For example, Wright (1992) found that teachers perceived and treated minority ethnic pupils differently from white pupils. Afro-Caribbean boys were often expected to behave badly and they received a disproportionate amount of negative teacher attention. Other sociologists claim that non-school factors such as family structure and home background have a greater impact on the educational achievement of different ethnic groups. Assess the claim that ‘ethnic differences in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors’ (20 marks) Patterns of ethnic achievement are complex, cross-cut by gender and social class. For example Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students do worst compared to Indians and Chinese who do best.
Black-White Achievement gap The difference between various demographic groups of students is commonly referred to as the “achievement gap.” Throughout the United States, an achievement gap between whites and black continue to persist at all levels of schooling, from elementary school to any higher education. Many of the reasons and solutions for minority underperformance remain uncertain. Parental involvement, family background, desegregation of schools, cultural capital and other factors produce a moderate decline in the achievement gap. However, more than half of the gap remains unexplained. Our society remain with a long history of racism, segregation and low expectations for African American children, and the public education system has not sufficiently responded to resolve this situation.
The Achievement Gap: Urban vs. Suburban Schools The public school systems goal in the United States is to provide every child with equal education. Unfortunately somewhere along the lines the education system in our country has failed to provide this equal education to many of our children, especially minority. It isn’t that the education is not there, but many other things such as urban parents, teachers, and the urban society itself affect a child’s education. When looking at the mandatory test scores of minority inner city students, specifically African American students, they are significantly lower than White American suburban students, hence the achievement gap.
Also they will have a weaker immune system causing them to miss school due to illness. They also believe material deprivation causes them to have less school resources such as books and pens so they have fewer opportunities to learn. They have no access to private schools and tuition. Pupils in private schools or having private tuition are proven to receive higher grades than those in public schools. This was supported by the National Child Development Study which found that children from low income households were an average of 9 months behind in their education compared to others.
In turn, black pupils felt teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them. Gilborn and Youdell conclude that much of the conflict between white teachers and black pupils stem from the racial stereotypes that teachers hold, rather than the pupil’s actual behaviour. This disadvantages pupils because they are treated differently, which could result in their failure and even exclusion from school. As Jenny Bourne 1994) found that schools tend to see black boys as a threat and label them
“Despite these successes, however, many students are failed by the educational system. Black youth have a high drop-out/push-out rate. Further, many black students who are physically present in schools, are disengaged in both mind and soul.” From my own knowledge, I strongly disagree with the author’s statement. Why does the author think that when the black students drop-out schools? Some black students might quit schools because of racial segregation reasons; however, these reasons cannot increase the drop-out rates among black students.
2) Explain why racial segregation is found especially in urban schools! There can be a lot of different reasons for it, why racial segregation is found especially in urban schools. I would like to work out the most important aspects. The first point is also mentioned in the text, the so called “White flight.” As coloured people want to move into white neighborhoods to get the same chances, the hire charges decline, because the quarter will not be attractive for the white population anymore and they will move away. And the public schools in black ghetthos have a very bad standard, so that the whites send their children to private or religious schools.
Through the use of social exclusion; racial groups are excluded and separated from the resources needed to be successful. African Americans are more likely to live in poverty stricken neighborhoods than whites who share a similar status economically, however economic opportunities are successfully restricted by pooling these ethnic groups into neighborhoods with a failing school systems and scarce employment opportunities. The limits placed on African Americans economically has a very strong, yet indirect impact on the health of African Americans and namely their offspring and ultimately infant mortality
The introduction of slavery to the United States of America stole these opportunities from millions of African children. This immoral robbery of education stole not only from the African children, but from America itself by taking away the ideas of Africans. The redundancy of America’s actions have become clearer as time has passed. Because of segregation in schools, the African American high school graduation rate is exponentially lower, the amount of African Americans enrolled in public education is lower, and the opportunities presented to African American students in public schools are, yet again, low. The struggle for equal education is a fight that must be won so that we as Americans may all benefit from the African American people.
Even though the drop out rate has been decreasing annual the dropout rate is still too high at 7% in 2011. (nces.ed.gov/fastfacts.com) While there are many reasons for dropping out of high school there are some factors that I have found to be more apparent in the high school drop out. Several decades worth of studies have documented that dropouts are more likely to be poor, minority, and male and also come from a single parent family. However students who have those characteristics are more likely to drop out but it is educational reasons over personal reasons that pose the more realistic reason why students drop out of high school. Students with poor academic performance and educational disengagement prove to be the main reason students drop out of high school.