Elitism is the belief in “concept of superiority: the belief that some people or things are inherently superior to others and deserve preeminence, preferential treatment, or higher rewards because of their superiority.” Academic elitism refers to the idea that in highly competitive academic environments only those individuals who are involved in scholarship are regarded as having worthwhile actions and ideas. Academic elitism proposes that those individuals who do not engage in such acts of scholarship are unimportant. Although, it is possible to value academia and scholarship without being an elitist, the elitist ideal is becoming more and more prevalent in both academic and non-academic sectors. This tendency toward academic elitism is most pronounced in highly competitive and highly regarded environments ranging from the local elementary school to the CUNY school system. The tendency towards academic elitism is noticeable in education, particularly in the systems of developed countries. More attention, time and resources are allotted to students who are perceived to be more intelligent than their counterparts, at an early age. This inequality tends to further separate the elite from the remainder of society. Systems that channel include upper class institutions, advanced classes, and other elite student groups. Countries with extensive private school systems also exemplify this trend. Academic elitism is a form of discrimination and therefore should not be allowed to continue the separation and dissent based upon perceived scholastic intelligence. Elitism in elementary and middle school programs based upon academic ability begin at an early age. In America, children belonging to kindergarten through 5th grade are separated base... ... middle of paper ... ...te for the opportunity to New York City Department of Education’s elite public high schools, known as the “Specialized High Schools.” These eight institutions are said to provide “a critical pathway to opportunity for their graduates, many of whom go on to attend the country’s best colleges and universities and later become leaders in our nation’s economic, political, and civic life.” However, these are the same schools whom for over a decade have used the single factor -a student’s rank-order score on a 2.5 hour multiple choice test called the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) to determine the eligibility and population of their institutions. Within the guidelines of this admissions policy, regardless of a student’s previous achievements ranging from straight A’s, perfect attendance or even high potential, the only factor that counts is their score.
However, to determine your place on the social ladder one needs economic and cultural reproduction. As DeMarrais and LeCompte state “wealth can be converted into social and cultural capital providing distinct non merit advantages that can be transferred to the children of the rich and powerful” (1999, 14). In other words, social capital and cultural capital are crucial assets. Likewise, as stated in The Meritocracy Myth “rather than viewing schooling as promoting democracy, social mobility, and equality, conflict theorists conceptualize schools as reproducing both the ideologies of the dominant social groups and the hierarchy of the class structure” (McNamee and Miller Jr. 2014,
The United States of America has placed low on the educational ladder throughout the years. The cause of such a low ranking is due to such heavy emphasis on standardized testing and not individual student achievement. Although the United States uses standardized testing as a crutch, it is not an effective measure of a student’s ability, a teacher’s competency, or a school’s proficiency.
In our undergraduate admission system, fully 110 points out of 150 are given for academic factors including grades, test scores, and curriculum. We only count 12 points for test scores, but that is because we value high school grades to a much greater extent--- they can earn up to 80 points. We consider many other factors as well. Race is one of those, but a student who is socioeconomically disadvantaged also can earn 20 points (students cannot earn 20 points for both factors, however). Geographic diversity is also important, and a student from Michigan’s upper peninsula, for example, earns 16 points.
Although there is much more current evidence about socioeconomic segregation today, the information presented in this study is relevant for a number of reasons including the history and patterns of the dilemma. As a member of a predominantly Hispanic culture, the assessments provided to students seem to be geared towards students living in Northern America. It may be a perception that I have but knowing what goes on in the classrooms at my school district (previously employed), students in this culture struggle with many of the examples that are provided in the assessment, or the STAAR, because our children do not experience the same opportunities including those of weather, seasonal, activities, etc. The fact that the parents work to make ends meet because they have little or no education also makes it difficult for the students to be successful; thus, socioeconomic segregation. “The results suggest that schools serving mostly lower-income students tend to be organized and operated differently than those serving more-affluent students, transcending other school-level differences such as public or private, large or small” (Rumberger & Palardy, 2005, p. 1999). This is completely unacceptable and should be a wake up call to the global system of education. Where a child, no matter the age, goes to school, the quality, rigor, balance, and opportunity to be of equal importance for all.
Skiba, R., Simmons, A., Ritter, S., Gibb, A. Rausch, M.K., Cuadrado, J., & Chung, C.G. (2008). Achieving equity in schools: History, status and current challenges. Exceptional Children, 74(3), 264-288.
