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Most Effective Approach To Educational Inequality

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The most effective approach to tackle the issue of educational inequality is to implement an independent system of standards across the nation. Dr. Gail Gross, a psychologist with a Ph.D. in education, introduced this idea in Huffington Post. Her proposition lit up some of my ideas for my proposition. Standards foster mutual understanding and communication; thus, standards in education would allow for there to be a mutual guideline on how things should be. These standards should be applied to the approach to federal education, for curriculum, teachers, families, students, and to ensure that all students have the resources necessary to thrive. Because education was not mentioned in the constitution there is no uniform standard. A problem with …show more content…

Students could not have more than 3 unexcused absences per semester, had to maintain a certain grade point average to walk on stage, had to submit at least one college application, were required to complete 100 hours of community service, and could not have more than 2 unsatisfactory effort marks per semester. Surprisingly, more students graduated that year than any other. Standards for students are important; they hold students accountable and push them to achieve goals. Important guidelines could be limits on unexcused absences and unsatisfactory effort marks, college readiness approaches, extracurricular involvement, …show more content…

The educational system in Finland is a perfect example. As I previously mentioned, Finland has one of the best educational systems in the world. In the article “What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland’s School Success” Anu Partanen, 2011 discusses Finland’s reform in educational policies geared toward fostering “the same opportunity to learn [for all children], regardless of family background, income, or geographic location” (Partanen, 2011). With this idea in mind, it is important to consider how this country has accomplished this goal. Finland decided to reform its educational system in the 1970s as the key to their economic recovery plan; they knew that in order to be competitive they should support the next generation of innovators. They implemented one-system comprehensive schools, equal resource distribution across the nation, a loose curriculum, small student to teacher ratios, and integration of all students regardless of their ability (Hancock, 2011). Teachers in Finland were also required to have a master’s degree as well as be in the top 10% of their class. Finland provides resources such as free meal plans for all students, psychological counseling, access to healthcare, and funding for families that need it (immigrant families, low-income students, single parent families, or families with unemployed or uneducated parents). Most important of all, the Finnish education system is funded by the government

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