Hi all! This week we’re discussing the following readings:
- Downey, Douglas B. and Dennis J. Condron. 2016. “Fifty Years since the Coleman Report: Rethinking the Relationship between Schools and Inequality.” Sociology of Education 89(3):207–20.
- Hanushek, Eric A. 2016. What Matters for Achievement: Updating Coleman on the Influence of Families and Schools. Education Next: 22 – 30.
Carefully go over my PowerPoint presentation with voiceover where I explain important ideas and concepts covered in the readings. (To listen to the voiceover you need to go to presentation mode)
Watch the video below (only 5min), where the author of the report in our reading list for this week (Eric A. Hanushek) discusses the influence of the Coleman Report on its 50th anniversary.
The video below very nicely summarizes the main theme of our lecture this week.
After watching all of the videos, what is your opinion? Are you more of an optimist and fully believe in the transformative power of schools or are you ready to blast Pink-Floyd on repeat and declare that you don’t need no education? (If you didn’t get the last reference, watch the videoclip at the end of the post)
Lecture Posts Questions:
On the comments section below, address the following questions (answers should be at least 100 words in length and posted by Sunday – This is how participation points are assessed (worth 30% of your final grade!) Please save your comments in a safe document before attempting to post it.
- I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these?
- From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear?
- Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
- In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why?
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1. One of the questions asked in the PowerPoint was, “What do you think makes a good teacher?” I think there are a bunch of factors that affect how effective a teacher is, but I think it’s worth noting that Hanushek found it, “…easier to pick out good teachers once they have begun to teach than it is to train them or figure out exactly the secret sauce of classroom success.” Based on this, it seems to me that the qualities that make a teacher “good” are innate and not taught. So, I would say empathy and patience are the most important. No amount of education classes can teach these two things, and yet they are the traits I think set teachers apart. A teacher should be able to understand their teachers or at least be mindful of their feelings. They also need to understand that students learn differently and at different speeds, so they need to be patient and allot their time accordingly, rather than label students “disabled” or give up on them.
Another question was “What matters more for student achievement: Families or schools?”, and I’m having a hard time answering it. Both work in tandem to prepare and provide for children. However, if I had to choose, I would say families matter more. Children are exposed to their families first and those first few years of life see some of the greatest brain and behavioral development. Families are also a constant while the child is in school, and those first few years of school, parents are largely in charge of whether or not a child completes their homework, gets involved in extracurriculars and so on. Even though schools do have a large impact on children’s achievement (Do they have fair teachers? Is the curriculum too challenging? Not challenging enough? Do they have updated textbooks?), parents do have some control in those early elementary school years in addition to having an impact on the child before they even start school.
2. The readings were clear although I felt like they left many things unanswered. Both articles critiqued the Coleman Report for being outdated and not really providing any solutions, and yet neither of these authors could come up with any policies or reforms to reduce inequalities in the achievement gap. I also feel that there were some claims made that were not backed up. For example, Downey and Condron noted that white children get more out of their education than Black and Asiain children, but that’s as far as it goes (2016:211). Are these children they’re comparing in the same class, between different classes, or between different schools? What is causing this: early childhood differences, racism, differences in the curriculum?
Another question I had was in regard to the seasonal comparisons. I understand why 9-month studies and 12-month studies are conducted and how researchers use the summer to help measure how and when children are learning, but I don’t think it was specified if and how they are measuring for these changes. There are many variables I can think of that would affect a child’s development over the summer. For example, did the child go to camp where they played with kids their age, did they go to a more educational camp that focused on reading and math, a fine arts or music camp, did they work or volunteer, did they stay home and play video games, did they read for pleasure? All of these things could affect a child’s development in different ways and affect where they are intellectually when they start a new school year, and so I would imagine that accounting for these things in a study regarding the achievement gap would help yield more accurate results.
3. As I watched these videos, particularly the Crash Course, I was reminded of something from the Downey and Candron reading that hypothesized that the reason we focus so much on school being the main source of inequality is so that we can avoid having to address the real root and structural causes (2016:217-18). As the speaker in the video talked about tracking and how it leads to inequality across race and gender, as well as how it leads to labeling and mislabeling of students, I saw a connection to the theory. If we are trying to avoid the true cause of inequality, whether that be because it’ll be hard to reverse or because it currently benefits those in power (generally speaking, upper-class white men), then we are tweaking studies to show us the results we want to see. The video is expressing the same phenomenon. Teachers and schools will label certain children as disabled to avoid them skewing standardized test scores which affect funding. Instead of giving them the time and attention they need, they group them together and eliminate the importance of their test score in the greater scheme of funding allocation. So many of these studies seem to be conducted in a way to either get results quickly or get the results those in power want to see. The effects of an education have to be measured throughout a person’s life, and so it takes time and requires the control of countless variables. These videos show us that regardless of how many studies that have been conducted and no matter what policies the Coleman Report breeded, the US has barely made any progress in closing the achievement gap in the last 50+ years and if we really do want to create a more equal and just society, we need to look deeper than schools. We need to look at environmental, economic, social and structural factors that affect one’s ability to succeed.
4. This also feels like an impossible question to answer. It varies by teacher, school, county, state and country. On the whole, I’d like to believe that schools are compensatory. In my own experience, I have had teachers that would say they’d rather teach the student with drive than with natural abilities. I was pushed and encouraged and supported by a majority of my teachers and feel very lucky to have had this experience. I also attended one of the most diverse high schools in NYC (#3 I believe), and so had the privilege to see people of all backgrounds and genders be challenged and succeed. I know this is not a universal experience, but I think most teachers do have their students’ best interests at heart and work to close the achievement gap, but because there are so many other social and structural issues at play, schools alone cannot close the gap, regardless of how much money we put into it and how much we change the student:teacher ratio.
1. I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these? Well when tackling the first question asked on whether student achievement mattered more for families or schools, I was at first on both ends of the answer because of the world we live in today. Schools should define student achievement because of the work ethic students dedicate to school. This should be accompanied by quality teachers and opportunities. However, in reality, a student’s achievement is boosted by a family’s background. A student with a family with higher social status will receive better education meaning more student achievement.
2. From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear? I think all the concepts given in the readings to me were pretty clear and straightforward. I found the report for “What Matters for Student Achievement” touched upon performance and funding on multiple variables in terms of education.
3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos. Some main takeaways from the videos were talking about the social and school inequality discussed through society and Colemans views. A heavy point brought out to show existing inequality was how 87 percent of white 12th graders progress better in reading and math than the average black 12th grader. This gap slowly decreased to point where it would take about two and a half centuries for it be equal. Families and poverty has its many effects to this inequality issue. The teachers given to teach students could save up to 3-4 years worth of learning into 1 year. The discrimination between black/latino and white students face different treatment and discipline different which affects a students learning and achievement. Although the education system is beneficial its the structural features that affect minorities.
4. In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why? I believe schools reproduce inequalities throughout society over the years. This is all because of the social hierarchies that exist in society and the opportunities that exist for these groups. The groups get into better schools which include better resources and teachers. Compared to those in the bottom who suffer from the lack of these things. They don’t receive as much funding which is why this cycle of inequalities reproduce overtime.
