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Increasing engagement in the classroom
Essays on the myth of meritocracy in educational achievement
Human inequality
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In “What Do We Deserve?”, Arora takes a look at political philosophies and asks an important question, “How much of my good life do I really deserve?.” He brings up that argument that the contest of life is “rigged from the start” (Arora). How do one fix the contest so it's fair for everyone? Society can start by leveling the playing field to give everyone an equal chance, eliminating the idea of winner vs. loser, and encouraging and rewarding hard work and natural talents. Once the system is repaired, then we will see that those who make the effort and take advantage of their own gifts will succeed and be truly deserving of their earnings. In the United States, a form of Meritocracy is employed. This system recognizes and corrects the socioeconomic disadvantages (Arora). While efforts have been made to correct the problem, many still fall flat. Many schools, for example, are not equal and some are even getting worse. Lee County School District, a district that boasted no 'F' and 'D' level schools in 2010, now have three failing schools and eight 'D' levels. The number of 'A' level schools have also fallen from 60 in 2011 to 36 in 2013 (LCPS). How will this growing problem be fixed, not only in the United States but the world as well? One important action is to continue the effort to improve schools worldwide. Schools in poorer areas of districts would benefit from a greater number of better trained teachers and faculty. Other actions to help improve schools would be to add more leadership and extracurricular activities, encourage students to focus and stay in school, and making things such as school lunch and recess better. It is important to have students enjoy being at school and enjoy learning, otherwise they'll lose intere... ... middle of paper ... ...er what hardships they faced, are those deserving of their victories. Works Cited Arora, Namit. "What Do We Deserve?" Emerging: Contemporary Readings for Writers. By Barclay Barrios. 2nd ed. N.p.: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 86-93. Print. Weiner, Eric. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. New York: Twelve, 2009. Print. "School Grades." Lee County Public Schools. School District of Lee County, Florida, 2012. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. "Biggest School Districts - 2009 International Percentile." Global Report Card. George W. Bush Presidential Center, 2012. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. "Enrollment, Poverty, and Federal Funds for the 100 Largest School Districts." Digest of Education Statistics 2013. U.S. Department of Education: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol is an account of his travels to East St. Louis, Illinois; North Lawndale and the south side of Chicago; New York, New York; Camden, New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; San Antonio, Texas; and Cincinnati, Ohio, researching their school systems. Kozol’s book exposes the glaring inequalities present in these cities. Kozol devotes a chapter to each of these cities—with the exception of San Antonio and Cincinnati—identifying the inequalities children there face. His statistics expose these shocking injustices perpetrated by the powerful. The truths Kozol uncovers in Savage Inequalities challenge anyone’s misconceptions about equality in the United States.
Arguments about fairness and justice have been up for debate for centuries. "What do we deserve?", a question that has many individuals raising their brows to their efforts in their pursuit to achieve their goals. If it is said that we are all placed on an equal standard why are there individuals struggling to stay afloat? In Arora’s essay, he examines three forms of economic modals of social justices that question that idea of why the prosperous or the impecunious "deserve" their position or stature in life. Out of all of Arora's economic modals that he presents the Meritocratic System is the fairest because it gives everyone a fighting chance.
The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While increased spending may help, the real problem is often rooted in the complex issues of social, cultural, and economic differences. When combined with factors involving the school itself and the institution that supports it, we arrive at what has been widely known as the divide between the suburban and urban schools. Can anything actually be done to reverse this apparent trend of inequality or are the outside factors too powerful to change?
Changes need to be made in American school systems. In fact, once American schools are reformed it would make it easier for those who want to learn receive an education. In the essay, “Lets’ Really Reform Our Schools” by Anita Garland, Garland explains why schools need to be reformed. Garland claims that American schools are in trouble and that they are a disaster. Garland also mentions that we need to restructure our thinking about the whole purpose of going to school and what one should expect from students. To start off, attendance shouldn’t be mandatory and one must stop forcing everyone to attend school. Next, cafeteria lunch is always a big problems with students. Students are hyped up with all
Then the students get affected because instead of getting help on their subjects, they are getting bored instead. Students should never feel bored and never feel that the teachers do not car because they are bored too. Students should be excited to learn and not dread going to school, they should love learning new information every day. The only way this can be changed is to allow the teachers to be able to take control of the and to have the government take a step
...iform policy, bullying, segregation, and distractions will not be the reasons of poor school environment. When all the negative effects are prevented, it would form a better place for students to learn and keeps them united.
