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Impact of poverty in education
The United States education system
Poverty impact on education
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American schools are in crises. There are a variety of problems that exist in American schools right now, which associate with economic and social classes, race and ethnicity, and gender issues. Although the gender differences in classrooms do have some affects on the quality of American education, they are not the main reasons why American schools are in danger. The most serious problems in American educational system are the barriers that students from both lower classes and minority races are facing. In K-12 schools, standardized testing seems to be the one issue that creates problems. In terms of enrolling into college, the financing is the most common reason that blocks lower classes and minority race students from colleges. In both K-12 and postsecondary schools, lack of mentoring and helpful faculty members has negative influences on students in terms of both academic achievements and social skills. Therefore, decreasing standardized testing, changing college financing, and increasing mentoring would be the three solutions, which seem the most practical and reasonable in terms of solving those problems.
Standardized testing is thought to be a method of encouraging students from K-12 grades to perform well in the academic environment. However, it does not do what it is meant to do. In Peter Sacks’s article, “Do No Harm: Stopping the Damage to American Schools,” Sacks points out the fact that standardized testing actually discourages students’ intent of studying, especially to the students who attend schools in poor school districts (44-47). Lower classes and minority races as African Americans and Asian Americans are mainly in those poor school districts. Due to the low family income and tax rate, poor school district...
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...ducation 78.3 (2009): 277-289. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 May 2014.
Haveman, Robert, and Timothy Smeeding. “The Role of Higher Education in Social Mobility.” Education Matters: Exploring Issues in Education. Ed. Morgan Gresham and Crystal McCage. New York: Longman, 2008. 49-74. Print.
Phillips, Michele. "Standardized Tests Aren't Like T-Shirts: One Size Doesn't Fit All." Multicultural Education 14.1 (2006): 52-55. Education Source. Web. 13 Apr. 2014
Sacks, Peter. “Do No Harm: Stopping the Damage to American Schools.” Education Matters: Exploring Issues in Education. Ed. Morgan Gresham and Crystal McCage. New York: Longman, 2008. 37-49. Print.
Tokarczyk, Michelle M. “Promises to Keep: Working Class Students and Higher Education.” Education Matters: Exploring Issues in Education. Ed. Morgan Gresham and Crystal McCage. New York: Longman, 2008. 84-92. Print.
America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.
The greatest country in the world still has problems evenly distributing education to its youth. The articles I have read for this unit have a common theme regarding our education system. The authors illustrate to the reader about the struggles in America concerning how we obtain and education. Oppression, politics, racism, and socioeconomic status are a few examples of what is wrong with our country and its means of delivering a fair education to all Americans.
The United States of America has placed low on the educational ladder throughout the years. The cause of such a low ranking is due to such heavy emphasis on standardized testing and not individual student achievement. Although the United States uses standardized testing as a crutch, it is not an effective measure of a student’s ability, a teacher’s competency, or a school’s proficiency.
In “Standardized testing undermines teaching,” the author, Diane Ravitch, reviewed a book she authored, The death and life of the great American school system: how testing and choice are undermining education. This review highlights various cons of Standardized testing on the students and educators. She states that standardized testing and the use of incentives to motivate students and educators have failed to meet the set goals. Although the author was at the forefront of advocating for this system, she is now opposed to it and sceptical of the use of incentives to motivate teachers. She also reviews the role of charter schools in perpetuating classism. She states that standard tests and the use of...
Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence.
The Web. The Web. 21 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Siegel, Jason.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.
California is one of the largest states in the country and has one of the biggest state budgets, but in the past several years, its school system has become one of the worst in the nation because of enormous budget cuts in efforts to balance the state’s enormous deficit. The economic downturn at the end of the 2000s resulted in even more cuts to education. It is in environments like this one in which students from poor backgrounds become most vulnerable because of their lack of access to support in their homes as well as other programs outside of schools. Their already financially restricted school districts have no choice but to cut supplementary programs and increase class sizes among other negative changes to public schools. The lack of financial support from the state level as well as demands for schools to meet certain testing benchmarks by the state results in a system in which the schools are no longer able to focus on students as individuals; they are forced to treat students as numbers rather than on an individual case by case basis. An article from the Los Angeles Times showed that majority of Californians give California schools “a grade of C or below” and half think that the quality of schools will continue to decline (Watanabe).While the economic downturn affected the public school system in a negative way, it was not the sole root of its problems. It just simply exacerbated already existing issues.
Web. The Web. The Web. 06 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. SOLOTAROFF, PAUL.
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems with schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school system or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
Standardized tests have been a controversial issue regarding whether they are helping or hurting students and their academics. People that are for standardized testing argue that the tests are fair because all students nationwide are learning and being tested on the same thing. Bruno, Kemmerling, and others agree that these tests are beneficial to schools, students, and teachers. Others who are against standardized testing disagree because teachers are only teaching to the test. Littky, Caines, and Hanford see the negative aspects of standardized testing and want to change how people perceive it. Both sides of the issue have a credible argument.
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” This quote by Michelle Obama illustrates the idea that standardized testing should not have such a large influence on education in America. However, a majority of people are under the impression that standardized tests are an accurate method to measure a person's intellectual ability. I believe that standardized tests have developed into a very critical part of the American education system that is hindering the growth of students and teachers instead of providing a tool that can accurately measure knowledge.