Rethinking Education

Inequality Among Our

Students

Among the essentials of life navigation, a quality education is an inaccessible

essential for a number of students. Day by day students are not given the

opportunity to fully engage or benefit in learning skills, expressing curiosity, and

reinforcing knowledge. The situation is field not by an absence of interest, but rather a collective misunderstanding of another’s

circumstance that leads to inequality.

Lacking access is only a general description of the real turmoil. We’re left with an education system experiencing tremendous achievement gaps, not caused directly by students them-selves. Environments both inside and outside of edu-cation institutions are preset in a student’s life. Of course, the predetermined factors given by birth are out of our control, however we create the pathways available to each student.

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Environments both inside and outside of education institutions are preset in a student’s life.

Environments both inside and outside of education institutions are preset in a student’s life. Of course, the predetermined factors given by birth are out of our control, however we create the pathways available to each student.Luckily, as we progress we uncover a fuller picture of the factors maintaining education inequality. Many of the aspects shaping education disadvantages were constructed long ago, becoming blanketed under an impression of likelihood. Repeated often enough, a trend can be mistaken as a naturally occurring event.

What is education inequality? Education inequality describes the uneven distribution of valuable education resources that support knowledge-based achievements. In short, unequal access to educationally rich environments. Think of it as eating out at a restaurant where the table next to you has napkins, and you don’t.

It’s not your fault you are at a table with no napkins. You were assigned to sit at that table. The restaurant is responsible for each table being fully equipped so you can make the most of eating out at their restaurant. For some reason, your table is lacking supplies. Now, you’re napkinless.

Unlike a restaurant, where you can simply reach over to another table to grab napkins or ask a waiter to get napkins for you, education inequality leaves students to fend for themselves with less options, if any, of taking action.

We must find a way to create more access if we want to solve education inequality. We can start by looking at the environments currently available to our students, and identify the most effective principles (concepts, not your “pal” in charge of the school) of knowledge-based achievements.

What if we rephrase the restaurant scenario given earlier? Instead of focusing on the restaurant’s responsibility, we could describe the service provided by each waiter. You have waiters who are naturals at customer service, some do enough to get by, and others are not the best. Your restaurant experience can have a complete shift depending on which waiter you get.

It’s an odd relationship. You sit down, and meet the waiter assigned to you. This person is responsible for you and your well-being. They can only give you service in the way they know how. Despite there being general “best practices”, there really is no exact guideline for the experience of being your specific waiter. Sound familiar?

If you are a guardian/ parent, it should.

Translating our restaurant example to education: a strong relationship can be drawn between a student’s academic achievement, school environment, and family/ social environment.

... a strong relationship can be drawn between a student’s academic achievement, school environment, and family and social environment.

Academic achievement gaps among students give a picture of education inequality by questioning the origin of student performance. Gaps in learning are determined to not only be re-lated to the condition of school resources, but also significantly influenced by parental socioeconomic status. These findings go back to the 1966 study by James Coleman and colleagues, Equality of Educational Opportunity.

For births in the 1950s, people falling in the top 90 percent and people falling in the bottom 10 percent (90-10 gap) of the socioeconomic distribution displayed a gap of approximately 1.0 standard deviation. Similarly, the top and bottom quartiles (75-25 gap) had a gap around 0.8 standard deviations. Values around a 1.0 standard deviation correlate to the performance gap expected between the aver-age 4th grade and 8th grade student.

Over half a century later, this vast rift in student performance showed little to no change. Such a persistent gap is evidence solutions used to relieve the situation need a change.

Guardian/ Parent economic status is a known factor, however most education equality initiatives focused solely on schools.

A Deeper Look at Performance GapsAcademic achievement gaps among students give a picture of education in-equality by questioning the origin of student performance. Gaps in learning were determined to not only be related to the condition of school resources, but also significantly influenced by parental socioeconomic status.

Socioeconomic and school dynamics remain a prominet factor in a child’s education experience.

Therefore, socioeconomic status is noted to have a slightly heavier impact than school dynamics such as per student spending. However, school dynamics remain a prominent factor in a child’s education experience.

• Guardians/ Parents who attain higher levels of education are more likely to invest in early academics, as they may be more familiar with early education programs and can afford associated costs if needed.

• Exercises such as talking to infants or encouraging arithmetic early in a child’s life will re-flect the parent’s knowledge. For example, a parent’s vocabulary or grammar.

• Low-income residences may form less nurturing environments shaped by food insecurity, job instability, and low funds for school items. These residences may also be situated in neighborhoods with less access to necessities or with high crime rates.

