Equity in Education
By,
Manuel Bettencourt
Education 554: Social Implications of Educational
Technology
June 17, 2004
Equity in Education
Abstract
According to Webster’s Dictionary, equity is defined the state, quality, or ideal, of being just, impartial, and fair. Equity has been an issue in education when it comes to economics, gender, and ethnicity. An equitable education for all is the goal of each and every school. However, throughout all the research and documentation, we see that this is not true in all areas. The following literature review will explore equity in education with the focus being in economics, gender, and ethnicity.
Throughout history, equity in all areas of life has been an issue. Whether it is between economic or social classes, ethnic groups or between genders, there has always been a gap to overcome. While great strides have been made and the breach has been lessened, assuring equity for all is a never ending cause. As an educator, ensuring that all students are given equal opportunities to succeed in the many disciplines that make up a person’s education must be a focal point.
“All students deserve equitable access to challenging and meaningful learning and achievement regardless of race, ethnic group, gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location, age, language, disability, or prior achievement. This concept has profound implications for teaching and learning throughout the school community. It suggests that ensuring equity and excellence must be at the core of systemic reform efforts in education as a whole.” (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2004, ¶ 1)
According to the Quality of Education for Minorities (QEM), in the year 2000, one third of the workforce in the United States was comprised of minorities. This number illustrates the importance of ensuring that all people receive an equitable education. Making certain this happens is no easy task. There are many facets that must be addressed: funding, motivating students to move outside of their comfort zone, access to technology, and educating publishers and educators.
Economic
The idea of equity driven reforms is as old as the American education
system. Equity driven reforms can be
traced back to the mid-1800s when efforts to ensure fairness were put into
place. Simply put, poor children attend
schools in poor areas “where competing demands for tax dollars are greatest”
(Oakes, 1990, ¶ 15). Elmore and Fuhrman (1990), state that in the early 1900s,
foundation programs were established to guarantee base-level spending per
pupil. This led to programs that assure
equalization for school finance reform (Oakes, 1990)
Research
shows the difference in the spending per pupil across the nation. In the New York area, spending per pupil
ranges from $11,372 in Long Island, to $5,585 in New York City. The Chicago area follows the same pattern.
The amount of money per student ranges from $9,371 in Niles Township to $5,265
in the city of Chicago. The state of Iowa,
where income levels tend to be similar throughout the state, showed a
differentiation of no more than approximately $500 per student between school
districts. (Kozol, 1991)
This astounding difference shows that inequity in education still
exists. These numbers represent the
difference between high-income (Long Island) and low-income (New York
City). Until a successful method to
bridge this gap is found it will continue to be an issue in education will
always be a topic of interests.
Students in all areas need to be given the same chance to be successful
throughout the entire nation (Kozol, 1991).
Wong (1994) suggests that many of the inequities are due to the problems of fragmentation that occur within the federal government. This belief has led Wong to state that the “educational inequities are not likely to be eradicated in a systematic manner as long as our governance systems remains highly fragmented.” (Battlefronts, 2004, para 6). Wong is concerned with the different funding sources. He suggests that in order to solve the problems of funding the disconnected must first be solved. Equity can then be established in education for all students. (Wong, 2004).
According to Lanius (2004), 17% of the high school students who took Advanced Placement Computer Science test in 1999 were female. This was by far the lowest total of the entire AP tests that were given. Considering that Computer Scientist, Computer Engineers, and System Analysts are among the top occupations with the fastest growth, one would expect that percentage to be higher. The educational research focuses on specific issues that are hindering this process as well some solutions that could be found to solve this problem. The research regarding the AP tests first started with programs that are being designed to improve equity in technology.
A new program designed to ensure that women are being involved in Advanced Placement classes is GirlTECH. This program helps focus on gender equity. There is a great need for this program, especially considering that only 17% of all students in AP Computers were females. GirlTECH is a teacher professional development that is addressing this problem. GirlTech is sponsored by The Center for Excellence and Equity in Education, The Education, Outreach, and Training Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure, The RGK Foundation (Ronya and George Kozmetsky), The Verizon Foundation, and Hipersoft. GirlTech focuses on finding ways to get women interested in computing. However, GirlTech does not want to do this without excluding boys at the same time.
Lanius lists ten tips on getting girls interested in computers. One recommendation is that educators need to realize that girls like to join clubs. Having computer and technology clubs where girls are actively encouraged to join can build interest in related science fields and be one more step toward gender equity. Having female guest speakers, photographs showing women working with technology, and opportunities for female students to see females in roles in the industry is an effective measure to promote gender equity. Teachers in all fields need to make a conscious effort to encourage girls to join different clubs (Lanius, 2004).
The
website for Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Online discusses the issues of
“Why Do We Care?” (Oakes, 1990). This site talks about how “as a community,
educators believe in equity.”
