In "The Fallacy of Fairness I-IV", Sowell 's primary point is that the vagueness of the word far allows people to use t n any way to benefit themselves. Everyone wants to be treated equally but nobody wants to put in the effort to move forward. Because of this, even in the grandest of situations, someone will always have the upper hand. He illustrates this point by referring to the high-class group of society having more privileges when it comes to better education and, from there, career options and other life accomplishments.
The Privilege of Education
When it comes to the academic scoring of students in American/Canadian cities, the racial gap is outstanding and it 's due to social inequality. Minority racial groups have lower averaging
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I the first segment of Sowell 's article he states that there is a contrast between a difference that is widely known and a difference that wouldn 't exist under other circumstances and he defined that difference as discrimination. Wise 's article represents the same idea when he asseses the social construction of racism. The color of somebody 's skin was never a problem until society made it into one fabricating the idea that a person born into the minority won’t have as good of a chance as those born the majority. Sowell explains a difference that is widely known by pointing out the connection between privilege and academic achievement. This is best expressed when he talks about the wealthy and privileged individuals of society knowing redistribution could fix inequality, but don 't want to give up their lifestyles to do so. The privileges they have allow them to feel superior, being provided with greater opportunities. Tim Wise states in his article that performance differences in racial groups and measured on intelligence testing, is solely based on surroundings and not on genes. In communities lacking financially teachers are being fired to fund programs to help students excel in educational endeavors. However, these programs are only as helpful as the student allows it to be. If they are not receiving motivation from
In just about every age group and in every subject, the test-score gap between white and African-American students has grown since 1986, reversing a trend in which the discrepancies decreased from the time the exams were first given in 1969, 1971, and 1973. Since the mid-1980s, gaps in several subjects and age groups have grown by statistically significant amounts.
1. What is the tone of this article? The tone of this article is kinda snotty but truthful in all ways.
The Achievement Gap in America has separated and divided America's youth into more or less, two different cultures of socioeconomic placement. The first being the predominantly Caucasian students at American elementary schools, high schools, and colleges that excel greatly in their education. Most of the time earning them middle to upper class jobs in the economy, the aforementioned group contrasts significantly with its opposite culture of American youth. The second culture, the population that is mostly made up of the minority races, takes it's place in the American education system as the population of students who are less interested in getting a decent education and taking advantage of the resources that are offered, for various underlying reasons. This in turn manufactures less people of this type of culture to be readily available for higher paying jobs, and often times unemployable for a job at all. The Achievement Gap in America is influenced by many cultural, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that separate lower and higher achieving students based on these factors, and leave a high amount of unemployed Americans as a result, if not incarcerated or deceased.
The article I chose to research is entitled Cultural Code-Switching: Straddling the Achievement Gap by Jennifer Morton. It was published in September 2014 and placed in the journal of political philosophy, with regards to education as well. The goal of the article was to point out the inequality that comes with the educational achievement gap and how to begin to fix the issue that has arisen. Morton explains that political, institutional, and structural factors lead to the segregation of poverty in minority communities because of their lack of access to educational and health service, reliable public transportation, and job (Morton 275).
Getting one good grade in school is easy, the difficult part is to keep getting good grades. This concept applies to other things also. For example when a group is given a certain privilege they have to maintain it. In the essay “The Unexamined” by Ross Chambers, the author discusses that different races are perceived differently depending on where they are. He says that white people are the superior ones, and they bare the privilege of not being marked by others. While other races are discriminated, the whites are excluded from discrimination. Together with the color category there are other ones which also are the privileged ones, like for example: men and straight people. In the other essay “Man Royals And Sodomites” by Makeda Silvera,
from U.S. high schools in 2008, compared to 78% of White male students” (Kafele, B. (2012). Not only were...
