STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION.   Term Paper ID:29823 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Need to adequately address and correct inequalities in American public schools. Contends the entire infrastructure, from quality resources and teachers to conditions of buildings operate to foster and maintain unequal access to educational opportunities. Achievement gap between have and have-nots. Causes. Possible solutions. Short and long-term outlook. Paper Introduction: STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION Scope of the Problem Owens (2002) notes that when he was with the organization "Teach for America," he was assigned to a bilingual first grade class in South Central Los Angeles. Of this experience, he reports: The school enrolled students in a building built to accommodate half that number. Of the enrolled, thirty-three were assigned to my class. Only twenty-nine student desks were available, so that some children had to use makeshift work spaces along the back wall. For the first three months of school, I had no math books, and I was instructed by the school administration to "just make do." The school library was an old portable classroom w Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. As can be seen from the foregoing discussion, the causative andcontributive factors associated with structural inequalities in theeducational system are multiple. ReferencesAckerman, F., Goodwin, N. (2 1). (2 2). She further notes that there has been an upsurge in concrete steps toprovide more equal access to educational opportunities. Itis noted that these early childhood development initiatives, if they are tobe successful, must provide high quality preschool programs that fosteryoung children's development of social and school readiness skills, developtheir interest in learning, as well as orient them toward academicachievement. 5. If two children are equally brightand equally motivated, the one who attends public schools in Beverly Hillswill always receive a better education than the one who attends publicschools in South Central, Los Angeles. Unfortunately, I as the teacher learned much more than I was ever able to teach my students. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service no. School Administrator, 56(6), 32-35.Ornstein, A. Equity and adequacy in educational finance. The report states that as the 2 th century progresses, thismonitoring and measuring of student achievement and performance willimprove and that where deficits are spotted, correction will be morerapidly delivered. & Hunkins, F. ERIC Digest, 129. & Gallagher, L. All of these efforts, taken together, shouldensure that over time, the problem of structural inequalities will be moreand more adequately addressed and corrected. As the century advances beyond the first decade, progress willcontinue to be made provided that there is a power shift in the educationalsystem that provides parents with a stronger voice in their children'seducation. It is, however, noted that a gooddeal of this is not going to be done by the schools, school districts, orDepartments of Education. Hadderman (1999) states that school and student level equity is goingto hinge on drastic improvements in school-level data collection and fiscaloversight. They would be backed up withfamily literacy programs. Ed 454 566.Nieto, S. In some cases, what is viewed as theroot cause of structural inequality in public education will vary dependingupon the field or discipline of those discussing the topic. In addition, Schwartz (2 2) notes that efforts to correct structuralinequalities also include school reorganization efforts such as fulldesegregation of all classes and equitable student grouping. Poor and minority children usually go to the worse schools,have less expected of them, are taught by less knowledgeable teachers, andhave the least power to alter bad situations. Disseminating existing researched-based instructional programs withdemonstrated success to individual schools for adaptation, as appropriate,and dissemination of information about effective instructional strategiesand exemplary practices that are especially effective in diverseclassrooms. Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado have already wonlawsuits based on inadequate funding for facilities, and more wins areexpected as schools and school districts fight for equity of funding in lawsuits. (2 1). There was neither a librarian nor a card catalog system. Developing and implementing accountability standards to ensure thehigh quality and good performance of all administrators and educators. What does it mean to affirm diversity? For the first three months of school, I had no math books, and I was instructed by the school administration to "just make do." The school library was an old portable classroom with books randomly strewn about the shelves. New standards are being developed at the state,district and local levels, and decision-making is becoming more focused onresearch. The report holds that unless thispower-based is changed, little progress in correcting structuralinequalities will occur. There are alsoteaching and learning efforts being undertaken which provide increasedinstructional time in basic skills, a more challenging curriculum and theprovision of more learning resources (e.g.,, reading specialists,technology, high quality workbooks, etc.) Part of this effort also includesmagnet schools and such. Another early childhood development initiative strategy is to provideparent education programs, social service resources, and, possibly,financial support to help families learn how to make a concrete commitmentto their children's academic success while they are still very young. Vermont's EqualOpportunity Act of 1997 (Act 6 ) has transformed the state's entire taxsystem via a statewide property tax; and further, in July 1998, theArizona Supreme Court