Disadvantages Of Social Inequalities

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Scholars suggest that standardized testing, tracking, teacher expectations, and the differential distribution on knowledge contribute substantially to the (re)production of social inequalities. Social inequalities consists of advantages/disadvantages associated with groups based on factors such as race and social economic status (SES; class). In the case for education, the advantages/disadvantages can greatly impact the resources that an individual has available to them. These educational advantages can include: access to better schools, preparation for standardized testing, and quality of teachers. This paper will used the books The Truly Disadvantaged by William Julius Wilson and Blacks in the White Elite: Will the Progress Continue? By Richard …show more content…

This book acknowledges the inequalities in the education system between low income (mainly minority) students and the “elite students” (children from upper class corporate America and educated professionals). As seen in Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education (Rist, 2000) the quality of education varies greatly due to the teacher expectations of the students. These expectations are typically better the higher the SES background of the student (Rist, 2000). Therefore, teachers expect that the higher SES students will achieve more, are smarter, and work harder, than low SES students on average. Students also have very different perspectives of knowledge based on the quality of teaching and resources in the school that they receive (Rist, …show more content…

Many of the original legislations laws that changed to protect minorities, inherently gave advantage to higher class minorities. Middle class minorities had more social capital, in which they could use systems like Affirmative Action and scholarships for disadvantage groups to their benefit (Wilson, 1987). While the truly disadvantaged were stuck in a perpetuating cycle of poverty, where they either stayed in the same low positions or have gotten lower. As these upper class minorities increased their positions they were more likely to leave disadvantaged urban locations, which leads to less resources in the community. In particular many individuals see this loss of resources and can develop a sense of unworthiness of these resources and/or that there is nothing they can do to change this. This is detrimental to a community as one of the best was to end the cycle of poverty is to seek education that allows you to obtain better jobs, and bring wealth into the

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