1. I think a good teacher is definitely kindness, patience and dedication. At the end of the day, a teacher is meant to teach. At least for me, I am easily intimidated, so having someone being kind to me makes a big difference. People are generally learning because they don’t know anything of that topic, so it also helps to be thorough and slow enough that everyone is understanding. I understand that this is hard for teachers though because of the curriculum and limited time they have. I think in answering the next question, we need to define achievement. Depending on the definition, the answer may be different. If it means getting into an ivy league and having that prestige on a resume, then family will matter more. If your family is rich, has cultural and human capital, then you are more likely to get into that school. If achievement is defined as getting into college and learning, I think school will matter more. Looking at past articles, we see that education has allowed for people who don’t have much to go farther in life (not all the time). The intention with schools are not to reproduce or exacerbate inequalities. When we look at schools individually, I think we may see students doing better, as it offers them more than they would have without it. Therefore, in looking at students before and after school, there is less inequality. However, if we look at all schools and compare them, we see that inequalities are being reproduced unintentionally because schools are funded differently, differences in race, and other issues.
2. Yes, I liked having both texts which analyzed the results of the Coleman Report. It was interesting to see the take that each author took in denying, but also agreeing with Coleman. It was interesting when Downey and Condron said that on average, American students spent 13% of their waking hours in school. To me, it was more and it also feels like more because we often take school home with us in the form of HW, friends and other things.
3. Hanushek and Peterson discuss the Coleman Report and the disparities between all the students. Recent work has shown that effective teachers are important to closing the gap, as well as families, which is unlike what Coleman says, who doesn’t place much importance or emphasis on schools. Crash Course talks about how schools play a role in reinforcing inequalities. Quality of schooling and access to resources influence a student’s grades, which are a big part of a student’s career. Wealthy kids can get into better colleges because if the area is wealthier, more money is being put into schools. Another part of improving a student’s outcome is looking at their cultural capital. Families in that aspect also help to reproduce inequality. Another aspect are racial differences such as in teachers. I’m not sure what the Pink Floyd video is about, but it seems to be revolving around education and being controlled. What I took from it is they treated all the students alike and it’s very mechanical, even though all the students are different.
4. In my opinion, I think schools are capable of doing all three because of different factors that go into schooling such as race, status, income, capital and other things. It’s hard to pick just one because some schools are good at compensating inequalities by providing opportunity, but some help with the continued marginalization of other groups. I think also we need to look at other factors and not just schools. Schools may reproduce inequalities, but how is that occurring? We need to look at how much money is spent in certain areas in comparison to others. We need to look at family structures and the environments students live in. Even though we want to dissect which of a student’s life matters more in achievement, I think everything is connected.
1. Throughout the powerpoint presentation there were a few questions that were asked. The two that I noted were, “What matters more for student achievement: Families or Schools?” and “What is the relationship between schools and Inequality?”. The first question can help us better understand and also helps us answer the second question. Between families and schools, both seem to play an important role for student achievement. Hanushek explained how he believed that families are still important however we cannot disregard schooling in terms of the gap. This can help us better understand the relationship between schools and inequality. Although there are substantial racial disparities(inequalities), schooling has the ability to eventually close the gap.
2. “Fifty Years since the Coleman Report: Rethinking the Relationship between Schools and Inequality.” by Douglas Downey and “What Matters for Achievement: Updating Coleman on the Influence of Families and Schools.” by Eric Hanushek were clear readings that enhanced our understanding of Coleman’s Report. Both readings mention that Coleman believed schooling was not necessary for children when it came to achievements. However, both readings criticise Coleman’s ideas while supporting schooling. The authors believe that schooling can compensate for inequalities.
3. The video starts off with Peterson introducing Professor Hanushek. Then, Peterson explained the 1964 Civil Rights Act that congress passed which authorized a study of american education. It was called the equality of educational opportunity which was conducted by Coleman. Coleman’s report showed substantial racial disparities. Hanushek believes that the racial gap, found 50 years ago from Coleman’s report, has been closing but at a very slow rate. Peterson then asked Hanushek if this racial gap in educational achievements could possibly close and if so when? Hanushek believes that it could take about 2 and a half centuries before the gap in math achievements close which he thinks is a national embarrassment while Peterson thought it was quite tragic. Coleman’s idea was then brought up. Coleman believed that schools were not really important but rather families only mattered. However, Hanushek followed up by saying that the work on educational performance has actually shown that the quality of teaching is sufficient to make up for larger parts of the gap. Peterson followed up by saying that effective teachers can close the gap. While Coleman believed that only families mattered, Hanushek said that families are still important however we can disregard schooling because it can close the gap. The conclusion both Peterson and Hanushek came to was that improving the quality of the teaching force, America can do a lot to close the gap.
4. In my opinion, schooling has the ability to compensate inequalities. However, with little change towards educational development, schooling seems to be reproducing and exacerbating inequalities. The concept of schooling is flawed, there is little change and when there is change it is at a slow rate. Instead of learning a curriculum for the students’ benefits, schooling gives curriculums based on future tests and assessments students must take which mainly benefits the school rather than the student.
1. I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these?
a) What matters more for student achievement: Families or schools?
I believe both of these matters and play significant roles in the achievements of students. Families of higher socioeconomic status and higher educational backgrounds tend to have more higher performing students. Also, students who go to schools that have better quality of teachers and more resources are also higher performers and the opposite is true for both of the above cases. So, I believe both work hand in hand to improve students’ achievements. If I really had to choose, I would say family matters more, as they are the ones who are around the children the most and can influence them the most, especially in their earlier years of life, they are responsible for providing adequate resources (food, health insurance, shelter, clothing, books, technology etc.) which are key factors in a child cognitive skill developments.
b) What is the relationship between schools and inequality?
I believe that there is a direct relationship between school and inequalities even though schools are known to promote social mobility. There may be absolute mobility as children are earning more than their parents at the same age ranges, however, there is not usually much relative mobility (compared to other people of the population).This is evident with students from low socioeconomic status that go to the same schools as others from a higher socioeconomic status, earning less than their batch-mates even with the same qualifications. The same is true when we compare races (blacks earn way less than their white batch-mates). All of which proves that there is indeed a direct link between schools and inequality.
c) How covid-19 is interrupting children’s education?
I believe that Covid-19 is causing severe interruptions in children’s education across the country and the world. Children are now stuck at home, which is not always a safe space for learning. The change from physical to online schooling was very abrupt and so many children may be very confused as to why, when will this end and when will they be able to play with their friends again. This also has drastic effects on their mental health forcing many children into psychotic disorders like depression and other anxiety disorders. Another key factor that may be interrupting children’s education is the access to the internet and technologies that are now mandatory for online schooling. Many low income families are struggling to make ends meet and so are the children. Many of these low income family children have not participated in online schooling from the beginning of the pandemic, over a year ago. This among other factors, puts them at a disadvantage and they may eventually fall behind in school when compared to higher income families that have the necessary resources to continue schooling. This also is a good way to prove that family plays a key role in students’ achievements.