Guardian/ Parent socioeconomic status can drastically and subtly influence a child’s aca-demic performance:

How Can We Address Education Inequality?One of Unicef’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development, set in 2015, is to ensure all girls and boys are provided “free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes” by 2030. Their suggestions for reducing inequality in education include:

• Providing high quality early childhood education and care for all children.

• Ensuring all children achieve understanding of solid core skills.

• Reducing socioeconomic inequalities.

Tutoring is an incredible asset for students interested in a tutor, and eager to learn. The support given during tutoring can prepare students to use their potential to the fullest. Without it, students could possibly fall behind.

During school years, students do show an increase in their academic achievement. Improvements are noticeable at around 14 years old, but these improvements are lost by the age of 17. To add on, the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education observed that nearly 90 percent of high school graduates from well-off families enroll in college versus 60 percent of kids in the bottom quarter of income.

Students don’t get access to quality education. Then, they are more likely to end up in poverty raising students who don’t get access to quality education.

Every one of us plays a part in laying a better path for the future generations to follow. Education inequality is one road we chose to help fix.

• Closing gender gaps, producing better data (for evidence and reflection).

• Not focusing on only average performance of the students together but the equality among the students.

We, in our own small way, are contributing to a better future of education equality. Tutor for All is an online tutoring service, and 10 percent of our profit goes directly to funding a student who cannot afford tutoring.

Limits placed on students through economic barriers, alongside inconsistent engagement, leaves promising students ignored.

Shekhar Aiyar, an International Monetary Fund economist, refers to this as “talent misallocation”. Aiyar further comments on the implications saying, “not only is it unfair, it’s also bad for growth,” As you can imagine, not opening possibilities for driven students feeds the cycle of the education inequality ripple.

Limits placed on students through economic barriers, alongside inconsistent engagments leaves promising students ignored.

Learning environments are influenced by the structure found in schools and classrooms. There are 132,853 K-12 schools in the U.S., according to 2015-16 data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Not every school or classroom functions the exact same way. Hence, why choosing the “right” school to attend is a decision we all encounter. Compare an atmosphere where you have out-dated technology and lackluster feedback with an atmosphere where you have modern technology and attentive feedback. You’ll choose th option where you feel the most care and value.

School and classroom structure can be viewed through two structure types: physical and cognitive. The physical structure of a learning environment looks at the tangible resources readily available to students.

Learning environments are influenced by the structure found in schools and classrooms. Not every school or classroom functions the exact same way. Compare an atmosphere where you have outdated technology and lackluster feedback with an atmosphere where you have modern technology and attentive feedback. You’ll choose the option where you feel the most care and value.

Structure Found in Unequal Access

The cognitive structure of a learning environment looks at how the approach to learning is established for the students. Both structures play significant roles in developing a student’s academic achievement by setting the expectation of quality.

Learning Environment: Physical StructureIf you walk into a school everyday, you would begin to pick up on the underlying messages. Access to modern technology, a quiet study hall, and inquisitive textbooks instantly give you a sense that a place is made for learning. Students feel no differently. Walking through hallways of broken lockers to sit at a lopsided seat for you to peel open a textbook with ripped pages gives you a completely different atmosphere.

Unfortunately, this scenario is not an exaggeration. Contrasts like these can be seen even from crossing one school district to the adjacent school district.

Encouraging physical appearance examples include a library, a study hall, and a moderate faculty per pupil ratio. Discouraging physical appearance examples include poor maintenance (ex. flickering lights), low sanitary standard, and outdated resources.

Specific school districts may not currently have access to provide a top-notch physical appearance for students. Opportunity to create a great environment still exists. Purchasing “state-of-the-art” everything certainly does not ensure academic achievements. Schools must also think about the cognitive environment.

Learning Environment: Cognitive StructureHow a teacher creates lesson plans and builds foundation for students sparks learning.

One of the most important things to do is create an atmosphere of curiosity. Actually, researchers found curiosity is as equally important as self-control in students.

A study, led by Prachi Shah at the University of Michigan, based data on a nationally representative sample of 6,200 American kids. For this study, curiosity is defined as “the joy of discovery, and the motivation to seek answers to what is unknown.” The study encourages teachers to find the best ways to inspire the natural curiosity of students. Exposing students to their natural curiosity brings out their interest in asking questions and allows their problem solving skills to evolve.

Guardians/ Parents can help as well! If you are aware of what your child is learning, you can help gently reinforce the topic through conversation. For example, asking your child to tell you about what they think was the most interesting fact from the topic.

