Class is defined as a group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income. Even though this ideology is more referred to specific individuals regarding their occupation, education can be considered to follow this same description. There are educational institutions everywhere, one elementary school usually in one part of a neighborhood in your hometown. As these schools grown in number and increase in grade level however, less become established and there tend to be a smaller amount of high schools within a city compared to elementary or middle. This means that for every 4 or 5 neighborhoods there is 1 high school that is responsible for accepting these residents. High schools quickly become established in large district areas, …show more content…
How are low income schools different than higher income schools? This is a concerning issue because if there continues to be a financial difference between educational institutions that affects the quality of schools, there will be an entire generation of students that will have received a poor education and have limited opportunities of successfully integrating with society compared to graduates that attained a higher quality education from a higher income school. This decreases social mobility of low income school graduates, continues stratification, and may encourage low income graduates to enact in high risk illegal acts to support themselves and families since they were not properly prepared to be college ready in high school. Low income schools mainly differ from higher income schools through student performance in college preparatory exams and behavioral issues/stigmas.
Differences in student performance on college preparatory exams is the first noticeable difference between low income schools and higher income schools. Bryan Station had a larger percentage of students that underperformed and scored a lower average mean ACT composite score compared to Fayette County and Kentucky. The average ACT score of a Bryan Station student is 18.1, compared to the county average of 21.4 and the state average of 19.1 (Startclass, 2016). Compared to Henry Clay, this school had a larger percentage of students that scored a significantly
In reality class always matters and it shapes our interests in life. We all come from different background and ethnicity. I believe that class is shaped mainly by income and occupation. However, many people think if a person is wealthy, therefore, he belongs in the upper class. But there are other factors that define class and it is more than just how much money you have. It can be the network of people that surrounds, traditions, and academic status that can also define class. Many of it has to do in which family you have been born and network that creates it. All of my family members have been born and raised in Russia; they completed universities, got jobs, and had enough income to support a family. “Each of us is born into a family with a particular class identity and class history—sometimes it is a mixed or hybrid identity—but almost always it is part of a network of other relationships—to other families in a community, to work and jobs, and to institutions” (Zandy 112).
One of the greatest differences among public schools is the funding they receive. Public schools across the country have incredibly varied amounts of capital dedicated to them which in turn leads to a disparity in the quality of education a student will receive at these schools. The race of a student, the location they live in, and the wealth of their family greatly correlate to the level of education they will receive. As Harvard professor Jennifer L. Hochschild notes, “Districts with a lot of poor students have lower average test scores and higher dropout rates...The highest spending districts report high test scores, and some of the lowest spending districts report the lowest test scores” (“Social Class in Public Schools.”). The students who attend schools that receive less funding typically obtain an education that is lesser in comparison to schools that receive more money. The inequality in funding within a state has a severe impact on the variation of education quality. In the case of Connecticut, “The district that spends the most provides almost twice as much per student as the district that spends the least” (“Social Class in Public Schools.”). As a result, the schools that receive less funding work with more outdated textbooks and equipment, while schools with more funding can afford to buy new equipment and provide a better environment for the
Research in the past decade on the widening gap of educational opportunities between lower and higher income families has shown that children enrolled schools that predominantly serve lower income families tend to have lower pedagogical success and more negative associations regarding the American education system.
Early College High Schools (ECHS) are innovative high schools that allow students least likely to attend college an opportunity to earn a high school diploma and 60 college credit hours. Early College High Schools:
If I were to ask you what class in the United States you were, would you want to, or be able to answer that? This is a very relevant topic put forth by Gregory Montsios in his work, Class in America. Montsios argues that the United States should either recognize class, or recognize that class is not relevant to the betterment of our great nation. He continues this argument by putting forth several myths and explanations for the way that class is seen in America. After this, he talks about different realities that are put before us, and how it affects our nation. I believe that in America today, class is not important, but can be skewed to make it to where some people have to follow different rules for different reasons, so I think class shouldn’t be recognized due to this.
There are many people throughout the world that are born into different socio-economic status. In the United States there are 3 typical socio-economic statuses, upper class, middle class, and working class. The majority of people are born into the working class and try to make their way up. The main way people believe to go up a class in America is through education, but how does socio-economic class play a role in the amount of education one will receive in their future?