2. From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear?
The readings highlight issues relating to the relationship between schools and inequality. In the Coleman Report, he believes that family is the most important factor in students achievements and that school plays very little role. Other scientists oppose these views and believe that schools play important roles in student achievements as they provide better learning environments (more money and resources given to some schools). However, these better environments are for students of higher socioeconomic status and white students, which directly shows how schools can indeed reproduce or exacerbate inequalities. The black-white achievement gaps for 12th graders are still very large (majority of white students perform better than black students in Math and Reading) when compared to 50 years ago, which shows that the inequalities people were facing then, are still very rampant now. Therefore, families, school and desegregation does contribute to the achievement disparities across the region. I believe that schools do reproduce and exacerbate inequalities but will schooling does contribute to a decrease in poverty, as with better qualifications, you are more employable, eligible for higher wages, which will in turn make one’s life more comfortable and healthier.
3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
The Eric A. Hanushek video discussed how the racial disparities in education changes over time. He discussed the black-white achievement gaps for 12th graders, 50 years ago, where the average black student was at the 13th percentile of the average white students in Math and Reading. That is, 87% of white students performed better than their black classmates. He compared the percentile to that of 2013, where it was now 19th and 22nd percentile for Math and Reading respectively, indicating that there was not much of a difference in the numbers. He explained that 50 years ago, the South had the largest gap, but they are now in line with the rest of the country. He believes that closing the gap will take up to 2.5 centuries which was a national tragedy. Finally, he concluded that family (low or high economic status) and the quality of teachers at school are important in closing the gap. The quality of teachers makeup for large parts of these gaps as better teachers means more higher performing students.
The crash course video also highlights the school and social inequality issues. She discussed a class gap in which high income families are more likely to enroll in college than low income families. It also states that people living in better neighborhoods have better quality schools and these students are more likely to enroll in colleges. The city or town that one lives in also determines school funding (better resources) and have better teachers, better extracurricular activities and thus get better education. This increase in school funding is also related to these students having higher incomes in the future.
Other factors that play a role is parental involvement (time, resources) are related to higher vocabulary of students from an early age and higher incomes in the future and mostly parents of higher socioeconomic status are able to do this. As it relates to race, the school system is more advantageous to white students, as they get greater funding, better teachers and teachers that are also white (tend to be biased in evaluating black students). On the other hand, black students are three times more likely to get suspended or expelled from schools and have higher dropout rates which directly affect their job prospects and class standings. Finally, it discussed that these black students are more likely to abuse drugs and have risky behaviors.
4. In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why?
I believe that schools can both reproduce and exacerbate inequalities. It is evident that there are preferences for some schools (get more funding, better teachers and resources) based on one’s location, race or socioeconomic status. These factors will make these students higher performers than other students who have the opposite. Furthermore, students from low socioeconomic status that go to the same schools as others from a higher socioeconomic status, earn way less than their batch-mates even with the same qualifications. These are very unfair to the students and these factors among others are why the school system continues to reproduce and exacerbate inequalities. There is not much compensation as poor and black students hardly ever experience relative mobility, even with the same qualifications from the same institutions. Until everyone is treated equally, provided with resources they need (equity), employed fairly and paid fairly for equal qualifications and equal work done, there will continue to be inequalities in schools.
1. I like the way that the powerpoint explained the connection between schools and families and how each plays a significant role in a students’ life. I would like to start answering the first question presented to us by the professor by saying that, in my opinion, families are more important than schools when it comes to the level of success in achievement of a student and this is because a family’s income has a variety of indirect effects on a student beginning with the fact that their income will have a say in the communities they reside which directly impacts the school they will be attending. Families that come from less wealthy backgrounds tend to live in areas where the schools are not as advanced and funded as those kids that come from a wealthier family background. In the case of Black low-income families, it is no news that they tend to live in racially segregated areas which indicates that the kids are placed at a disadvantage since they do not have access to the resources that other kids do. The Coleman Report is a study that took place in 1966 in which schools and students were viewed and used as an experiment to determine and analyze inequalities of educational opportunities all over the United States in order to determine what really affects students achievement. This report is important because it changed the outlook on the success of a school from its inputs to its outputs or the outcome of the students that attend such a school. These were measured by what the student learned throughout the years, if the student pursued further education and the longevity of employment and their income. The relationship between schools and inequality depends on how we are looking at it, for example, schools that are based on kids from lower incomes are known to not have the resources that will otherwise have a positive impact on the kid and will spark their interest in furthering their education, we also know that these same schools lack funding and often hire teachers that do not have the necessary qualities to help students on a 1-1 person scenario. Lastly, I believe that schools exacerbate inequality and this is because as the readings stated there is an unequal distribution of quality teachers, school lacks funding so they have dated textbooks and poor facilities and the differences in curriculum make the already existing inequalities worse. With this I mean that yes schools do reproduce inequalities due to the reasons we have previously discussed however, these inequalities already reside and reign over these students so I feel like schools that come from this specific background tend to intensify them and make them more prevalent.
2. The reading I focused on was the Coleman Report, which I found to be rather difficult to understand mainly because of the language and terms that were being used. I agree with the reading’s conclusion which determines that family background does play a big important role in the success and achievements of studies. As the reading also explains I feel stronger to the point that talks about schools exacerbating inequality and this is because schools among many other systems do not have a structure that applies to students needs, there is a basic/general structure but not one that is directed to the different needs and qualities of the students, kids that come from low income families tend to live in highly segregated areas and that means that they will not have a good quality school which means that some if not most teachers are not the best or at least best qualified and there are little to no programs that aim to help the kids have a clearer idea and outlook for their future.
3. The videos were interesting as they talked about topics that we do not really focus on, the crash course made some valid points about our educational system along with helping me refresh many terms that I would otherwise not directly think about such as meritocracy. As we already know there is an unlimited amount of inequalities among not only low income families but those of colors as well, counties that are known to be wealthier and have White people residing them tend to do well because schools are well funded and they are able to provide a great education to their students, while schools from lower incomes tend to have the exact opposite. Regarding the question that the professor shared with us, I don’t think that I am really optimistic about the power of school but with that being said, I have not lost all hope. I believe that schools do teach us many things and have the power to get us to reach great heights but there are other factors that also play a role in this act and they need to be fixed from the root in order for things to start to change and look different nationwide.
4. I feel as if I already answered this question throughout my comments, however, I think that schools aside from enforcing and in ways reproducing inequalities, they mostly exacerbate them. I believe this is the case because as i previously mentioned schools differ depending on many factors such as income, race, family’s backgrounds and social status/power/influence, quality of teachers and many others that simply highlight and make the current issue worse. These reasons tend to increase the level of inequality and definitely activities those that are dormant. Also, I don’t think that schools reduce inequality but they do in a way provide those who take advantage of the tools to make sure they go out there and try to reduce the levels of inequality either personally or at a larger level.
