Does Ethnicity Or Race Affect School Achievement?

703 Words2 Pages

1. Differentiate between the terms ethnicity and race. Ethnicity refers to a group’s shared common cultural characteristics such as history, homeland, languages, traditions, or religion. However, race functions a category containing men and women who are similar biologically. In other words, a person’s race is mostly determined by his or her outside appearance while a person’s ethnicity is determined by their past and cultural/religious orientation (108-1-09). 2. Does ethnicity or race impact school achievement? Why or why not? Yes, ethnicity and race do effect school achievement. According to Woolfolk, “most researchers agree that the reasons for these differences are mainly the legacy of discrimination, the product of culture mismatches and language differences, or a result of growing up in poverty” (109). Although research shows that students of other do tend to preform slightly lower than their white counterparts, race may not be the only contributor to this issue. Later Woolfolk indicates that the higher rates of poverty may also contribute to the achievement gaps seen between races (110). 3. Desegregation and integration are not easy or quick fixes. What are some challenges that arise when you try to put people together who have been apart? …show more content…

Overcoming people’s negative emotions and assumptions about each other can be extremely difficult. Desegregation and integration may even cause some parents to send their students elsewhere to school. Finally, ensuring that every student get a quality education becomes an even greater challenge as teachers must learn to conquer their own stereotypes and prejudice. Educators must be careful when placing students of in different tracks as too often students of other race are put in to low track classes who may not necessarily be long in those classes

Open Document