In 2001 statistics reported by the United States Department of Education indicated that during 1997-1998 African American students received 8.3% of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Concurrently, Hispanic students as well as Asian or Pacific Islander students received 6.0%, while American Indian/Alaskan Native students only accounted for .7%. Although statistics from agencies who report differ, clearly on a national level, minority students
The achievement gap is defined as the disparity between the performance groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, ability and socio-economic status. The achievement gap can be observed through a variety of measures including standardized test scores, grade point averages, drop out rates, college enrollment and completion rates. The Black-White achievement gap is a critical issue in modern society’s education system. Although data surrounding the issue clearly indicates that the racial performance gap exists in areas of standardized tests, graduation rates, dropout rates, and enrollment in continuing education, the causative reasons for the gap are ambiguous—therefore presenting a significant challenge in regard to the most effective way to close the gap. The gap appears before children enter kindergarten and it persists into adulthood (Jencks 1998). Since 1970, the gap has decreased about 40 percent, but has steadily grown since. Theories suggest the Black-White achievement gap is created by a multitude of social, cultural, and economic factors as well as educational opportunities and/or learning experiences. Factors such as biased testing, discrimination by teachers, test anxiety among black students, disparities between blacks and whites in income or family structure, and genetic and cultural differences between blacks and whites have all been evaluated as explanations for the Black-White achievement gap (Farkas 2004). The research that follows will elaborate on these factors as they affect the decline in academic performance of black males—particularly the literacy achievement of black males.
A minority student is generally classified as belonging to a lower-income family than the average white American, who is classified by earning a higher income. A student belonging to a low-income family will not have the same opportunities as a student from a high-income background. A student from a high-income family will be able to afford more study aids and supplies. A student from a low-income family, generally a minority, does not have access to these resources. Because they frequently cannot afford the same materials as their white counterparts, they generally do not perform as strongly on standardized tests. Wealthy families are generally very well educated. They have greater knowledge of how to guide their children in the right direction for academic success. Some can afford a private school with better teachers and a more comfortable learning environment. Paying for college is easier, and academics often take greater priority in these well-to-do households. Usually, poorer families have a harder time paying for college and supporting their children. Schools in low-income areas tend to lack funding for good teachers and supplies because of their financial situation. More often than not, the main goal of these families is to have their children get through high school so that they can begin ea...
In 1949, the United States Federal Communications Commission introduced a policy referred to as the Fairness Doctrine in which “broadcast journalist was required to dedicate airtime to controversial issues of the public concern in a balanced manner” (p 19). The rationale for the policy was the belief that the media without the requirement to present information regarding controversial issues in an equitable and balanced manner would possess the power to sway public opinion in a manner that would not serve the public interest. Given that many Americans receive their information through the mainstream media like the major television networks and cable broadcasting entities, as well as newspapers such as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal,
Darling‐Hammond, L. (2007). Race, inequality and educational accountability: The irony of ‘No Child Left Behind’. Race Ethnicity and Education, 10(3), 245-260.
Tests measuring students’ achievement demonstrate that particular groups of students score far below students of other groups. Records indicate that the discrepancy in the academic dominance of certain groups over other groups is strongly associated with socio-economic status, with lower achieving students typically hailing from increased poverty-stricken backgrounds. While poverty is exclusive to no one particular ethnicity, it exists in disproportionately high rates among Hispanic and Black communities and their students. The root of this gap in educational achievement has been shown to be multi-faceted, with origins undoubtedly dating back centuries (EdSource, 2003).
. . . African American, Latino/a, and Native American students score less well on standardized tests. [Achievement] gaps persist in additional levels of achievement, such as grades and class rank. . . . In addition, African American students are more likely to be placed in special education classes and, once placed, are less likely to be mainstreamed or returned to regular classes (Davis, 96).
The enactment of standardizes testing given to students to measure their academic abilities and supposedly will close achievement gap only prove that the battle to the end achievement gap between racial groups is a failure. Buchanon elucidate statistics of the results from the national test under the “No Child Left Behind” program to infer that there is a huge gap between white students and black students (par. 19). On the same note, New Yorks state test scores reveals a large imbalance in academics between different racial groups (par. 16)
In a series of articles written by Thomas Sowell The Fallacy of Fairness, Sowell’s primary points are people use the word “fair” without even knowing what the word really means. Everyone should consider the exact meaning of the word before using it. Sometimes a word sounds good to the ear but it has a different meaning. An example Sowell’s uses to illustrate this is the psychological examination that is given to the incoming college students. Many people say that the test should not be given to the students as the results will be biased. Therefore, life is going to be different for everyone. Life is not about fate; it depends on an individual attitudes and behavior to be successful.