Issues in Multicultural Education – Poverty in Louisiana
Introduction:
The United States is a country known for its diversity; so when it comes to the diverse classrooms of today many would not think there would be an issue. However, many schools face a multitude of problems that affect pupil’s education. Roughly twenty-seven percent of Hispanic, Latino, and African-American students in the state of Louisiana fall within the poverty level and unfortunately do not obtain a decent quality education. In addition, only seventy-four percent of those Louisiana students go on to graduate high school (Spotlight on Poverty, 2015). The core portion of the issue concerning poverty in relation to education is due to the economy, work availability, and
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Countless programs currently exist to help provide all pupils a quality education. To be specific, Louisiana also has the Child Care Assistance Program, which provides parents with affordable child care; so that the child can obtain an education; or so that the parents can further their education while the child is in the hands of a provider (Louisiana Believes Child Care Assistance Program. 2016). In addition, there is also the Save the Children project to help Louisiana’s children succeed; which was started in two thousand and five. This project was used to help students from all ethnic and financial background get back in school after hurricane Katrina; and better themselves academically in the areas of literacy and health (Save the Children U.S. Programs. …show more content…
However, in order to improve the current issue of poverty on diverse students the state of Louisiana should implement professional training for educators before entering the workplace. This will be an additional cost to the educator’s college tuition and all colleges and universities within the state with education curricula will have to guarantee that their programs are demanding, challenging, and practical; in order to make new educators that have the quality needed to assist all culturally diverse pupils. In addition, to training time and money, and training are also needed to generate an improved quality of education for diverse pupils in Louisiana. Schools in Louisiana that currently have staff whom are trained should also implement working with Save the Children on a monthly basis after faculty meetings on campus. This plan will help raise enrollment rates so that students of all cultural backgrounds within the state get back in school, obtain a quality education, and be successful. It will also show support for the Save the Children program and service getting the word out about the program for other states whom may not be aware of it. Louisiana schools will also work with their parent teacher associations and parent teacher organizations to help get the word about Save the Children out; gaining donations from the community for the
In conclusion, the Academic Achievement has been fueled by society's presets, minority students' lack of effort, and the failures of the schooling system in America. There has been some challenging setbacks, but the Gap can be fixed to create a common ground for all prospective members of America's society to excel on equally. By realizing that change can be achieved, there are little to no limits for minority students to create a better mindset towards education. Students, parents, and teachers have to be willing to work together, as well as tackle obstacles upheld by society, and the economic deficiencies that effect schools across America. This will, in turn, take America one step closer to closing the Academic Achievement Gap in America.
Data proves that America does not have enough African American males teaching in today’s schools. As a matter of fact, only 2% of America’s nearly five million teachers are black men (Bryan 1). In our American society, more and more African American females are fiercely taking over both public and private classrooms. Although this might be a great accomplishment, school officials believes that if more black males teach, it would reduce the numbers of minority achievement gaps and dropout rates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 44% of students nationwide are minorities, but nearly 90% of teachers are white. Polls and surveys further read that if there were more African American male teachers, the dropout rate would decrease while the graduation rate increases. In urban societies most African American teens would be more likely to succeed if there were more black males instructing secondary classrooms.
Detroit is a story of a once flourishing city that has been on a long downslide for decades. There are miles of unoccupied homes and buildings, and crimes and unemployment are at an all-time high. Many aspects of the city are breaking down, including the school system. The Detroit Public School System has lost over eighty thousand students due to high enrollment in charter schools, the large economic decline, and the departure of residents. For many years no one has taken responsibility for the public school system. However, for Detroit to rise again, it is necessary for someone to take responsibility, make a plan, and make sure that children are safe, well cared for, and are receiving a high quality education when going to school each day. In 2016, schools are low-performing with poor test scores, are falling apart, and teachers and parents have decided to take a stand.
... past decade has not only affected teachers and valuable elective programs, but mostly importantly the education of today’s youth. The Georgia school districts have exhausted almost every way to make up for the billions of dollars of lost state financial support and they have reached the tipping point. Since over 9,000 teachers have lost their jobs, students are being forced into already bulging classes where they do not receive the kind of individual attention needed in order to boost student achievement. If Georgia leaders expect student achievements to improve, they must invest the necessary economic resources needed to achieve this goal. At the end of the day, one of the most important things in life is a good education, so we need to start putting more money into the K-12 school funding and help build back what years of austerity cuts have nearly destroyed.