Throughout time one of the most obvious class markers has been education and it still remains so. People who belong to the higher classes view education as a higher priority and have more access to the best school in the country. When stuck in lower classes people must attend schools where books, computers, and education are not found at the same level. An article in the Atantic Times mentions that “ Kids who belong to lower social classes fell behind children in the upper classes by about a year or so.” Today, that gap is close to four years.” For those in the upper class their kids are placed in an abundance of classes from an early age such as foreign language, art, and many sports. Children who are in lower classes have no way of getting a head start when compared to children in higher classes Sarah Garland also mentions how “ When children have plenty of time to build social skills and bigger vocabularies in short term reduce their chances of
Not everybody likes school but, elementary school is and will always be my best five years of school. Elementary school, miss one day nothing happens. High school, miss one day you're failing three classes. Kindergarten, you get naps because little kids are not use to being up that early. That’s the only year you get a nap because they try to get you ready for the next year. Fifth grade, they changed the rules this year at Lincoln Elementary school, they don’t let you have recess anymore because they are trying to get you ready for middle school. In middle school you don’t get recess.
1. How would you describe the quality of your high school's educational resources (such as teachers, counselors, assistance with course selection and college admission planning, books, facilities, size and location)?
This led me to a few inquiry questions: When looking at higher education, can it be viewed that students of wealthier backgrounds are still favored over those from poverty stricken areas because of the importance place on GPA and things such as the SAT when it comes to the admission selection process? What are the stigmas that high school students from lower income neighbors often face in regards to higher education? Fact factors cause students from lower income backgrounds to not graduate for university?I plan to study and the impact that poverty has on the college process for a student so that I can find out why less minority students apply, enroll, and graduate from universities and colleges so that I might better understand if whether or not poverty has an impact on a student enrolling and succeeding through higher
In Land of Opportunity by James Lowen he explains how not many know about classism, and how naïve freshmen college students are, let alone people in general. People grow up, and in schools they have stopped teaching specific things, such as classism. “Six of the dozen high school American history textbooks I examined contain no index listing at all for “social class,” social stratification,” or “class structure,” “income distribution,” “inequality,”…” (Lowen 202), this itself proves that people have stopped teaching, because everything is out of the textbooks.
Social Class is a position held by an individual composed of combinations of parental education, parental occupation status, family income and wealth. Students whose parents have higher levels of any of these traits of class, more often than not, have better opportunities. Essentially, education and opportunities stem from money. If a parent has a higher income, they’ll be able to provide more help to their children if they’re falling behind in school. Also, they have the ability to assist in paying for college and those with higher education feel the need to help their children with paying for college. The more money parents have, the better the schools, and the better the education. Another factor that plays in the role of education inequality
In the article “Class in America,” Gregory Mantsios identifies the social classes in America as well as the growing gaps between them. He explains how people who are born in already wealthy families are well educated and take advantage of opportunities. He claims that people in the lower class are not given a chance to succeed and it is even more difficult for the minorities. Mantsios’ article relates well to Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work.” Anyon attempts to find evidence of the differences of schoolwork in lower class schools. Relating well along with these two articles is “Still Separate, Still Unequal” by Kozol. He discusses how minority and lower class schools are practically ignored therefore, setting them up for failure. Mantsios’, Anyon’s, and Kozol’s articles correlate seamlessly in discussing the issues of the effect that social class has on education.
“ Historically, low-income students as a group have performed less well than high-income students on most measures of academic success” (Reardon, 2013). Typically low-income families come from low-income parts of the state making a school that does not have as much funding as a higher economic schools does lack in resources for their students. The school then has lower paid teachers and administrators, with lower quality supplies. This results in a school which typically has faculty who do not perform as well as the well-funded schools. “The law fails to address the pressing problems of unequal educational resources across schools serving wealthy and poor children” (Hammond, 2007). Students from low and high income families will not be able to achieve the same education because their education simply is not the same.
Department of Education, “documents that schools serving low-income students are being shortchanged because school districts across the country are inequitably distributing their state and local funds”. (Education, 2011). Students that come from low income families are not given the equal chance to get the education that students from high income families get. If students are not given the tools they need to be educated, then they will have a poor chance of succeeding in the world.