I like the way that the PowerPoint explained the connection between schools and families and how each plays a significant role in a students’ life. I would like to start answering the first question presented to us by the professor by saying that, in my opinion, families are more important than schools when it comes to the level of success in achievement of a student and this is because a family’s income has a variety of indirect effects on a student beginning with the fact that their income will have a say in the communities they reside which directly impacts the school they will be attending. Families that come from less wealthy backgrounds tend to live in areas where the schools are not as advanced and funded as those kids that come from a wealthier family background. In the case of Black low-income families, it is no news that they tend to live in racially segregated areas which indicates that the kids are placed at a disadvantage since they do not have access to the resources that other kids do. The Coleman Report is a study that took place in 1966 in which schools and students were viewed and used as an experiment to determine and analyze inequalities of educational opportunities all over the United States in order to determine what really affects students achievement. This report is important because it changed the outlook on the success of a school from its inputs to its outputs or the outcome of the students that attend such a school. These were measured by what the student learned throughout the years, if the student pursued further education and the longevity of employment and their income. The relationship between schools and inequality depends on how we are looking at it, for example, schools that are based on kids from lower incomes are known to not have the resources that will otherwise have a positive impact on the kid and will spark their interest in furthering their education, we also know that these same schools lack funding and often hire teachers that do not have the necessary qualities to help students on a 1-1 person scenario. Lastly, I believe that schools exacerbate inequality and this is because as the readings stated there is an unequal distribution of quality teachers, school lacks funding so they have dated textbooks and poor facilities and the differences in curriculum make the already existing inequalities worse. With this I mean that yes schools do reproduce inequalities due to the reasons we have previously discussed however, these inequalities already reside and reign over these students so I feel like schools that come from this specific background tend to intensify them and make them more prevalent.
2. The reading I focused on was the Coleman Report, which I found to be rather difficult to understand mainly because of the language and terms that were being used. I agree with the reading’s conclusion which determines that family background does play a big important role in the success and achievements of studies. As the reading also explains I feel stronger to the point that talks about schools exacerbating inequality and this is because schools among many other systems do not have a structure that applies to students needs, there is a basic/general structure but not one that is directed to the different needs and qualities of the students, kids that come from low income families tend to live in highly segregated areas and that means that they will not have a good quality school which means that some if not most teachers are not the best or at least best qualified and there are little to no programs that aim to help the kids have a clearer idea and outlook for their future.
3. The videos were interesting as they talked about topics that we do not really focus on, the crash course made some valid points about our educational system along with helping me refresh many terms that I would otherwise not directly think about such as meritocracy. As we already know there is an unlimited amount of inequalities among not only low income families but those of colors as well, counties that are known to be wealthier and have White people residing them tend to do well because schools are well funded and they are able to provide a great education to their students, while schools from lower incomes tend to have the exact opposite. Regarding the question that the professor shared with us, I don’t think that I am really optimistic about the power of school but with that being said, I have not lost all hope. I believe that schools do teach us many things and have the power to get us to reach great heights but there are other factors that also play a role in this act and they need to be fixed from the root in order for things to start to change and look different nationwide.
4. I feel as if I already answered this question throughout my comments, however, I think that schools aside from enforcing and in ways reproducing inequalities, they mostly exacerbate them. I believe this is the case because as i previously mentioned schools differ depending on many factors such as income, race, family’s backgrounds and social status/power/influence, quality of teachers and many others that simply highlight and make the current issue worse. These reasons tend to increase the level of inequality and definitely activities those that are dormant. Also, I don’t think that schools reduce inequality but they do in a way provide those who take advantage of the tools to make sure they go out there and try to reduce the levels of inequality either personally or at a larger level.
I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these?
Firstly, the first question was “what makes a good teacher?” What makes a good educator is that the person needs to be passionate about what they are teaching. If the teacher is disinterested the students will not learn anything. Also, a teacher must know what they are teaching. It means that the content they are teaching must be in an effective way so that the students learn a lot better. Additionally, teachers must be understanding because they can be overwhelming for students. Especially with the work and expectations that students must go through.
The next question is “what matters more for student achievement: families or schools?” Personally, I feel like it is the families that matter more. My argument is that families provide for the student and they decide where their children go for school until they are an adult. Parents’ incomes also determine where they live and if they have the resources to buy supplies. Some students are put in after school that helps with homework and getting ahead of their peers. With more financial stability students are put in better schools with high-quality learning.
The third question, “what is the relationship between schools and inequality?” The relationship between schools and inequality is one’s background. If one’s parents come from low-income families, they will be in a low-income neighborhood. In low-income neighborhoods schools are not funded with the tools and resources that students need. Since funds are generated from taxes, families do not have a high income, so they do not pay a high tax. So, students lack the resources needed such as textbooks, desks, laptops, and other school supplies. This all affects the inequality of higher and lower-income schools. Higher-income schools tend to achieve a higher student outcome than lower-income schools.
From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear?
In the readings this week, they speak about the main criticisms of the Coleman Report. The ideas were clear. The first reading, Rethinking the Relationship between Schools, and Inequality, explains the diverse ways schools can reproduce, exacerbate, or compensate for inequalities. One point I found interesting was how to find how schools can compensate for inequalities is still under review. Sociologists discovered that Coleman’s findings on schools playing a role large neutral role in influencing achievement gaps were wrong. So, schools are more compensatory than previously thought. I feel like this critique helps with the argument that schools are compensating for inequalities than before.
In the next reading, What Matters for Student Achievement explains similar critiques on Coleman’s Report. From this reading, I found it very interesting and clear to read. Something that interested me in this reading was how they explained the family side of schooling and how that affects inequality. The reading explains how Coleman left out the student’s family incomes. Another point is that simply giving money to schools will not affect student’s achievements. This is interesting because this is still going on and there should be a stop to just throwing money in schools. Rather, providing necessary tools for students to learn better. However, this is just one study and other studies do show a significant increase in student achievement.
Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
In the crash course video, they talk about the general view of Americans. The idea of Meritocracy, where challenging work pays off in the future. We also learn that schools in towns with higher taxes tend to have more resources and tools for students. They find that with more funding with resources the students tend to go to college and try to achieve higher education. However, we see high funding in students who still struggle to improve student outcomes. We also see that our education system is known to favor white Americans. In lower-income neighborhoods, their education may not be as good as a higher-income one. In the end, the video speaks upon the idea that taxes and other social aspects disadvantage monitory groups. Ultimately leads to social inequality.
The Pink Floyd music video is enormously powerful. It illustrates students becoming faceless people and losing their identity. In the first scene, a boy is mocked by a math teacher for his poem. If your job is to teach math stick with what you are good at. Let alone do not put others down because you do not think it is good enough. This teacher fails to be a teacher. Teachers should encourage students to learn and express themselves. Children still have trouble identifying themselves because the education system does not teach them about identity. Teachers are required to teach geography and common core math. This video has a lot of themes and the singer even says, “we don’t need an education.” From what they are going through, students are better off without teachers discouraging them.
In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why?
Schools exacerbate inequalities because the education system is still flawed in many ways. The standardizing tests there to teach you and prepare you for college. Yet, it only taught me to race against time. Schools in America still do not teach about creativity and self-expression. However, schools in Finland encourage students to do learn together and focus on mental health more. The American education system is still flawed and there is much more work to be done to fix inequalities.
1. As mentioned in the PowerPoint there is no recipe for a perfect teacher. Standards depend on the students because everyone has a different way of learning. I’m not a fan of teachers who make students read textbooks or long texts in general and don’t discuss the material at all because at that point the students ought to teach themselves. I think it’s important for students to make connections to their own lives or the world around them to fully understand concepts and engage with the material they learn. Teachers should also push students to do things that they might not think they are capable of and bring students out of their comfort zones. Teachers should also have a clear purpose in assigning work and making students participate in activities.