The United States developed the official poverty measures in 1960. It was developed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had declared a war on poverty during the Civil Rights era. (The Path of Power- The years of Lyndon B. Johnson, (Caro, 16). The poverty rate of African Americans has been declining for many years. The Census Bureau releases two reports every year that describe who is poor in the United States based on cash resources. There is also the supplemental poverty measure (SPM) which takes account for the cash resources and non cash benefits from government programs aimed at low income families. (www.Census.gov/People and household). In 2012 there were over 46.5 million people in poverty and of those numbers 10 million were African American according to the poverty reports. African Americans have been a major factor since slavery. Since the late 1660s there has been a race on poverty since the marches of the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King. One of the protests was the call to March on Washington in 1963. Dr. King stated that “on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”. (MLK speech, March on Washington, 1963)
Hispanics will represent more than one-quarter of school-age children in the United States by 2025. These children are more likely than others to be educationally and economically disadvantaged. Presently, 36 percent of Hispanic students live in families whose income is below the poverty line. As a result, Hispanic students are concentrated in high-poverty, largely racially isolated schools, and they often have limited access to the resources needed for academic success, such as highly qualified teachers, small classes, 21st century technology, and modern school buildings.
...m. Ultimately it is the goal of this program to partner with families to close the educational gap that currently exists. We must remember to ready our children for the world ahead of them from day one. "The future won't wait for us, and if we don't invent it, someone else will" (Friedman 399). Start with inventing a sense of desire to learn in your children.
As children, we look to our parents to teach us skills that we need in everyday life, whether it be social skills or how to. Yet for a variety of reasons, some children do not have this personal role model for them to follow and learn from. For these children, their teachers may be the first adult to give them any sort of attention or care. As a result, a teacher can play a huge impact in a young child’s life. The Allentown School District’s high schools are both considered Title I schools, meaning that over 40% of the school’s students come from families that are legally considered low-income (www2.ed.gov). In the ASD, this number is nearly doubled at 88.7% (www.allentownsd.org). Most likely, these students come from homes in which the adults they live with are working most of the day and
Diversity among students including differences in culture, language and socioeconomic stance is not a new trend. The difference, however, is that today, the school system realizes that all students, including those who differ in some way from the "average" student, or those “at-risk” must be provided with an equal, opportune education (Morris, 1991).
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.
hope to increase the access to these programs. This has worked to reduce the cost, but not the effectiveness of the programs in low-income schools.
[The school where I teach is the only high school within a city school district that is located within the confines of a larger metropolitan area. The school receives Title 1 funding, with 56 % of the students being eligible for free or reduced lunches. This high school offers a variety of degree programs and coursework, such as, advanced placement coursework and exams, international baccalaureate and culinary arts certification, technical and college prep diplomas, one of the largest Air Force ROTC programs in the area, and alternative programs through which students have the ability to earn credit for the courses that they had previously failed. This school is very diverse, of the 2,291 students 46.0% are African American, 30.0% are Hispanic, 18.0% are White, 3.0% are Multiracial, and 2.0% are Asian. The area surrounding the school is just as diverse as the students that attend the school. A majority of the homes within this school district are single-family homes and can range from small-scale mansions to unmaintained older homes. There are also a large number of apartment complexes and condos in the area as well. A portion of the student population comes from outside of the district in order to participate in the high school’s international baccal...
One of the greatest needs in todays time is helping those in need now for many this is not easy mainly because for many they are embarrassed to actually ask for help even though they know they need it. The local school of Dawson Springs has a program called FRYSC, which stands for Family Resource and Youth Services Centers. The Kentucky cabinet was the created this service for all schools. According to the Kentucky Cabinet it says, “The primary goal of these centers is to remove nonacademic barriers to learning as a means to enhance student academic success.” According to the coordinator of this program it actually does more for the city of Dawson. Its not just for the children who are need but also help for their families. In many cases parents never even ask for help because chances are t...
...of children from different economic classes (Frankema). Efforts targeted at poor and indigenous are also not showing to make huge changes in primary enrollment and achievement rates (Mier et al 2003). The funding and quality of the school, including classes, teachers, materials, and the involvement of family in the students’ academic efforts are other factors to consider. As mentioned earlier, society believes the first step to success is giving the opportunity. Society needs to reform this idea by including both opportunity and quality in the same step. Many programs have done these in separate steps, but including both in the same step will produce more efficient and positive change in the educational outcomes of students. This will take lots of commitment, investment, and collaboration with governments, organizations, schools, communities, families, and students.
I plan to seize this immense educational opportunity with intellectual curiosity and maintain a high grade point average as I have done throughout the four years of my high school education of numerous honor courses in order to attain the knowledge to implement an organization to provide a positive learning environment for young children with special emotional, educational and financial needs. Using the knowledge I earn from a college degree, I plan to create a positive learning environment for underprivileged school children who would not normally receive a quality education and aspire to assist these children in creating lifelong educational, organizational, and social skills to overcome the boundaries of their economic situation and lifestyle.