Standardized testing has been proven to be biased towards those of ethnic and socioeconomic disadvantaged groups. Wealthy students become more prepared for standardized tests through better life experiences, such as top-quality schools and test prep tutors. Steven Syverson implies that students with high SAT scores are presumed to be “bright” and encouraged to consider the most selective colleges, with no regard to their academic performance in high school (57). Those students that were considered elite, but did not perform well their parents suggested to admission counselors that they were “not challenged” in high school (Syverson 57). According to Marchant and Paulson, race, parent education, and family income were found to account as much as 94% of the variance in scores among states (85:62). Students that belong to multiple disadvantage categories suffered greatly in the scoring criteria. The majority of students with socioeconomic disadvantages are discouraged from attending college. However, those that choose to further their education are more than likely the first ones in their family to attend college. Due to the large debate involving the admissions process using the SAT score, more colleges have adopted the SAT Optional policy because it is “consistent with their institutional mission and
Elitism is the behavior of a person or group who see them as superior to the rest of the society in being able to do something. In Defense of Elitism by William A. Henry III it was an interesting short story to read. This short story was very eye opening to me because I am living exactly what In Defense of Elitism is talking about I could say many students in community college are as well. When leaving high school everyone is faced with the option of getting a part time job and going to college whether it is a two-year or a four year or, getting a full time job making the best money you can to make a living. The question is what will be worth doing to make your life better in the future. I work a part time job (graveyard)
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
Yan, W. & Lin, Q. (2004, February 24). The effect of Kindergarten program types and class size on early academic performance. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(7). Retrieved March 26, 2004 from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v12n7/.
There seems to be obvious differences in the education system all over America. It caters the upper class majority and it is biased to the ones that serve the lower and middle class minority. There is a strong undercurrent of racial inequality in today's school systems that negatively affect the quality of education that its students receive. A schools potential to give a proper education often depends on the perspective economic, and social, or perhaps the racial backgrounds of its students.
For years, people have been trying to figure out ways to equalize the divergent academic achievement rates between rich and poor children. A study published by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2010 found that, since the late 90’s when they first started monitoring over 2,000 children, media
Everyone knows about the various stereotypes and social stigmas that come with socioeconomic status whether they will choose to admit it or not. Society has come to assume that a child who comes from a family of low socioeconomic status, that they will not do as well as a child who comes from a family of a greater socioeconomic status. Unfortunately these assumptions are so ingrained in our brains that we start to follow the self-fulfilling prophecy. When a child from a noticeably low socioeconomic status walks into a classroom, it is not uncommon for the teacher to automatically assume that the child will not perform well in class, and in turn either grades the child more harshly or does not give the child as much attention as the other children from high socioeconomic status families. Do these children not perform well in class because of the self-fulfilling prophecy or is there something that happens during the critical period that causes the child to fall behind?
There is always some sort of competition that is constantly occurring and it is certainly true that only those who exhibit excellence will be superior over the rest of the population. Although Patrick Buchanan’s essay proves the notion that equality among races when it comes to academic is in fact a myth, he failed to illustrate other influences that drive America in to racial inequality.
... the wealthier a child’s family is the better school they will attend. This essay does an excellent job of describing the myth of equal opportunity in America. It is obvious from this literary selection that those who are born into wealthier families are set up for success as soon as they begin kindergarten while other children from less fortunate families are simply thrown into working class blue collar positions with little chance for progression to a higher socio-economic class. Education is one of the most important elements within our modern American society. As long as we have this broad spectrum of teaching philosophies and methods, there will always be children with advantages over others. If these differences are evened out, I believe that a reestablishment of a large American middle class is possible, creating a more lucrative and successful nation.
Research reveals that the higher the social class, the higher the levels of educational achievement are likely to be. The children of parents in higher social classes are more likely to stay on in post compulsory education, more likely to achieve examination passes when at school, and more likely to gain university entrance. These features painted a true picture of British education in the twentieth century and can be argued to follow this trend today. However, whether there has been any reduction in the inequalities is more debatable, but some research suggests that these inequalities are as great as ever, despite the overall improvements within the education system. Many researchers argue that IQ tests are biased in favour of the middle class, since members of this group largely construct them.