The study suggests that curiosity can be used to shrink the achievement gap, as it can be particularly useful in engaging students from more impoverished communities. The study also found that “kids who demonstrated an eagerness to learn new things were more likely to be high achievers in school.” Curiosity is an excellent tool, and in the long run, could be far more attainable and effective than solely relying on students using self-control to force focus. Knowing which approach to emphasize can increase learning effectiveness.

Minority students perform lower overall, however, minority students tend to learn at schools in low-income environments. This can also be referred to as a high poverty atmosphere and schools within a high poverty atmosphere tend to have less modern technology, higher novice teachers, more focus on disciplinary standards and low quality resources. Learn more on why low-income environments perform lower.

The Blanket of LikelihoodMinority students perform lower overall, however, minority students tend to learn at schools in low-income environments. This can also be referred to as a high poverty atmosphere. Schools within a high poverty atmosphere tend to:

• Have less access to modern technology. Therefore, making it harder to keep up with new education technology used to improve learning in the digital age.

• Have a higher ratio of novice teachers compared to other schools. Therefore, depriving students of teaching quality gained by experience. Novice teachers can be good, but may struggle as they experiment with teaching styles.

• Have more focus on disciplinary standards. Therefore, creating a message that learn-ing does not come first for students in school, and discouraging school spirit.

• Have low quality resources, such as old textbooks or a lacking library. Therefore, stu-dents access to lessons and material is negatively impacted.

Since schools in high poverty environments tend to have minority students,, the result of the impacts support a likelihood illustrated in data. View this page from the World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE) to see interactive scale graphics illustrating disparities (gender, race, wealth, and the like) in the US. Note: You can choose the disparity from the list on the right.

Sean Reardon, a sociologist at Stanford University, did research showing the achieve-ment gap in education equality is deeper than race. The study focuses on education and ra-cial isolation looking at Atlanta, New York, and Detroit.

Data from Atlanta and New York give a typical narrative we are familiar with.While attending separate schools of a predominant ethnicity, white students go to schools with low poverty rates, black students attend schools with high poverty rates, and their achievement gap is significant.

However, Detroit is a different story. While attending separate schools of a predominant ethnicity, white and black students both go to schools with high poverty rates, and the achievement gap is very small, “virtually zero” according to ReaHave a higher ratio of novice teachers compared to other schools. There-fore, depriving students of teaching quality gained by experience. Novice teachers can be good, but may struggle as they experiment with teaching styles.

• Have more focus on disciplinary standards. Therefore, creating a message that learning does not come first for students in school, and discour-aging school spirit.

• Have low quality resources, such as old textbooks or a lacking library. Therefore, students access to lessons and material is negatively impacted.

Reardon study supports the idea of poverty, related to socioeconomic status, having more direct influence on education inequality.

We now have a task of securing quality education in environments with high poverty, so kids can learn “regardless of where they started.”

We now have a task of securing quality education in environments with high poverty, so kids can learn “regardless of where they started.”

Moving Towards Efficient LearningWith efficient learning, the outcome is retaining knowledge and developing faster learning patterns. From this, shrinking the performance gap among students becomes more achievable. Guiding students to perform their best is a benefit to education equality. Then, we need to think: What does it mean to learn efficiently?

The path to learning efficiently begins with belief. Students need a firm belief in their ability to handle a task and progress to a successful outcome, which is also known as self-effica-cy. This differs from “self-confidence” where belief lies in one’s sureness. Once that “sureness” is challenged, self-confidence drops. Self-efficacy is believing that if you fail at a task you are still able to accomplish the task by trying again. You continue to progress towards completing the task without becoming overwhelmed.

Starting with lessons, the material should be structured with a specific skill or concept for the student to practice. Each lesson needs a quantitative component for the teacher to assess if the skill or concept is fully absorbed by the student. Meaning, the student can be measured on their level of mastery for that skill or concept. For example, correctly explaining how to do a problem they previously learned with their teacher.

From here, one of two things happens. If the skill or concept is proficiently mastered, the student will move on to the next lesson. If not, structured feedback will be given to the student. It is important for any sign of a gap in understanding to be addressed in a timely manner. No matter how small the misunderstanding seems. Learning is cumulative, and it becomes increasingly difficult to deconstruct an error that was built upon many small misunderstandings.

This process of efficient learning is repeated indefinitely to encourage continuous learning and deeper knowledge.Any student can improve through efficient learning; even students with a “trend” of performing poorly.

tutorthekids.com/rethinking-education-inequality-download-pdf

tutorthekids.com/rethinking-education-inequality-download-pdf