Race, Class Ethnicity and Education - Essay Example

 Race, Class Ethnicity and Education Introduction It is true that education is an indispensible public good. Education also plays a sacrosanct role in the perpetuation of socioeconomic development in any society. This is because it is education which equips the American society into becoming a skilled source of manpower. Conversely, it is education which empowers individuals socioeconomically and politically, so that through education, individuals are able to access socioeconomic values in the society. However, there are arguments and observations to the effect that government policy on education is unfairly crafted along ethnic, racial and class lines, so that there is an inordinate racial, class and ethnic distribution of students in learning institutions. This matter is dissected further by considering three journal articles: The Black-White Test Score Gap by George Farkas, Racial and Ethnic Stratification in Educational Achievement and Attainment by Grace Kao and Jennifer S. Thompson, and Social and Economic Returns to College Education in the United States, by Michael Hout. Summary In Social and Economic Returns to College Education in the United States, Michael Hout seeks to establish the manner in which social stratification, mobility, inequality and extension of socioeconomic opportunities form a complex interplay in selection and credentialing. Hout is categorical that education merges strongly with socioeconomic outcomes such as economic success, family and health stability, and even social connection. Because of this, Hout analyses the theories of stratification to determine whether education is that benevolent as it is always depicted. This is especially in regard to the fact that education also affects groups and individuals who are less likely to access or pursue college education more than it affects traditional college students. In the article by Grace Kao and Jennifer Thompson titled Racial and Ethnic Stratification in Educational Achievement and Attainment, variations in ethnicity, race and immigration, and how these factors correlate with educational achievement form the object of study. Kao and Thompson observe that since 2000, the population of the youth hailing from minority groups in America has been gradually increasing and this makes the study and debate inevitable. Kao and Thompson use empirical research results on immigrant, race and ethnic differences in educational achievement and attainment, and attempt to establish the differences therein, by using current theories. Since Kao and Thomson acknowledge persistent substantial gaps among the Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans and other more advantaged groups such as Asian and White Americans despite the gains that have been realized in narrowing the racial gap in education, it behooves their discussion to expound on the manner in which such gaps can be sealed. George Farkas’ The Black-White Test Score Gap discusses the backdrop of the ruling of the Supreme Court in 2003 to uphold affirmative action in college admission. However, the Supreme Court ruling remains a sacrosanct part in Farkas’ study since the Supreme Court went ahead to set out an expiry date for the policy that is affirmative action. The ruling postulated that affirmative action should be faced out after 25 years since Sandra Day O’Connor and the rest of the bench surmised that 25 years from the ruling, racial segregation and the use of racial preferences will have been faced out. Based on this development, Farkas takes to establish academic performance among the different races in the US, and to explain the phenomenon behind the interracial disparity in intellectual and academic performance. Discussions on the Works by Farkas, Hout and Kao and Thompson on Race, Ethnic and Class Relations and Effectiveness of the American Educational System Farkas works shows very well that general performance in academics and even in school entrance exams is heavily punctuated with elements of race and class. Farkas points out that since 1990, the black-white exam score gap has never been sealed, despite the scores being the very yardstick that is used to determine college entrance. According to Farkas, as is shown by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the average score for an African American 12th grader matches that of white eighth grader. 70% of fourth graders scored below basic in a Washington DC school district. Again, that this gap is real is a matter that is underscored by the fact that a recent study at Shaker Heights, Ohio, revealed that 78% of white students graduated with honours, compared to African American students who made it into this bracket with 3% (Farkas, n. p.). According to some commentators, the disparity in performance is underpinned by the setting of culturally biased exams, rather than testing cognitive skills. To underscore this, these commentators observe that African American children outperform their white counterparts at the lower levels of elementary learning. Farkas however points out that the gap was wider and accounted for 40% between 1970s and 1990s (Farkas, n. p.). On a personal standpoint, I find Farkas’ postulation most plausible, since economic factors such as income earning and distribution greatly affects learning. Even the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten (ECLS-K) confirmed this standpoint. This was after ECLS-K carried out studies on 20,000 kindergarten students, immediately they enrolled for kindergarten studies, in 1998. Further and consistent follow up on these students revealed that as students progressed up the grades, the black-white gap widened. ECLS-K partly attributed this to economic setbacks that accost low income earners who are mainly African Americans. Economic and financial distress has an indisputable way of locking families from balanced diet, adequate and ready access to healthcare services, interpersonal and intrapersonal harmony and self confidence. These elements are very sacrosanct for the realisation of intellectual development (Farkas, n. p.). The aforementioned financial distress exacerbates poor parenting as low income earning African American parents have to work on multiple jobs to make ends meet. This occasions absentee parenthood. The same plight may occasion high rates of divorce as divorce begins to appear as the most practical recourse out of high cost of living. A closely knit family unit is equally important for intellectual