I am generally concerned for the effects the pandemic will have on education in the long run. My niece is currently in remote learning and I feel that she is missing out on a lot. For example, she can’t engage with her classmates like she would in a real classroom, she doesn’t have access to a large selection of books, instruments and equipment that would be offered in a school. Her school has sent her a set of math workbooks and art supplies and they do offer internet hotspots and tablets to students. While supervising my niece’s class, I have noticed that many students are alone which is alarming considering that they’re in kindergarten. No one is holding these students accountable and reassuring that they are understanding what is being taught to them or that they are completing their work. However, it’s understandable that many families of low-income people can’t afford to leave their jobs or hire someone to look after their kids.This highlights the importance that family plays in education and that “family background” however is defined isn’t homogenous.
2. In general the concepts and ideas from the reading are straightforward. I was intrigued by the idea that there is already a disparity among children even before they enter kindergarten. This reminded me of “Undoing Appropriateness: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and Language diversity in Education” by Nelson Flores and Johnathan Rosa. The authors argue that standards of language in the United States are set by white listeners and speakers. I think this argument can be made for education as a whole considering that on page 211 it states that “white children may benefit more from school than do black or Asian children”. If revealed to be true this wouldn’t be a surprise to me considering how race is tied to power relations in the United States. Flores and Rosa mention how students of color spend a significant time of their school years correcting their forms of speaking and writing because it’s not acceptable in academia. Language is tied to race/ethnic groups so once again I’m not surprised to see that white is the standard even in education. I think educational standards, curriculum and policies as a whole in the United States need to be made more inclusive of people who are non-white and of lower income backgrounds.
3. The Coleman report also known as the Equality of Educational Opportunity study found huge racial differences in academic performance. 87% of white Americans performed better in reading and math than African Americans. There are signs of progress but the rates of progress are slow. One of Coleman’s main conclusions was that families had a greater influence in a child’s education and that school’s didn’t really matter. However, today focus has shifted towards the quality of teachers. It’s possible that increasing the quality of teachers could help close this gap yet this isn’t something that has been organized.
4. I believe schools can reproduce, compensate and exacerbate inequalities. I think schools can reproduce inequality in many ways. For example, school funds tend to come from property taxes meaning wealthier neighborhoods, cities and towns have larger funds for their students. In the United States, there is a connection between wealth, income and race so unfortunately racial minorities tend to live in poorer areas and attend low funded schools. Overall, this reproduces inequalities. I think education can exacerbate inequalities in the United States especially for racial minorities because of the school to prison pipeline. Individuals have tough times overcoming the effects of incarceration such as finding employment and in general aren’t prepared to go back into society. Another way schools can exacerbate inequalities is because of the cost. Many families and individuals who are already of low-income may also go into debt while trying to get an education which might also affect whether they can graduate.. On the other hand, there are scholarships, financial aid and other forms of paying for school which can help students get an education and possibly move them up the social ladder which can compensate students in the long run.
1. Throughout the PowerPoint presentation my favorite question was asked, what makes a good teacher? A good teacher is someone who puts their job and their students first. Every child is different which means every child learns differently. A good teacher would find different ways to teach their students that will help them learn. A good teacher is going to have a strong passion to teach and empathy for all their students no matter how much trouble they give. I had my fair of good and bad teachers and the good ones had a huge impact on my educational and personal life.
2. All ideas and concepts from the readings were pretty clear. The first reading was pretty interesting to me because in elementary and middle school I always thought and questioned what other kids’ schooling was like during school breaks. So the seasonal comparison part sparked interest for me. I attended a charter school during my time there, school was in session from September to July. During the summer we had summer assignments that needed to be done. We basically had no free or fun time. Summer vacation? Forget about it. That section also talked about testing not done after summer break and before however that was not the case for me and the kids at my school. My school relied heavily on assignments and testing scores to see how smart we are.
3. The first video talks about a law that was passed which gave the permission for a study of American education called equality of education opportunity. When the study was conducted racial disparities were found. Because of that there’s an assessment on the impact that American has on education. There’s a racial gap, white children reading and math scores are higher than the African Americans. Even though the gap has gotten smaller it will still take 2.5 centuries for the math gap to close. Which is pretty depressing. The main points of the crash course video are the different social inequalities faced in the educational system such as low funding because of the location of the school. The video also talks about how your culture can impact your education as well as the use racial conflict theory to understand how American school system disadvantages minorities.
4. I feel that schools do all three. Schools reproduce inequality by not providing the same materials to all the students. They exacerbate inequality by not trying to make a difference when it comes to education minorities. Since less funds are going into the school so there is less energy, the teachers and staff are not trying hard enough to successfully educate the less fortunate students. I also feel that school compensates for inequality depending on the state. From my experience attending a public high school in NYC with the majority of students being minorities the term no child left behind was really pushed. Every single child in the building was given the same opportunity regardless of how academically smart they were. There were materials for everyone, the textbook was quite beat up but no one had to share. Everyone had access to AP classes because my school did not want anyone to feel left out or have anyone feel that they are not smart enough to take an advanced class.
1. I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these?
It is always very hard for me to have a clear though on education and whether it creates or reduced further inequalities. The first question, although Coleman would say Families have more influence on a student’s success, I have seen how schools and proper faculty members can really help motivate a Childs educational life and pursuit for better career and future decisions. I have been in both private and public schools in different sectors of the Bronx, because of this I believe that schools don’t need to have the best resources for students, and that money like mentioned is not the only outcome, yet how it is being spent for the children. If an intuition has Monet but only thrives to produce it for a titleship or standing rather than the benefit for all students, than more inequality is being produced. I’d say schools and inequity relationship is very difficult to determine because there are always so many other factors like environment, family, timing, resources, peers, etc.
2. From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear?
All concepts are clear and self-explanatory. The inputs and outputs where a little confusing at first but after listing them on the PowerPoint I started to realize how it was being categorized. Because this study was done as a result of the civil rights m0ovemnt, there was no surprised that the racial disparities where noticeable. My idea is that Coleman mentioned how it was up to the families to be the leading motivation for a student’s success. I feel like this was the main point to kind of justify for the lack of resources and inequality that the school system had originally been founded upon. It might be a reach, but this is how I perceived his findings.
3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
My main takeaways from the videos, the first one brought to my attention that “poverty is the only issue” to the inequalities faced in education, and I think to some extent this me be accurate. Poverty is the reason why there is lack of resources on neighborhoods, it’s the reason why parents may sometimes not provide their children with the proper attention, it can be the reason why students may not always focus on learning why they are in school. Yet we live in a capitalistic society that thrives on puberty and cheap labor so that will never be eliminated. The speakers mention that teachers have a great power to closing the gap of learning inequality yet although this idea might be true, the teacher now a day, especially in the cities are overwhelmed with plenty of students and major budget cuts. To expect more from them is also to provide more support economically and in the classroom for them. I like that the video of Crash Course mentions exploitation and the “school to Prison Pipelines” because growing up I never really understood the idea of being suspended and expelled. I remember classmates saying, “oh ill just be home relaxing no biggie” and this would lead to them feeling accustom to doing bad because they would be compensated with staying home. This form of punishment has brought much negligence form the schooling system.
