Equity Audit : Notes On Equity

The differences were connected with a teacher’s original preparation for the teaching profession, licensing in the particular subject area to be taught, strength of the educational experience, and the degree of experience in teaching along with the demonstration of abilities through the National Board Certification, in which all of these facets can be addressed through policy (Darling-Hammond, 2010).America has not produced a national method containing supports and reasons to guarantee that teachers’ are adequately prepared and equipped to teach all children effectively when they first enter into the career of teaching. America also does not have a vast collection of methods available that will maintain the evaluation and continuing development of a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, or support decisions about entry into the field of teaching and the continuance in the profession of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2010). n order to reach the belief that all students will be taught and learn to high standards calls for a makeover in the methods our system of education in order to be a magnet for, train, support or uphold, and cultivate effective teachers in more efficient ways. A makeover that is contingent in a certain degree of how the abilities or skills are comprehended (Darling-Hammond, 2010).In the last few years there has been increasing

The “achievement gap” in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. The achievement gap is shown in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, among other success measures. It’s most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between African-American and latino students, towards the lower end of the performance scale, compared to their white peers, and the similar academic differences between students from low-income families and those who are privileged. In the past decade, scholars and policy makers began focusing their attention on other achievement gaps, such as those based on sex, English language and learning disabilities.

Being a teacher who has spent the past seven years working in a “persistently low-achieving” school, I have gained an understanding of the inequities within Jefferson County Public Schools. Students, who attend schools with higher levels of poverty, are subjected to not receiving the same standard of education as those who attend schools with lower levels of poverty. Educational equity is an issue in our district and has become a main focus for improvement. JCPS has made it a goal to find ways to provide an equitable education to all students, regardless of their gender, socio-economic status or ethnic origin. JCPS wishes to create a system that not only focuses on high achievement, fairness and providing an opportunity in education but ensures every student receives a basic minimum standard of education. Achieving these goals, of course, is easier said than done. Our district, school leaders, teachers, parents, students,

The new changes No Child Left Behind laws were passed earlier in 2010 stresses the importance of education has to be our main concern to ensure that our children are getting quality education. The legislation is called “Performance Counts,” It reevaluates tenure laws and evaluation. This means that teachers are evaluated and being laid off because of their performance in the classrooms. No matter how long the teacher has been in his/her position that still wouldn’t keep them in their position because of their low performance. Over the next 10 years the focus will be to prepare hundreds of new teachers in STEM science, technology, engineering, and math (Mclatchy, 2010). The program is to encourage students in the STEM field or alternative teacher certification programs to switch their careers if they choose to. For

Education is a necessity across the globe, from America to Africa to China. Some education systems, however, are more successful than others and hold differing views and approaches to education. Culture greatly impacts education, which in turn impacts further opportunity. As unfair as it may be, a child’s cultural background largely determines their level of success. The American education system is lacking when compared to various other world cultures, and this is causing the socioeconomic gap to grow. Because of this inadequate education, more and more families are dipping beneath the poverty line. This could be due to poor discipline as well as the diversity of students. The diversity of the students results in a wide array of needs that are not being met by the public education system. This issue could be minimized by working to create a more inclusive academic environment to ensure equality and success.

A school setting provides opportunities where issues of social justice, oppression, and discrimination can be addressed. According to Bemak and Chung (2009), students of color and economically disadvantaged students are likely to have low academic achievement, in comparison to their White middle class counterparts. These disparities in academic

Policy makers focus on high test scores to help to fund the schools, not focusing on teaching how the succeeding generation should expand their knowledge and continue to reach for a higher education. Schools focus on reading and mathematics, but the “...educated consumers of schooling want their students to have a full, balanced, and rich curriculum.” These affluent parents want their children to have a more diverse education, including the arts and extracurricular activities. Although this is in more affluent schools, poorer schools are forced into only focusing on the core classes that are required by state for standardized testing since they do not have the resources to do otherwise. In the article, “Still Separate, Still Unequal,” Kozol reads a letter from a student in a poor school, wishing Kozol could “make her school into a ‘good’ school-- ‘like the other kings have’”

America has encountered a change within the teaching profession: concerning, experience, age, credentials, and ethnic background (Feistritzer, 2011). It is almost as if the year of 2005, overturned the trend of older employed teachers (Feistritzer, 2011). A six-year survey shows that the amount of teachers under the age of thirty has increased drastically, and that most teachers have earned master degrees. Also, although teaching has been a predominately white profession, more Hispanic and African American teachers were hired between the years of 2005 and 2011 (Feistritzer, 2011).

The heightened focus on education equity and adequacy has garnered substantial attention from both policy makers and media outlets. As a result of the spotlight, school finance litigation has forced states to not only change the way they fund schools but to improve and update their states’ assessment and accountability systems. (Griffith, 2005).

Education is essential to attain social mobility, however students face difficult obstacles. Even though we have laws like No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), however many students that come from low social class families do not have equal opportunities as students that come from higher income households. NCLB is encouraging on its face, but it does not address the unequal distribution of funds for districts. NCLB set standards in which students must achieve scores on standardized test rather than having access to equal opportunities, in

In order to meet the equal-opportunity challenge in education this mandate requires funding for all public schools at levels. This is sufficient to provide a rigorous curriculum in a wide range of subject areas, delivered by Highly–Qualified Teachers, with support by excellent school district leaders. This also, requires adequate funding for school districts that provide education for high numbers of students from low-income families, ESL students, including students with special needs (Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., Farrie, D. (2010, p. 1).

Our teaching experience revealed the discrepancies between student academic achievement gaps and curriculum mandates required by generally standardized education policies. Many of their students were from low-socioeconomic backgrounds where high-end educational resources needed to function in the general education environment are often not available in spite of the federal mandates indicating all children have the right to a fair and equal opportunity learning experience.

Even though slavery happened almost 400 years ago, the disparities between African-Americans and their Caucasian counterparts is still present in today’s time. According to one source, African-American children are more likely to be in poverty than Caucasian children. These unsettling facts do not stop with just childhood, the unemployment rate for African-Americans is twice as high as it is for Caucasians (Ethnic and Racial, n.d.). When reading these statistics, some people might think that education is the answer that can fix all problems. They might even say that everyone essentially has the same chance to achieve greatness and become successful. However, even high-performing African-American students can be subject to unfair treatment.

“The school districts with the highest minority enrollments receive an average of $877 less per student than school districts with the lowest number of minorities enrolled.” In turn, these children are able to go further with more resources readily available to them. However, children in less affluent school districts face serious educational shortcomings due to little investment in the beggared communities surrounding the school. It is more accurate to say that America has two systems of public education. The first system, based principally, but not entirely in the suburbs of America and in wealthier urban districts, is in many respects mediocre, specifically in comparison to international peers in advanced industrial nations. However, the second system, based principally in poorer urban and rural areas, is an absolute failure; in which an exceeding number of students dropout well before high school graduation. An astounding number of students receive high school diplomas that do not certify academic confidence in basic subjects. An outstanding number of students are unprepared for the world of employment. An incredible number of students are unprepared to matriculate to institutions of higher education or advanced training.

According to the state report card, Salem Elementary School’s socioeconomic status of students is strongly high in poverty. Correspondingly, all of the students enrolled in Salem also have some type of economic disadvantage. As discussed in our EDTE 2020 class, high poverty areas tend to have teachers “with less experience”, who do not have “proper certification”, or who have a “high turnover rate”. This is the complete opposite at Salem, as it’s stated on the report card that all teachers have a bachelor and a master’s degree, with over 72% of teachers being