upheld lawmakers' latest school-facilities financeplan, ending a seven-year lawsuit. Some of thesestrategies are said to be providing new roles for states and for schooldistricts. Rather, it is going to be done in terms of lawsand in court action. H. ED 382 721.Hadderman, M. (3rd ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Owens, R. The entireinfrastructure, the number and conditions of the buildings, the geographiclocations, the amount of monies assigned to each school, the quality of theresources, the number and quality of teachers applying for jobs and stayingin their position, and so forth--all operate to foster and maintain anunequal access to educational opportunities and a consequent achievementgap between the haves and the have-nots. During these last several years, the report notes,six million white children dropped out of high school; but in the minoritycommunity, precisely because of the inequalities in the system, thesefigures were much greater. Theperspective of legislators, according to Ackerman, Goodwin, Dougherty, andGallagher (2 1) is a perspective that the existing laws and policies arefailing to assure equality of educational opportunity, including policiesof the United States with regard to segregation on the grounds of race,color, or national origin, whatever the form of such segregation. There were no funds for field trips and no music, art, or physical education teachers. In addition, long-standing adequacy suits in New Jersey, Texas, andLouisiana have been resolved in favor of plaintiffs. (1999). (1999). NJ: Prentice-Hall.Biddle, B. School management changes have also been initiated to resolve problemswith structural inequality. Issuing this report 16 years later, the Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement states that while improvements have been made, theinequalities continue. In addition, Darling-Hammond (1995) reports that in somecases, certain reforms such as educational tracking actually serve toexacerbate existing discrepancies by further rationing curricularopportunities. Further,the legislative perspective holds that even when good laws and policies areformulated, they are often not applied uniformly in all regions of theUnited States. Nonetheless, Hadderman (1999)feels that there is strong reason to hope that things will change over thecourse of the 21st century. In other words, the scope of the problem is huge is actuallya basic element of the educational system in the United States of America. In thenear-future, the change strategies already being employed will continue tobe utilized and efforts are underway to improve them and make them yet moreeffective. STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION Scope of the Problem Owens (2 2) notes that when he was with the organization "Teach forAmerica," he was assigned to a bilingual first grade class in South CentralLos Angeles. In addition, as will be seenin the next section of the report, this is a problem with multiple causes. Of the enrolled, thirty-three were assigned to my class. (1995). Against the backdrop of these dire conditions, I attempted to teach my students to read, write, and do arithmetic. Schools must, Schwartz (2 1) states, also make efforts toactively recruit families to their local programs. Nonetheless, the report states that exceptions remain andthat there must be a realization that it takes a multilevel and constanteffort to change the system and keep it changed. R., Dougherty, L. Only twenty-nine student desks were available, so that some children had to use makeshift work spaces along the back wall. 4. (2 2). For example,education administrators often characterize the problem in terms of funding(Biddle & Berliner, 2 2). In the report issued by the United StatesDepartment of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement(1999), these educators sited structural inequalities as being maintainedby the failure of policy makers to offer a structural-change strategy withwhich to implement equity reforms. Providing human and material resources necessary for successfulstudent learning by revisiting financial distribution strategies for schoolfunding, and for administrating the funds that are received. The system itself is likenedto a stodgy self-interested monopoly, a huge bureaucratic structure that isinherently inefficient and unproductive. 3. I learned with brutal clarity and by first-hand experience the crippling power of inequity. It seems reasonable here to believe that all of these factors aswell as others such as historical and institutional inequalities in non-education areas all have an impact on the structural inequalities thatexist in the American education system. Thus, the scope of the problem is extensive. Closing the achievement gap: Principles for improving the educational success of all students. As to the scope of the problem of structural inequality in education,Nieto (1999) notes that while many reforms have been undertaken to correctthe condition and these have helped, it still remains a fact that it isnormative for the structural dimensions of education in America to maintaininequalities. In these cases,schools and school districts are focused on the active promotion of theexpectation that no matter the deficits in the infrastructure, all studentscan succeed. Thus, despite political and economiccomplexities, litigation has been effective in many states. Seventeen percent of first generation Hispanics (half of whom wereimmigrants) dropped out of high school. J. (1999). Covelo, CA.: Island Press.Ballantine, J. A. Of this experience, he reports: The school enrolled students in a building built to accommodate half that number. Schwartz (2 1) reports that changing the school climate is yetanother way in which the educational system is attempting to overcome thedisadvantages associated with structural inequalities. C. Further, in a report issued by the United States