After watching the Teach Us All documentary on Netflix, it opened my eyes to many of the issues regarding educational inequality. The study looked at schools in Little Rock, New York City, and Los Angeles to show us the current state of U.S. education and how far we have come since the school desegregation crisis. The thesis of this documentary is that since the efforts of the Little Rock Nine, our belief is that educational inequality has improved when in reality, it hasn’t improved and the actions of our country have had negative effects. Teach Us All emphasizes the need for unity and collective action to improve our education system for the kids in poor communities that are in the most need. Our country has devoted all the resources to the middle and upper class for education and are taking money away from where it needs to
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems with schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school system or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement.
For decades now, there have been educational problems in the inner city schools in the United States. The schools inability to teach some students relates to the poor conditions in the public schools. Some of the conditions are the lack of funds that give students with the proper supplies, inexperienced teachers, inadequate resources, low testing scores and the crime-infested neighborhoods. These conditions have been an issue for centuries, but there is nothing being done about it. Yet, state and local governments focus on other priorities, including schools with better academics. It is fair to say that some schools need more attention than other does. However, when schools have no academic problems then the attention should be focused elsewhere, particularly in the inner city schools.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
The means of justifying these inequalities are important for the entire world. Education played and will always play a big role in everyone’s lives. Equality in education will eventually guarantee every person a better position in society. Educational inequality is the difference in learning effectiveness and results as faced by students with varying backgrounds. The effects of educational inequality are not only left within the circles of education, but also remain further to have an impact on other life aspects. All over the world, there have been unending calls to reform education at each level. With various causes that are very much connected to society, history and culture, the educational inequality has apparently been one of the most difficult challenges to address. Regardless of the challenges faced in removing educational inequality, education has continued to be a very important part of society with a big expectation of moving it forward. In the current-day America, very many disadvantaged children have continued to grow up missing key skills. Discrimination has continued to persevere in educational achievement between racial issues. Above all, low performance levels among these disadvantaged children have over the years been responsible for the long-term issues, especially in such an society with higher levels of skills and a failing incomes offered to those people that are less-skilled.
The only solution that I can think of is that each and every teacher must work at putting positive ideas and positive feelings into each and every child. It is a hard task, especially living in today's world, but if teachers can show children that there is a bright future waiting for them they will work towards getting there.
This paper explores the way social inequality affects schooling. In a classroom setting, one student can be treated unequally just because of their race, ethnic background or religion. Taking notes from Purcell- Gates and Boykin, A.W. & Noguera, P., the topics of ethnicity and the achievement gap will be discussed in the event that all students should be treated equal. Also bringing in the topic of the “No Child Left Behind Act” introduced by former president George W. Bush in 2001 and was signed into law in 2002. For a long time, social inequality places a negative effect on schools around the country. The common urban verse suburban educational battle has been going on for way to long and there is a fix that needs to be made.
Learning occurs when each child is developmentally ready, and this happens at a different pace for each individual child. I experience this daily in my Kindergarten classroom. Although a lot has changed in education over the course of my career, I try to focus on the constant that each of my students can learn on any given day and that I must challenge all of my students to reach his or her potential. This is my school’s motto, and we recite it daily. Education has faced many challenges over the years with politics, the economy, students’ culture, and legal issues. Politics does play a crucial role in education. Different school systems and population areas receive more or less government funding. Educational dollars can play a key role in a school system receiving the latest technology, updated facilities, educational funds for teachers, and curriculum needs. I have been able to experience this for myself by transferring schools from the city to the county school district. The social aspect of learning affects children in different ways also. Different cultures of schools are negatively and positively affected as well. Having taught in an inner-city school for 9 years, I was able to witness firsthand the downfalls and negative effects that come into play for students who come
Today, we have made strides in improving our education system in our schools. Yet, we are facing similar problems and perhaps even worse when teachers are rushing their students through their curriculum without taking the time to encourage and support them to excel in their classes.