4. In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why?
Personally, I find this a very difficult question due to the fact that I can see and have read research on how schools can proceed to do all three, but I want to lean towards compensate inequalities. Although schooling does have plenty issues that should be targeted it also isn’t all bad. We have learned how it allows for social mobility and a better progressive country. There are many other things but schooling because it is not qual it can also leave someone in a lower disadvantage than what they were already facing. It all really depends on the factors of environment, funding. Resources, families and self-perseverance. Life regardless is challenging but schooling does open up many opportunites in which one is compensated either financially, social, or culturally. It goes hand in hand with the capital as well.
Relating to the first question of whether family or school affects a student’s achievement I believe that family has a larger effect on the student’s achievement in school. Since your family income automatically affects where you go to school and that school’s funding, which affects how that school aids its students, your achievement as a student almost automatically relates to your family. I also believe family practices within the home also affect a student’s achievements in school because like the lady said in the crash course video a child to parents with a professional job have a higher vocabulary compared a child to parents who worked working class jobs. Which ultimately affects their performance in school but can also affect the way school faculty interacts with these students. And though I do believe that the family structure has a large effect on student achievement I believe it can be used a scapegoat to not fix the public school system.
For the second question on what makes a good teacher I honestly do not know. I feel there can be really good teaching techniques like ways of engagement, clarity, and relation with students. But a “ good” teacher is different for everyone. An example for me is my Political Theory professor has an extremely low rating on rate my professor but I would literally take any of her classes again because I personally liked her curriculum and found her extremely funny, but many people consider her a bad professor.
The main takeaways from the first video that I got are that there is a multitude of things within the home and school that can contribute to and hinder a child’s growth in school and society and that the achievement gap is far from being closed. From the second video, there were the same main takeaways just better elaborated.
I believe schools reproduce inequalities because if nobody in school is moving upward socially then the pattern will continue and school will just be there to socialize children with other children that are like them economically.
1. I believe a student’s family has a major impact on their success as opposed to the students’ school because their beliefs, economic stature and success will have a major influence on if the student even decides to finish or even pursue education. The Coleman Report from 1966 is significant because it allowed the studied to analyze the inequalities of education and the lack of opportunity within the United States. This report influences a shift within the schools as well as the success of students who attend. Not only that but it changes how the schools handle situations as far as what students will take away from school. Schools very much exacerbate inequalities because of the unfair distribution as far as teachers and the quality of their teaching. Typically they put more experienced teachers who are great at their jobs at better schools in better communities and put new teachers who are not as experienced in the schools that lack funds. With that, they typically have less resources and old and/ or bad facilities which make the schooling experience completely different for students in the low income communities.
2. For the most part the readings were pretty clear but a bit difficult to consume all at once. However, I look forward to the class discussion and hearing what others took away from the readings.
3. Some main takeaways in the views are the focus on the education system. Between the difference in economic stature and race, the inequalities are exemplified within the educational systems. From the access to resources to even the profiling of individuals differ depending on the economic stature of the area and the students who attend. In reference to the power of schools, I have mixed opinions. I truly believe education influences development however the way education systems are with exacerbating inequalities I do not believe in the power of schooling when it is in that such. I believe the education system should be discussed and refocus on how it can benefit the majority of all communities regardless of race and economic stature. Not only that but how it can allow more individuality for the students who attend.
4. I believe schools exacerbate inequalities because the education system has many issues and should be altered. The education system in America allows no room for individuality to be expressed but more so how to memorize answers for the exams. Although schools differ depending on the economic stature and race, most often these schools and education systems still exacerbate inequalities.
1.a. “What do you think makes a good teacher?” To be a good teacher, she/he must have enthusiasm. Second, a person who is knowledgeable and willing to share knowledge with students. Finally, a good teacher must treat every student fairly. Because when a teacher has enthusiasm, this enthusiasm will inspire and guide students to have a positive learning attitude. A good teacher must treat every student fairly, and treat students without distinction! This is important because this behavior can cause students to have low self-esteem or hate the course. And these consequences will make a huge change in the students’ learning attitude, and even affect the students’ life.
b. “What matters more for student achievement: Families or schools?” These two are very important, because the family is the first contact with the child, and the parent is also the child’s enlightenment teacher. Some good behaviors or upbringings of parents will be followed by children. The school is a place where knowledge and skills are taught, and the knowledge that children cannot learn at home can be learned from the school.
c. “What is the relationship between schools and inequality?” In elementary, middle and high schools, students’ schools are allocated by home address. This means that high-income families have the ability to buy better school districts, and their children can also be assigned to better schools for education. And low-income families may be assigned to ordinary schools.
2.From the readings, all concepts and ideas are clear. In Coleman Report, the report found that differences in achievement among schools depended primarily on students’ family background and their classmates the survey results found that while resources may be relatively equal within regions, educational outcomes were not. White children have a higher reading level.
3.The main takeaways from the videos. The “Civil Rights Act” stipulates that American education shall be equal opportunities. But Jame Coleman discovered racial differences 50 years later. The biggest racial difference is the difference between students, and it is mentioned that the study found that white students in 12th grade are due to black learning in math and reading. Teachers can fill most of the gaps. Poverty and low income are also part of the difference between students.
4.In my opinion, schools reproduce inequalities. Because the family area determines the child’s school (except for the university). This shows that with the difference in social status and income, children from wealthy families have the opportunity to enter schools with good resources and education (have enough capital to buy houses with good environment). Ordinary families or low-income families can only be assigned to ordinary or poor schools based on their home address. The gap in school resources and education level.
1. I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these? The Powerpoint was clear because I read the readings first before listening and reading the slides. After all, the slides just elaborated on what was already said in the readings. The powerpoint did help me understand some questions I had which were very helpful because sometimes the readings can be overwhelming and confusing.
2. From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear? I do think that the readings were pretty clear. In many cases, though I do agree with Coleman Report because schools still influence inequality whether it is economically, socially, or racially. Children tend to go to the school within their neighborhood meaning that if they live in a bad neighborhood then they end up going to a school that is poorly structured compared to other schools in the area. The children who attend schools in a better neighborhood tend to have more advantages and have a higher position when graduating high school. I do agree with the Coleman Report because the family background does have a lot to do with how the child grows and develops in their adult life. I do believe that the two shifts explained that are necessary for improvement is that the public needs to understand the socioeconomic achievement gaps from primarily before formal schooling and that this will most likely reduce it more than increase them. The other necessary thing is that once the public has compared things fairly, schools that serve low SES children should provide learning environments the same as schools serving high SES children. With that being said there is a lot of work to be done in how we change our school system and the way we educate children. We must also try to give every child the same chance regardless of their background. In Hanushek’s article, the lasting impacts of Coleman Report what that the link between education research to education policy where there is a clear and immediate path from the research collected. The research collected stated that there was a noticeable difference between their two and that the Coleman Report has been twisted and turned in multiple ways by those who have a specific political agenda. Both articles regardless concluded that these achievement gaps need to be closer together and possibly eliminate.