Department ofEducation's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (1999) it wasnoted that in 1983 the National Commission on Excellence in Educationdeclared the United States A Nation at Risk because of the profoundstructural and other inequalities that were an ingrained part of thesystem. EJ 644 983).Darling-Hammond, L. Forexample, Ballantine (2 1) notes that economic inequities almost perfectlyparallel inequalities in schooling, and discusses how social inequalitiesand despair inherent in the inner cities exacerbate the negativeconsequences of an already structurally unequal educational system. While educators focus on funding and power issues, and sociologistsfocus on societal inequities mirrored in educational inequities,legislators often characterize the problem in terms of a legislative/policyframework. Experts on curricular structures, processes and needs,these authors feel that the key factor involved in structural inequality isthe curriculum. For example, disrepair of school facilities is apressing problem. In particular, the report sites educators themselves as at fault,noting that power in the system has been increasingly concentrated in thehands of a few who don't really want things to substantially change as thismight negatively impact upon their power base. Unequal funding in the United States. Developing and implementing education goals which reflect thedesires, needs, and values of the public, schools, and parents, and whichwill generate a shared commitment to education excellence. ED 46 191)United States Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. 2. Hadderman (1999) feels that resolution to structural inequities in theeducational system will not be strongly remediated in the 21st centuryunless there is a real effort to equalize funding across schools anddistricts. Providing opportunities for sharing information, experiences, andproblem solving across schools and levels. In addition to the foregoing, Schwartz (2 1) reports that the schoolclimate strategy often contains several additional features such as:identification and development of every student's potential throughindividualized assessments, appropriate placements, and ongoingencouragement from school staff; recognition of diverse cultures ascomponents of the mainstream and the establishment of a balance betweenstudents' native ways of communicating, learning, and behaving and the needfor them to be educated, contribute positively to the school environment;the development of skills for professional and social success in adulthood; the maintenance of a safe and orderly school where staff and studentsdemonstrate respect for each other; and the use of a code of conduct thatis well-publicized, fair, and uniformly enforced. Forexample, it is noted that "good things are already happening" with theproliferation of charter schools, privately managed public schools, the useof standards, and giving parents and their children more choice in terms ofpublic education. They include societal forces andprocesses, both current and historic, inadequate and improper fundingstrategies, failures to formulate and/or apply laws and policies thatmandate equity, and a power-base within the system that is reluctant tochange. These attempts at solution view the role of states and schooldistricts to be that of: 1. Even this brief review of causes,indicates quite clearly that the problem is complex and multi-dimensional. On the other hand, sociologists see the problem in terms of societyand its historical and current division of people into discrete classes onthe basis of income, racial, ethnic, religious and gender differences whichleads to ethnic, racial, economic and even spiritual isolation. (2 1). It isnoted that there have been 3 years of litigation which has aimed atgreater financial equity and most have not produced the level of resultsneeded to actually correct the structural deficits that are causingstudents unequal educational opportunities. She further states that this unequal accesscontinues to be perpetrated by funding inequities in public education, theavailability (or lack thereof) of teachers, courses, curriculum materials,and equipment. & Berliner, D. Moreover, the structures most in need ofchanging, according to the report, are those related to power. Schwartz (2 1) further notes that another way in which theeducational system is seeking to resolve the problem of structuralinequalities is by providing children with help at very early ages. In their view, the failure to pass legislation that directlyaddresses and corrects the structural problems that maintain and fosterinequality is one of the root causes of structural inequalities. The sociology of education: A systematic analysis (5th edition). (1998). Department of Education's Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement (1999) holds that real and lasting change willonly continue and grow if power relationships begin to change, mostespecially when all parents gain the power to decide where their childrengo to school. Developing and implementing rigorous standards that will form thebasis of curriculum development and instructional practice, specifystudents' competencies by subject and grade, and clearly define theperformance and responsibilities of school administrators and teachers. In other words, to some extent, the improvements are more theexception than the rule. A nation still at risk. Increasingly the courts are going to be asked tounderstand that equality concerns must be understood within the context ofongoing school-improvement efforts stressing quality, accountability, andhigher academic standards. In summary then, the outlook for correcting the problem of structuralinequalities in the American public education system has promise. The halls were dark and dingy, and the smell of urine greeted anyone who passed near the boys' bathroom. They believe that if schools focused on nothing butspending their monies to develop an excellent curriculum, one that isequivalent to that in the best schools, a substantial element of structuralinequality would be solved and resolved. D. ED 422 455). 