The Equal Education System

Tuition and finances are among the most commonly inquired topics regarding college. Socioeconomic status, one’s social and economic position within society, directly and indirectly influences the ability to attend college. It directly relates to the financial aspect of higher education. One explanation for this is the human capital theory, which suggests a negative correlation exists between parents’ income and educational level and the amount of student loan debt their

Social class is a large faction of people who have similar positions in an economic system. In an exemplary world, all students would have an equal shot at success, excellent schools, and educators that dedicate themselves and their time to achieving this goal. However, social class can significantly affect a student's success, highlighting the correlation between low socioeconomic statuses and academic problems. In all social groups, class plays a significant role in the attainment of children in education. Unfortunately, this has always been the case and the effects are just more evident today. Families from high social classes are more likely to obtain a greater level of education than those in low social classes. Members of upper social classes tend to be better educated and have higher incomes; therefore, they are better able to supply educational advantages to their children as well. Being in a financially disadvantaged can also affect a child’s performance during school.  It is important, therefore, to examine the way in which education is distributed through social class. Between societal pressures, expectations and parental negligence, children can be negatively impacted in their pursuit for future success through their education as exemplified through “College Pressures” and “The Sanctuary of School”.

A good education is vital in succeeding within many industries in the UK, from Business to Medicine, Politics to Art. It unfortunately does not come as a surprise that only 58.6% of students attained 5 or more GCSE’s at grades A* to C (Department for Education 2012). In comparison, albeit falling this year on previous years, 94.4% of students in private schools attained the same results (The Independent 2012a). Following the recent recession, Social mobility has begun to decline and is lower today than it was thirty years ago. It is now less likely that a child of parents in a low-income bracket will rise to the top-income bracket than it was in

A national change to “a fair and inclusive system that makes the advantages of education available to all, [as it] is one of the most powerful levers [in making] society more equitable” (OECD 2008). This Australian wide change can then lead to a global education revolution that involves all classes, gender and intellect to break poverty cycles and provide equal opportunities for all.

The impact of the occupation and social class of an individual’s parent on their educational success has long been a focus of sociologists. Success in the educational system in the UK is measured by longevity and qualifications. Sociologists have for many years been concerned with why the attainment gap appears to be so large between working and middle class children. This is as relevant today as ever due to the recent Education Act 2011 where one aim was to ensure higher education was accessible to children of all social backgrounds.

America’s very foundations are built off the sacrifices of immigrants, but not until the 60’s did students with little to no fluency in English have rights to fair and equal education in government subsidised schools. Beginning in 1964, under the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, it became unlawful for agency receiving federal funds to discriminate on the basis of race. Following the win of the Civil Rights Act, three monumental court cases took place to further affirm the rights of ELL students. In 1974, when Chinese students brought a case against San Francisco in the Supreme Court Lau vs Nichols, students stated that they were not provided special help due to their lack of knowledge of English. A few years later in 1981, the case titled

Poor African American communities enjoy less public educational support in relation to White Americans. According to “2011-12 school year data from the US Department of Education”, about six percent of white students attend a high-poverty school, but the figure amounts to 40% for blacks (Jordan, "Millions of Black Students”). Reflecting this inequality in resources, “a report called ‘Unequal Education’ by the Center for American Progress” informs that schools wherein minority students comprise 90 percent or more of its student bodies “spend $733 less per student” than schools with “90 percent white students enrolled” (Shaw,"Public Schools Spend Less”). As an effort to address this problem, the Title I Programme grants extra funds for underfinanced

This research article possessed many strengths. The authors did an exceptional job in including all factors such as gender, SES, ethnicity, minority groups, single parent families, school and neighborhood disadvantages in regards to its correlation with academic success. The authors also did a good job in providing support on other studies in order to make their hypotheses more credible. Another aspect of the research that I found to be a strength is the

Nearly thirteen years into the new millennium and so many of the gaps most noticeable within the education system in the twentieth century have been closed. Attainment and participation in both primary and secondary education is now almost equally open to boys and girls from around the world, and tertiary education is even seeing a bias in women’s attendance over men. However, despite these positive changes, social class, gender and ethnicity still have a major impact on education and intersect with not only attendance, but with personal achievement too.

    The first of these barriers that are difficult to overcome are people with disadvantaged backgrounds, or suffer from some sort of socio-economic disadvantage. People from low-income families that have incomes under the threshold set by the U.S. Bureau of Census are described as people who suffer from having this disadvantage (LSU 1). The problem affects many, but it starts becoming a problem for younger adult students.  According to Forsyth and Forlong, “Despite the recent expansion of higher education, levels of participation and chances of academic success are still lowest among young people from deprived neighbourhoods” (1). “Socio-economic disadvantage and experience in higher education, by Alasdair Forsyth and Andy Furlong” states that “Although there has been an increase in the numbers of university entrants from more disadvantaged backgrounds in recent years, such young people have been enjoying less success within higher education” (1). There are four main contributors that are the culprits: a lack of familiarity

I accommodate equality versus equity in public education today is allowing minority groups to attend school in diverse areas. Moreover, equality regarding learners receiving public education usually mean educators will adhere to the 14 amendment also the American Disabilities Act. For this reason, individuals receive due process when specific issues arise regarding placement. Nevertheless, equality was made through different laws such as the American Disabilities Act.

It is said that a college education is necessary for a successful future, but an important question to ask is who might actually be getting the needed higher education? Statistically, upper income families that have graduated from college are more likely to raise kids that succeed in college, unlike lower income families. Studies show that children from upper income families have more opportunities in school, opposed to lower income students. This “gap” between social classes is growing more everyday. There are two articles that discussed these studies and showed very few Americans between 25-34 successfully graduated from college. One author, Peter Sacks, wrote Educating the Hierarchs College and Class in America. This article discusses that wealth and social class play into the success of the “haves and have not’s”. Sacks also discusses the divide between the educated and uneducated. Eduardo Porter is the author of the article, Education Gap

Moreover, young people from poorer families are less likely to go to universities than others (!). 55% of the 1600 respondents in the survey conducted by YouGov claimed that poorer people in the UK have lower chances to attend university, compared to 29% thinking that the chances are equal (!). These examples demonstrate that children and young people from poorer families are disadvantaged in terms of education opportunities. Therefore, many people in the UK do not have the possibility to move up the social ladder. Educational inequalities indicate that social mobility is low in British society.

The educational system is one of the most influential institutions in society as it provides young people with a vast amount of knowledge, attitudes and skills. These are acquired formally through set lessons or informally through the ‘hidden curriculum’ which provides the unofficial and unplanned consequences of school experience. Social Inequality is one of the major preoccupations of sociology. The relationship between inequality and education has been studied for many years. Although it seems obvious that educational success is simply down to an individual’s capabilities and motivation, sociological research shows that the inequalities in social class, gender and race and ethnicity

Traditionally Australians have believed in and conveyed the myth of Australia as a fair , egalitarian society without excess wealth or poverty, however we are definitely not a classless society. Australia's education system has been and remains one of the most unequally distributed social resources and could possibly be regarded as the main source of inequality in our society (Encel 1970; Anderson & Vervoorn 1983; as cited in Jamrozik, 2009). Now more than ever, Australia's education system is acting as a kind of 'sorting out' mechanism, allocating people to certain stations within