3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos. The main takeaway from the videos is that based on what Coleman reported our society was able to slowly close the gap between black and white students in math and reading, but Hanushek said it’ll take about 2 centuries until the gap is eliminated. Meaning there is still a long way to go in our society to ensure that colored and white students receive the same achievements and educational support. Teachers who are actually qualified can make a difference to where it can help change the outcome of the child. That family will always have a large factor but so do teachers who are truly qualified in the field to help close the gap.
4. In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why?
In my own opinion, schools reproduce inequalities throughout the United States. I believe that such inequalities stem from underfunded schools in inner cities which may lack afterschool or sports programs. Programs like that open up doors to allow young adults to explore their extracurricular passions in a school setting. Furthermore, in more privileged school districts there is more funding given to academics as well as sports. Schools undermine the capabilities that students have because of their race/ethnicity, economic status, and family. School regardless should give equal advantages for students no matter where they come from or what they have.
1. One of the questions asked were, what mattered more for students achievement: family or schools . I feel like there should be a balance between the two because they can work together. For one, family can provide students with the support and encouragement needed to continue. Schools can contribute to their achievement by providing students with some of the skills they need to succeed, with both quality with what they are learning and quality in the people teaching them. The second question asked what is the relationship between schools and inequality. One of the relationships is the difference in the quality of schools which is an inequality in itself which. A second is because the difference in quality has an impact on what students get out of the experience and other programs and opportunities afforded to them.
2. The concepts from the readings were clear. The powerpoint also helped to clear a few things for me.
3. The main takeaways from the first video were thoughts on the study done by Coleman and the findings in the gaps based on differences in gender and race. Also this video mentions things that schools can do to help with students’ education and academic performance to fix with the gap. One takeaway from the second video included how home life is on children and how that contributes to their education such as family income’s effect on the time parents have to spend with their children and in the long run can help with their overall learning. Another takeaway from this video was forms of social inequality like how school systems treat certain groups of children from certain backgrounds over others and its influence on their behavior later on in life and where the types of classes they are placed in and the curriculum they are taught.
4. In my opinion, it depends on the circumstances, who and what situation the conversation on schools and inequalities is targeted to. Schools can reproduce inequalities by adding onto the privilege that some have already. It can also make them worse like with social inequalities by contributing to the marginalization of certain groups of people, similar to what the second video mentioned with the concept of school to prison pipeline and with things like standardized tests that are only benefiting certain students of certain backgrounds. On the other hand it can also compensate because it can provide opportunities such as being able to participate in programs, build skills and also meet and connect with people and building relationships with other students which can be useful in the future.
1-) In the powerpoint the question “What matters most for student achievements, families or schools?”, this question was hard to answer because I believe that both are essential for students. This reminded of the question about environment vs genes, which we know that both makes us who we are. However, in this case if I had to choose between families and school, I would say family. Our families are the ones who provide us with support, the ones that push us to be better and to do better, school’s resources will help you, but I don’t think it has a bigger impact. I’ll talk from experience, my high school wasn’t the best, in fact it was pretty bad, but what kept me going to achieve great things in life was my family, they were always there for me. And although my High school wasn’t the best, I managed to get into City College and graduate this semester. Another question that was mentioned was “What do you think makes a good teacher”, and to be honest teachers need to know how to teach, this might sound silly but I have met many teachers who are very smart and yet are horrible at teaching. A good teacher finds a way to communicate his/her knowledge with their students, a good teacher worries about their students, a good teacher is always ready to offer their help in any way they can and finally a good teacher needs to adapt to his student’s needs.
2-) The readings were clear to me, but were just a bit dense. Coleman’s reading was very interesting because it provided comparisons between schools. It showed how schools provided different inequalities throughout different seasons. I feel that Coleman believes that schools are more important when it comes to student’s achievements, but I disagree.
3-) Some of the important takeaway from the videos are the following: In the Coleman Report video, they stated that 87% of the white 12 grade students performed better than the 12th black students in math and reading subjects and the gap for this inequality has closed over the years, but at a very slowly rate. In the “Schools and Social Inequality” something that caught my attention was when she said that grades don’t always measure everyone’s talent consistently, I have always thought that grades don’t decide how smart you are, because they are just numbers. Another thing is how funding for schools mostly come from the taxes of the residents in that city/town, so people who live in a healthier city/town, will have more taxes that will be funded for their schools. I really liked the second video because it explains how our educational systems provide inequalities for the students.
4-) I feel that schools reproduce inequalities in a way, but they try to compensate for those inequalities. They reproduce inequalities because as it was mentioned in the videos, black people barely have any opportunities compared to white people. Healthier people have better chances at going to a great school that have a lot of resources that will help students in their learning while low-income people barely get to have this chance. So, although these inequalities are present, many low-income schools are getting more resources to improve their education and hopefully the gap of inequality will be almost closed.
1.) I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these?
“What matters more for student achievement: Families or schools?”
Though I believe that both are important, families have a greater effect. This being because the opportunities and resources that help contribute to the student’s achievement all ties back to family. We see how factors such as family income can benefit the student by proving access to these opportunities (like going to better schools) and resources (like outside tutoring). However, it can also put the student at a disadvantage if the student’s family income is not able to provide access to these resources and opportunities as those of their other peers.
“What is the relationship between Schools and Inequality?”
When thinking of the relationship between schools and inequality, there are various factors to take into consideration such as family background, school resources, faculty, and so on. Each of these factors contribute to the relationship as they may affect the opportunities and resources one can gain through schools and this may cause inequality. For example, a family with better income or a family with parents with a higher educational level may prioritize their child’s educational achievement and be able to do so with the resources they have. This may include enrolling their children at schools with better funding that provides them with more advanced resources such as better technology, books, faculty, etc.
2.) From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear?
Both readings were clear and I though both critique “The Coleman’s Report” in their own way, I personally enjoyed the second reading “What Matters for Achievement: Updating Coleman on the Influence of Families and Schools” a bit more. A section in this reading that stood out to me was when the author discussed how family income was not measured in The Coleman report and how the term “poverty” only appeared just one time. I just found that shocking as then the author mentions how family income, in previous research, has been the focus and considered to be a factor that falls under the “family background” aspect. Though Coleman’s reasoning as to why family income was not taken into consideration makes sense, it still leaves one wondering if and how this level of measurement would have contributed to the report.
3.) Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
Some of the main takeaways from the first video is the discussion on the racial disparities that were found in The Coleman report and how this gap (math and reading) observed in the report between the black and white 12th graders has minimized but at such a slow rate throughout time. Furthermore, there is discussion on how recent research has demonstrated how the quality of teachers can play a role in closing this gap.
Some of the main takeaways from the second video (crash course video) is the role that social conflict theory plays a role in explaining how the educational system can contribute in causing and keeping class differences. For example, schools in areas that have higher earning residents may lead to better funding/resources for the school which can then result in providing better education in these areas. Another takeaway from this video is how school funding is only part of the social inequality caused by the educational system since other factors such as cultural capital play an important role as well. Furthermore, another main takeaway is the data included on how minority students (especially Black and Latino students) tend to be disciplined more which can lead to other issues such as suspension and putting them at a higher risk of doing poorly in school.
4.) In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why?