development. Just as Sampson contends, another factor that strengthens Farkas’ standpoint is that student-teacher relations are also underpinned by cultural and racial issues. Part of these racial issues are exemplified by ECLS-K’s findings to the effect that there are racial prejudices which color student-teacher relations. ECLS-K observes that typically, most teachers are persuaded that African American students are less determined to follow tasks through, pay attention but are a stickler to brawls and taking offence. This definitely undermines the teacher’s concentration on African American students, as the teacher with the negative attitude imperceptibly resigns such students to fate. In respect to the foregoing, the lucidity in saying that solving these socioeconomic setbacks that accost the African American as the main low income earner cannot be repudiated. It is against this backdrop that I readily and strongly agree with Farkas’ standpoint that the 25-year time-span that Sandra Day O’Connor and the rest of the bench arrived at was too ambitious, given that the undercurrents which sustain the use of racial preferences have not been conclusively addressed (Healey, n. p.). On the other hand is Hout’s work who seeks to establish the benefits of education. To maintain objectivity, Hout uses the age group between 30 and 54 since this group is expected to have stayed long enough out of college to gain financial or economic significance. Hout cites newspaper features which show that between 2007 and 2009 when the global economic recession was at its peak, the least educated prime-age employees were nearly four times likely to be unemployed, compared to college graduates. Hout shows that college graduates had shorter spells of unemployment and that college graduates who were downsized because of the global economic recession recovered quicker. Again, prime-age workers without academic credentials had an unemployment rate of 11%. This is in contrast to prime-age men who have 7.4% unemployment rate, prime-age women with high school diplomas 5.2%, prime-age college graduates, 2.8% and prime-age workers with advanced degrees, less than 2%. Hout presents other scholars such as Nisbett and Heckman who gainsay the benefits of academic qualification by saying that abilities are not necessarily academic. These people posit that the ability to read and write, count, interpersonal skills, cognitive skills, the ability to stick with a task from its commencement to its conclusion and the ability to solve practical problems fast, are not necessarily academic and do not feature heavily in formal curriculum (Hout, n. p.). On a personal note however, what I find more agreeable with in Hout’s work is the aspect of causal heterogeneity. Herein, there is an acknowledgement and discussion on the reality of education benefiting students differently and unequally. In this case, students who were treated with more education benefit more from receiving it, compared to others. This is exemplified by high-scoring students taking more challenging courses in colleges. The same applies to accessibility to jobs and other socioeconomic values such as scholarships. This still underscores the aspect of class and race differences in education and access to economic values such as jobs, since low income earners who are mainly people of color are left concentrating on the most basic needs (food, clothing and shelter), instead of investing heavily on their children’s education. Kao and Thompson on the other hand point out that according to the Census Bureau by 2025, the number of immigrant and minority group students will have increased to 46%, compared to the year 2000 when they accounted for 34% of the US student population. Kao and Thompson point that despite the steady rise in the number of minority students, there is still a gap in academic performance between students from racial minorities and white and Asian American students who happen to be more privileged. Kao and Thompson cite cultural orientation of education as a factor that stunts intellectual exploits of African American, Hispanic and Native American students, since this cultural orientation tips to the favor of white American students (Kao and Thompson, n. p.). Just as Steinberg, Kao and Thompson secondly see the structural positioning of ethnic and racial groups in relation to their ability to curve for themselves, economic niche as being a factor that shapes students’ academic success. This passed on to parental social class which has profound influence on a child’s educational development. For instance, before and shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation, stumbling upon learned African Americans was a rarity since the society had structurally relegated the African American to the status of a slave. Kao and Thompson discount the third theory which states that the main reason behind the disparity in test scores is academic (Kao and Thompson, n. p.). I readily agree with this direction that Kao and Thompson take, since there is no gene which show diligence or inherent intellectual prowess in a given race or ethnic group. Because of the foregoing, the need to disassociate America’s educational system from the influence of money should be considered an important task. Secondly, there is a compelling need to relook the educational curriculum so that it is extricated from cultural leanings towards a given race, ethnicity or social class. The need to sensitize the public on the futility of racism and racial prejudice can also not be sidestepped since the assumption that students from other races have lesser concentration span is a form of racist and/ or ethnic bigotry and prejudice. Works Cited Farkas, G. “The Black-White Test Score Gap.” Ethnic News Watch (ENW). 3 (2); 12-18. 2004. Print. Healey, J. F. Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Class: The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change. New York/London: SAGE Publications. 2005. Print. Hout, M. “Social and Economic Returns to College Education in the United States.” Annual Review of Sociology, 37; 3-10. 2011. Print. Kao, G. and Thompson, S. J. “Racial and Ethnic Stratification in Educational Achievement and Attainment.” Annual Review of Sociology, 29; 417-442. 2003. Print. Sampson, A. W. Black and Brown: Race, Ethnicity and School Preparation. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc. 2004. Print. Steinberg, S. The Ethnic Myth: Ethnicity and Class in America. New York: SAGE. 2001. Print. Read More