this is actually detrimental and can lead to lower achievement over time

One research study done to look at how implicit bias affects students of color found that white teachers who gave lessons to Black students had greater anxiety and delivered less clear lectures. They played recordings of these lectures to non-Blacks students who performed just as badly, proving that it wasn't a result of the students' ability but rather implicit bias in the teachers.

Minority students often don't have equal access to high-quality teachers which can be an indication for how well a student will perform. However, there has been conflicting research on how large the effect truly is; some claim having a high-quality teacher is the biggest predictor of academic success while another study says that inequalities are largely caused by other factors.

Racial educational inequality in the United States has been exacerbated in the context of COVID-19. '''Sometimes alongside socioeconomic status (SES), race represents a predictive measure of learning loss experienced during remote instruction. It is currently being predicted that learning loss will disproportionately affect Black and Latino students. This learning loss presents potential for long-term detrimental effects on academic outcomes for students of color, such as disrupted educational planning, and gaps in educational achievement. These concerns have also brought about concerns regarding even longer-term socioeconomic concerns caused by educational inequality, such as individual income loss and economic downturn. Research shows an estimated impact of about $110 billion loss in earnings for the current K-12 cohort.'''

Effects
At the societal level, white supremacy in curriculum may contribute to the perpetuation of white supremacy, affecting future generations. Huber et al. (2006) notes that Euro- or white-centric curriculum can contribute to the normalization of racial inequality and tolerance of White dominance (p. 193). Brown and Brown (2010) also state that if schools continue to not teach about systemic racism, students will grow up to be “apathetic” about Black victims of mass incarceration and gun-related violence, as well as the disproportionate suffering experienced by Black Americans after natural disasters (p. 122).

'''The disproportionate suffering amid disaster is particularly true within the COVID-19 pandemic. As students of color are more likely to have uneducated parents, there exists a likelihood for lower rates of health literacy. This results in a lack of support for students with parents of low health literacy, which furthers educational inequality. Considering the discrepancy in transmission rates along factors such as racial demographics, research has brought in to question the impact on health literacy creating coinciding health inequalities.'''

Socioeconomic status
In the United States, a family's socioeconomic status (SES) has a significant impact on the child's education. The parents' level of education, income, and jobs combine to determine the level of difficulty their children will face in school. It creates an inequality of learning between children from families of a high SES and children from families of a low SES. Families with a high SES will ensure the child receives a beneficial education while families with a low SES usually are not able to ensure a quality education for their child. This results in children of less wealthy families performing less well in schools as children of wealthier families. There are several factors that contribute to this disparity; these factors narrow into two main subjects: resources and environment.

The type of environment a student lives in is a determinant of the education they receive. The environment a child is raised in shapes their perceptions of education. In low SES homes, literacy is not stressed as much as it is in high SES homes. It is proven that wealthier parents spend more time talking to their children and this builds up their vocabulary early on and enhances their literacy skills. Low SES families may not be able to afford as many books at the child's ever-changing reading level. This endangers the child's ability to quickly build up their literacy skills because their only access to books of differing levels is at school. They are unable to challenge their reading skills at home while wealthier children may have a wide variety of books because they are in an environment that encourages reading. Children of low SES are also exposed to a more stressful environment than higher SES children. They worry about influences a lack of money in the household could create (such as bills and food). Monetary struggles also increase the number of arguments parents have which creates a high-stress environment for the child and may prevent them from concentrating on their schoolwork. This inability to concentrate on homework or in class without worrying about the environmental factors at home will cause a decline in academic performance. This decline is less likely to occur to high-SES students because their home environment produces fewer stressors. The student is able to give their full attention to their academics.

There is great variation in the resources available to children in schools. Families of higher SES are able to invest more into the education of their children. This ability manifests in the popular tactic of shopping around school districts: parents plan where they are going to live based on the quality of the school district. They can afford to live in areas where other families of high SES reside, and this congregation of high-SES families produces a school district that is well funded. These families are capable of directly investing in their children's education by donating to the school. Having access to such funds gives the schools capacity to hold high caliber resources such as high-quality teachers, technology, good nutrition, clubs, sports, and books. If students have access to such resources, they are able to learn more effectively. Children of lower SES families do not have such resources. Their families tend to settle down where there is an availability of jobs, and are less likely to shop around school districts. Clusters of low-SES families typically produce worse school districts. The families are not in a position to donate to their children's school and so the schools lack appropriate funding for good resources. This results in schools that cannot compete with wealthier schools.

In addition to the varying resources across socioeconomic levels, the shift from in-person to online education has created problems of digital access and literacy in education. The shift from in-person to online schooling has created a general reliance on access to technology such as computers, which is a generally preexisting problem based on SES.