I believe that schools can exacerbate but also compensate inequalities. While there are many flaws within the educational system that help contribute in emphasizing these inequalities, there are also resources and ways in which the educational system can compensate inequalities. For example, resources like scholarships, financial aid, after school programs, tutoring programs, and so on, can provide help to those that may be at a disadvantage. They may not start off at the same point as someone who does not need these resources or were already at an advantage due to other factors like their family background but now with access to these resources made available by schools, they may do better than if they did not have access in the first place. But as discussed in the readings and videos, there are still a range of inequalities that exist such as racial disparities in schools. That being said, schools can also exacerbate inequalities especially when we have now observed how slowly things have been improving.
An important question that was asked in the powerpoint was, “What matters more for achievement: families or schools?” I believe that both are critical for achievement but an important point was made in one of the articles and that is we spend more time with our families. We apparently only spend 13% of our lives in schools, and we spend most of our time with family in our homes. Many people have an optimistic view that schools can boost achievement and that may be the case but schools can’t do it alone. The environment we live in, our families, their socioeconomic status, their investment in their child’s education, etc. can influence the achievement gap and explains why some students do better than others. For example, a child whose parents have a high socioeconomic status and are upper middle class are more likely to invest in their child’s education because they have money and resources, are more likely to read them books because they may also be educated, more likely to also invest in their extracurricular activities, and so on. This can boost a child’s performance and help them do better in school compared to those whose parents don’t have enough money or resources to invest so much in their child’s education. Also, a child’s first years of life are critical for development and a parent can influence this based on how they invest in them and raise them, and can also affect their school achievement. This topic relates to the pandemic currently and how it’s interrupted a child’s education. Rich people are able to accommodate this interruption by providing their child resources such as technology and internet for the transition of online schooling, whereas low-income individuals have it harder as they don’t have enough money and some kids may stop going to school altogether if they don’t have the resources to continue online schooling. Another question that was asked was, “What do you think makes a good teacher?” I believe that passion for the work, empathy, understanding, and patience are key to being a good teacher because those are characteristics that a teacher should have for a student to be successful in school. Training teachers or looking at their credentials, schools they’ve attended, etc. does not increase quality in learning for students. The teacher actually has to have their students best interest at heart and understand what she’s teaching so the student is actually learning.
The concept from the readings are mostly clear. I would actually like a further explanation though of the refraction framework that was mentioned in the article by Downey and Condron. I find it interesting how schools are supposed to create equality between everyone and provide upward social mobility, but yet it can also create inequalities between everyone as well. Also, I was wondering how after more than 50 years of trying to reduce the achievement gap, it still has not improved. It will take some time for it to close, so there may be an underlying problem behind the lag such as policies, and institutional reform for schools should be created.
The first video discusses how after congress passed the civil rights act, a study about racial disparities in education was authorized. The Coleman report showed how huge the achievement gap is in reading and math between black and white students and over time, the gap has been closing but at a very slow rate than it should. At this rate, it will take two and a half centuries to close the gap in math achievement, so there’s a long way to go unfortunately. Hanushek claims that effective teachers can help with quality education and may close the gap.
The crash course video discusses how the US educational system can reinforce inequalities as it can disadvantage some people while providing advantages for others. The school system is a meritocracy which recognizes and rewards hard work and talent. It does not account for race, neighborhood grown up in, social class, gender, etc. The U.S. has large class gaps in educational attainment and achievement. Wealthy kids live in high-income neighborhoods with higher funding in schools which can improve school quality and learning. That is why high-income student performance and outcomes are better than low-income students and are more likely to go to college. However, even with school funding, children with parents that have money, time, and knowledge will have a higher advantage than those that don’t. White students are more advantaged than Black students. Minority students are more likely to live in poor neighborhoods and go to schools with low funding. They are also more likely to have disciplinary issues and deviant behavior which result in suspension or expulsion and may lead to dropping out and a higher chance of engaging in risky behavior and jail. The educational system is grounded by biases and its structural features can disadvantage minorities and create social inequality.
Although receiving an education and credentials is helpful in increasing social mobility, schools do reproduce inequalities in various ways, and this answers the question on the relationship between schools and inequality. For example, the quality of education a person receives can depend on your background, the neighborhood you live in, socioeconomic status, etc. Low income individuals will have low quality education if they live in poor neighborhoods because their school doesn’t receive enough funding for resources for students. Also, students that have educated, wealthy parents are more likely to go to elite, higher-funded schools with more resources and are more likely to succeed. They also have time and money to invest in their education and skills by providing them extracurricular activities, tutoring, and test prep to engage in and are more likely to read to them and buy them books. White and high-income students are more likely to have cultural capital than minorities and low-income students which is why there is an achievement gap to this day. The school educational system has a lot of flaws and reproduces inequalities between students which needs some form of institutional reform.
1. I asked you all some questions throughout the PowerPoint presentation. What are your thoughts on these?
One of the questions was, what matters more for student achievement: Families or schools? I believe both matters in student achievement, but families have may have a strong impact on the matter. For instance, one can only go so far if their family comes from a low SES, their resources are limited such as finances and their parents’ educational background. Also, in certain situations, individuals may not complete their education due to financial stress. Individuals from a high SES family have resources to further their student achievement since they would have the funds to receive help and for higher education. There’s also the benefit of having parents with a high educational background that can help them understand materials and help them build social capital among their peers. Discussing this had reminded me of how students from low-income families are struggling during this pandemic since not everyone has access to the internet and electronic devices. Furthermore, parents can’t help their children with their education since they have to go to work, which can lead their children to fall behind. However, there are instances where schools can help students from low SES to advance in their education such as financial aid and scholarships.
2. From the readings are all concepts and ideas clear?
All the concepts and ideas were clear in both readings. Both readings had provided criticism towards the Coleman report, which I agree that families are influential in an individual’s financial success but so many other factors come into play such as school. I thought it interesting that the readings had mentioned the importance of teacher quality. Despite each teacher going through similar experiences in their journey to becoming an educator doesn’t signify that they will all produce the same results. Teacher quality is important in a student’s education because it would effectively improve a student’s skill and interest in education.
3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
The main takeaways from the first video are how the Coleman report had presented racial disparities such as comparing reading and math scores between white children, who had higher scores, and African-American children, who had lower scores. It was disappointing to hear that signs of progress were slow from the original study. The main takeaway from the crash course video is how society had promoted meritocracy despite considering factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, race, etc. School funding is part of the problem of the educational system, but families can also make an impact. For instance, parents from high SES backgrounds may have more time and resources to help their children further advance their education than parents from low SES backgrounds. Race also plays a role in a student’s educational experience since black children are three times more likely to get suspended or expelled from schools and have a higher dropout rate. White students tend to be catered to by the educational system.
4. In your opinion do schools reproduce, exacerbate or compensate inequalities? Why?
After reviewing the readings, videos, and PowerPoint, I believe schools do reproduce inequality. For instance, major factors that can either hinder or bring success in an individual’s education is their socioeconomic status, family background, quality of education. Students from low-income families and communities may not have a higher success rate than students from high-income families and communities. Students from high-income families have the ability to further their education due to their financial status and may have a better chance of learning the material due to their parents’ well-educated background. Resources can be limited for students coming from low-income households but if they have a chance to have a high-quality teacher that can motivate them to further their education then it’s possible. However, there’s a low possibility for every student to encounter a teacher that will provide inspiration.