Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education.
When we think back to our time in high school, we may come to think about the different sports we played in PE class, our teachers struggling to collaborate the smart board, the walk from our lockers to our next class, the songs we danced to in prom, or the unsatisfying school lunches. It’s almost as though each student’s set routine was identical to that of his or her schoolmates. What we don’t realize, however, is that our experiences differ greatly both between schools, and within schools.
In Linda Darling-Harrod’s article, “Unequal Opportunities: Race and Education”, she asserts that subpar curriculums and under-qualified teachers are the true culprits of academic performance gaps between white and minority students. She proposes to restructure the education system so that it becomes more equitable. This includes: reducing class sizes, enforcing higher teaching standards, and training and recruiting well qualified teachers for all schools.
The article highlights the nature of inequality, and the magnitude of its implications when it comes to the educational outcomes of students of color. The disadvantages that minorities face not only deserve wide scholarly attention, but should also be brought to the forefront of all conversations related to the education system.
The article explains that after controlling for socioeconomic status, the large disparities in achievement between black and white students were almost entirely due to differences in the qualifications of their teachers. Minority students are about half as likely to be assigned to the most effective teachers, and twice as likely to be assigned to the least effective. Moving forward, states can equalize education spending, enforce higher teaching standards, and reduce teacher shortages.
Ultimately, we need to reach a paradigm shift. The discourse around barriers to educational equality needs to shift away from the characteristics of students themselves as the source of the problem.
MAPS has always acknowledged that our volunteers are taking the essential first steps in rectifying the inequality. In order to provide outreach services and personalized counseling to our students more efficiently and widely, we place great importance on building and maintaining strong volunteer bases for each of our sites. This essentially serves the same purpose as reducing teacher-to-student ratios as discussed in the article; subsequently this allows instructors to better support their students and thus enhance their performance.
This reflection was written by Amina Harrath and Karen Campos, both a part of the Spring 2020 Internship class. “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education,” by Linda Darling-Hammond linked below!
