The Gap Of Education: The Achievement Gap In Education

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Since the start of the educational system, there has been an invisible barrier that separates people apart based on class and social standing. Without even realizing it, students may have been taught a specific way to get into a career path set by someone else. This is how a persons social class and standing play a roll into education. Someones economic background can determine their path in education from the very start. The social class you belong in can determine where you live and where you go to school. Usually those schools are filled with people of a similar background, automatically putting a label on the school, making it easier for those in a higher standing to determine and influence your futures. There is a huge gap in this system, keeping opportunities hidden away to only those who have the wealth and connections to get it.
The gap in education doesn't just start when you start school, but goes back even further to when your parents were enrolled. Richard Rothstein states “ The achievement gap between poor and middle class and black and white children is widely recognized as our most important educational challenge” (Richard Rothstein 2004, p.17). Student believe that they alone are the ones setting the path for their future, but are misguided and blinded by the idea that they have an equal opportunity than those who go to a more prestige school or those who have had family graduate for higher education universities. This doesn't mean that it is impossible, but instead means that you have to do that much more to be at par with someone who has done the exact same as you, but attended a more recognized school.
Not only does your social class determines your schooling, but also who you tend to make friends with. Roths...

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...er because they have to decide on whether to continue working and making money, or staying in school. For many lower income students the feeling of finally making money means a lot more to them than investing more years into an education where they have no idea where it will take them.
The idea that your social standing has no affect on your education or future is a misconception that many people tend to believe. Many think that everyone has an equal opportunity to come out ahead from where they began, but the ones that actually believe that tend to be the people that never struggled to make a payment for their classes, or worried about having to take a semester off to make enough money to pay for school. Although financial aid has helped to take the burden off of tuition for many people, it is still an extremely stressful situation for less privileged students.

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