Educators who do not care about the equal access for all students need to
understand that they are providing an injustice to all students. The
responsibility of educators is to change this belief and focus on changing the
attitude of these teachers.
Murphy
(1992) discusses three reasons why equity is an educational reform. Murphy says that there is always a competitive/utilitarian
ethic. This means that you can only
achieve excellence if the marginal students have a rise in their
performance. The second reason is
social justice. Finally, the third
perspective is called the caring ethic.
This is the belief that when caring is stressed equity is the result.
As
Murphy (1992) stated, the educator’s
responsibility should be to ensure that all students are included in whatever
subject matter they are teaching.
Research demonstrates that technology is used differently between the
genders. For example, male students
tend to use the computer for computer games; while female students use the
computer for chatting with friends whether through instant messaging or email. Murphy (1992) concludes that when caring is
accomplished then the equity of access will be achieved (Murphy, 2004).
According
to Banks (2002), “To provide high-quality education for all, we must have a
vision, but we must also have the will to act.
Forging that will is perhaps be our greatest challenge.” Educators need to have plan of action. Technology is always changing and teachers,
administration, and staff members need to incorporate that into everyday
teachings. A teacher cannot get in
front of group of students on a daily basis without having a plan of action. An
educator must have a measurable goal and then plan strategies to teach,
practice, and assess students. The same can be said for equitable education.
Banks
believes that in order to be successful in school students must “cross barriers
of language, values, cognition, and culture” (Banks, 2002, para 2). Research shows that when students, who are
of low-income or minorities, come to school they are most likely attending the
only continuity in their life. Schools
need to be restructured to meet the needs of equity for all students
Ethnicity
Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress states that there is a significant gap between Mexican and African-American students compared to White students. “There is less science and mathematics knowledge at school, fewer materials and resources, less engaging learning activities in their classrooms, and less qualified teachers. These inequalities are linked to both characteristics of the schools and characteristics of classrooms.” (Oakes, 1990)
Denise Clarke, a high school English/ELD teacher in California teaches mostly Spanish, Punjabi, and English speaking students. She illustrates this point. When asked to assess her students’ vocabulary skills using a test with words such as omelet and casserole, she requested another assessment for them. “When I pointed out to the English department that these were words that my students had no contact with, no one seemed to see a problem with it. These are not words that were taught in the class or that my students may ever use. But the mainstream students are familiar with them so everyone else just brushed it aside and told me to give the test and deal with it.” (Clarke, 2004)
Students of diverse ethnic backgrounds need to see more diversity in their textbooks, in support materials such as videos, and in teacher selections for readings. Educators must be aware of students’ prior knowledge or give background knowledge needed so that the material is more relevant. Readings that are real in terms of the social or geographic setting are more significant.
Conclusion
During
the research that I studied, it is acceptable to conclude that equity is an
issue that will always be debated.
Equity has many different topics that range from economics, gender, and
ethnicity. The research has shown a
definite pattern of inequities in each of these areas.
In the topic of economic funding of equity, the students in different
areas of the United States are not receiving the equal amount of funding. However, in other areas of the U.S. students
are receiving about the same. According
to the research on gender equity, programs, such as GirlTech, are being designed to minimize the gap between male and
females. Finally, the equity in
ethnicity is continuing to be a topic of concern. According to Miss Clarke, she believes that testing materials
need to be designed to ensure equity.
I have seen it with my own eyes
that women and men are treated differently.
In the district that I work in it happens. Although it may not happen all the time, it still occurs. From my experiences I believe that we all
have to do our part to make sure that equity is established. If we fail to achieve this goal, we will
fail to provide an equitable education that all deserve.
References
Banks, C. (1993). Restructuring Schools for equity: What we have learned in two decades. Retrieved on May 14, 2004, from, http://www.enc.org/topics/equity/articles/document.shtm?input=ACQ-111461-1461
Century, J. (1994).
Why do we care? How do we make
the education system better. Retrieved
on May 15, 2004, from, http://www.enc.org/topics/equity/articles/document.shtm?input=ACQ-111406-1406
Clarke, D. Personal Communication, June 8, 2004.
Donmyer, R. (1993). School organization: An underexamined variable in science education reform. Retrieved on June 10, 2004, from, http://www.enc.org/topics/equity/articles/document.shtm?input=ACQ-111444-1444
Klapper, M. (1993). Connecting resources for reform. Retrieved on June 10, from, http://www.enc.org/topics/equity/articles/document.shtm?input=ACQ-111443-1443
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (2004). Critical issue: Ensuring equity and excellence in science. Retrieved on June 10, 2004, from, http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/sc200.htm
Oakes, J. (1986). Keeping track, Part 1: The policy and practice of curriculum inequality. Retrieved on May 17, 2004, from, http://www.enc.org/topics/equity/articles/document.shtm?input=ACQ-111442-1442