6. These include better recruitment and retentionof well-qualified teachers, high-performing administrators and therequirement that faculty and administrators take ongoing professionaldevelopment courses. If these efforts are strong and continue to be strong in thefuture, the long-term outlook for resolving a substantial segment ofstructural inequity is quite possible. Also, in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and New Hampshire,school finance litigation prompted wholesale review of the way the stateprovides public education to its citizens. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. For example, in 1996, 13 percent of all AfricanAmericans aged 16_to_24 were not in school and did not hold a high schooldiploma. These authors tend to feel that if pressurecould be brought to bear in terms of providing more monies to disadvantagedschools for their equipment, resources, teachers, and such, a great deal ofthe structural inequality problem could be remedied. Still another view of educators related to the causes of structuralinequalities in the educational systems has been addressed by Ornstein andHunkins (1998). Document available: www.ptsem.edu/koinonia/issues/ 2s/Owens.pdf.Schwartz, W. (Owens, 2 2, p.1) What Owens is saying is that part and parcel of the problem ofinequality in the American public school system is structural. Further, Schwartz (2 1) reports that efforts are being made toencourage family support for students as well as increased communityinvolvement in schools. ERIC Digest (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. Curriculum: Foundations, principles and issues. School climate programs also attempt to maintain anatmosphere of academic productivity by orienting students' attitudes andbehavior to excellence and giving them a sense of efficacy and power, andby directing their time to productive academic exercises, such as inquiry,seeking and using help, and learning. The climate at school aims to foster that expectation instudents and encourage them, no matter their circumstances, to prepare forhigher education. Possible Solutions According to Schwartz (2 1), the multidimensional nature of theproblem of structural inequalities calls for several strategies to resolveit. Despite efforts on manyfronts, there still exists today, a dual school system that is separate andunequal even though such a system was declared unconstitutional over half acentury ago. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. Near, Middle and Long-Term Outlook The United States Department of Education's Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement (1999) has discussed the future of equity in theAmerican educational system, calling it "the next civil rights frontier."As to the current status and near-future, it is noted that many of thesolutions have resulted in remediating the problem to some extent. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. Theseprograms would focus on teaching families to promote their children'scognitive and social development and improve their homes as a learningenvironment, and to encourage families to take advantage of school andcommunity resources that support achievement. Closing the black-white achievement gap :A public theology for public education reform. It is noted, for example, that there has been a shift in policy fromequal distribution of resources in an absolute sense (horizontal equity) tothe idea of an a distribution of revenue in pursuit of equality whileconsidering differences among types of districts (vertical equity).Further, there have been efforts to eliminate unjust differences amongexpenditures. However, another group of educators focuses more on the power basewithin the educational system. Hadderman(1999) reports that five states with winning litigants achieved an averageequity gain of 29 percent. Theseare early childhood development initiatives which attempt to overcomestructural inequalities by preparing disadvantaged children to make themost of their academic experience and bring them up to par cognitively withthose of advantaged children even before they begin formal schooling. P. Similarly, Darling-Hammond (1995) notes that the historical (as wellas current) state of segregation and exclusion in America has createdstructural conditions that have resulted in systematically unequal accessto educational opportunities. Inequality and access to knowledge. Thus, uncaring and/or incompetent state and federallegislatures play a causative role with respect to the problem ofstructural inequality in American public school education (see: Ackerman,Goodwin, Dougherty, & Gallagher, 2 1). Causes of the Problem Different authors emphasize different factors as causative of theproblem of structural inequalities. Further, it can be expected that academic performance is goingto be more thoroughly measured and monitored and correction more quicklyforthcoming when achievement deficits are spotted; and this is going to bedone uniformly across schools and school districts.In addition, in the long-term, litigation will find a stronger place inmaking sure that disadvantaged schools receive the funding they need toright structural inequalities. As to making more progress toward equity in the middle-term, thereport issued by the U.S. She states that most of the problems termed "structuralinequities" are actually problems caused by financial disparity. Other changes that are said to ensure progress as timeprogresses are fostering standards of excellence and making sure thattheir academic performance is monitored and measured throughout their lifein school. The political economy of inequality. 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