The Coleman Report

When imagining a well-rounded school, one might think of a school filled with discussion based English classes, interactive Math classes, exciting labs, and rich History classes; one may also think of an endless list of extracurricular activities and athletic teams. Sadly, many public schools across the country do not have these opportunities. The Diane Ravitch book: Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, focuses upon Ravitch’s opinion on this important issue. Since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2001, schools have focused on math and reading scores; because of this, schools have disregarded and cut back on other subjects that they are not being tested on such as

This paper includes a reference list of literature relating to the impact socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity has on academic achievement and what can be done to combat the achievement gap. In general, the literature seems to indicate that socioeconomic status has a greater impact then race or ethnicity on achievement. However, these constructs are often intertwined. The greatest source for combatting the achievement gap are teachers high in self-efficacy, strong and well directed principal leadership, having a positive and accepting racial climate, smaller class sizes, less harsh discipline with more support

Research in the past decade on the widening gap of educational opportunities between lower and higher income families has shown that children enrolled schools that predominantly serve lower income families tend to have lower pedagogical success and more negative associations regarding the American education system.

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

In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as part of his “war on poverty” in hopes of closing the achievement gap between low income schools, which typically house larger percentages of student of color, and their more affluent counterparts. The act has been redefined and reauthorized every five years since its original enactment. However, despite the last 50 years of education reform, the disparity amongst high and low poverty schools is as large as it ever was. In turn, the disparity between students of color and white students has only grown. Clearly, the one size fits all approach to education America has been using does not work. The U.S public education system is broken and, as a country, very

This is why parental involvement is important. Teens need someone to show them the societal benefits of education rather than the pointless math equations that teens typically associate with education. Teenagers in low socioeconomic areas are more subjective to academic failure. In some situations, parents cannot help the fact that they are undersupplying their children with the necessary tools to be successful students. In many instances, parents from low socioeconomic areas are less likely to purchase reading and learning materials for their children

Ever since the establishment of equal education in the United States, there has been a disparity in academic success between children of different races. The education of African American children has become a prime example of this. As discussed in the historical text, A Letter to My Nephew, which was written during the time of the civil rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s, African Americans were not given equal opportunities to succeed educationally and could do little to change their futures for the better. They had to work much harder than whites to receive even a portion of the recognition and success that whites achieved (Baldwin 1). Although many today believe America has overcome this problem, it still remains a pressing issue in many aspects of society, arguably the most important being education. The racial achievement gap, an important term to familiarize with when discussing this topic, refers to the disparity in educational performance between students of different races (National Education Association 1). As of now, although the education achievement gap has been narrowing, there still remains a large disparity between African Americans and their racial counterparts. According to a study by Roland G. Freyer and Steven D. Levitt, professors at Harvard University and W.E.B Du Bois Institute, respectively, African American students enter kindergarten already significantly behind children of other races, and their test scores continue to drop

“The socioeconomic achievement gap in education refers to the inequality in academic achievement between groups of students. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, among other success measures” (Ansell, 2017). Typically, when discussing the achievement gap, educators are comparing the academic progress of African-American students or Hispanic students to the progress of white students. More-often-than-not the white students will have more educational achievements than their non-white colleagues (Ansell, 2017). The most widely accepted theory as to why students with higher socioeconomic status (SES) do better academically is high parental involvement, access to economic resources and access to highly qualified teachers (Huang, 2015. Pg.6). Students of low socioeconomic status often live in poverty. This means that the student may not have sufficient school supplies or even someone at home to help him with his homework. There are numerous children in the United States’ school systems that are failing due to the achievement gap. These students are at a disadvantage because the school systems and teachers do not notice or even care about their home life and how it comes into play in their education. It is important for our nation to not only understand the achievement gap but take steps toward correcting it.

While the educational gap among high-income neighborhoods and low-income neighborhoods is large, there is also a large gap between white and minority students in the United States. Educational opportunities for students have continued to be separate but equal; In the article “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education” by Linda Darling-Hammond, she draws attention to “the striking differences between public schools serving students of color in urban settings and their suburban counterparts, which typically spend twice as much per student for populations with many fewer special needs” (Darling-Hammond). Students in states with low educational funding budgets and students who go to schools where the majority of students are minorities, often do

Rendon (1994) points out “students from underrepresented backgrounds often experience isolation, a lack of self-efficacy, and a lack of a sense of belonging in college contexts”(p. 48). Furthermore, one needs to take it one step back and realize that most students of color are much more likely to attend schools where most of their peers are poor or low-income. Therefore, socio economic status (SES) determines the education a person receives throughout K-12. Walpole (2004) also describes how “low SES parents are more likely to define success as a secure full-time job after graduating from high school. College attendance is not an expectation and often means enrolling in a community college or technical school when it does occur” (p. 47). When a student reaches the

The findings of this study strongly support the hypothesis that a large majority of children of color do not possess access to the same educational resources as White or Asian children. Likewise, former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano stresses the importance of America reforming its current system, “… America couldn 't lead the world in innovation and remain being competitive if we didn 't have an internationally competitive education system.” The long term economic impact of having citizens who are no longer able to compete on a global scale would be devastating. One source contributing to the inequality in the present day educational system stems from poor education policies enacted in the early eighties. While education policies during the seventies began to give students of color the opportunity to receive an equal and expanding education, cuts to several federal assistance programs in urban and rural areas under the Regan Administration erased much of the progress that had been made (18). As a result of the cuts made by President Regan, states were unable to properly fund urban and rural schools which resulted in many having poor teaching and learning environments (20). Unfortunately, discrepancies as a result of the federal cuts under President Regan are still prevalent thirty years later. However, many experts, such as Hammond and McShane, have devoted their professional careers to finding solutions to end the inequality in

Today in society the determination for a college degree lies beyond education towards future financial security. While college debt seems to be ever increasing, students from low-income families are less likely to attend college due to the financial hardship. The social class that a student’s family falls into shows correlation on whether that student will or not attend college (Peske & Haycock, 2006). However, looking at this issue from my own prospective it seems as though no matter the social class students are attending college. What more so seems to have an affect on outcomes for individuals is how there family’s social economic status effects how well a student performs in college. For a student from a low-income family nothing can seem more daunting than the overwhelming amount of debt we have to pay after college.

“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.

In order to understand why students from lower income families struggle, it would be important to begin at the beginning. Low birth weight affects a child’s cognitive development and is something that is predominant in minority families. This could stem from a lack of prenatal care, poor nutrition, or possible substance abuse. Whatever the cause, low birth weight affects student achievement. Lead poisoning is also a

The environment a child in poverty lives in is a huge factor in that may affect their academic success. Children from low income families tend to live in low-income neighborhoods that are often associated with high crime rates, high concentration, and few opportunities for academic socialization (Engle, Patrice, and Black 5). These neighborhoods have health risks,