Intersectional Impacts on Educational Equity
Students will be able to describe developmental and sociocultural contexts that impact education, including how history, institutional practices, and circumstances impact educational equity.
Within the realm of educational equity, I found the allocation of resources to be one of the most pressing and impactful issues. Wealthy school districts can afford the latest technologies, which allows their students to succeed at higher rates. This encourages the government to give them even more incentives for their impressive work. However, districts in lower class areas do not get these same resources, and if they do the schools and teachers often do not get the proper training, additional materials or even Wifi for the tech additions to even work. This put there students at a disadvantage and does not give government any reason to reward them with additional funding or resources. This cycle is completely backwards. All students deserve an equitable experience in school, and that means that government funds need to be directed at high need schools to work to level the playing field for every school.
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We Want to Do More Than Survive​
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EDUC 34000 Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
In this essay I discussed the purpose of education based on historical, economic and social factors. The education system is set up for students who are already in places of racial and economic privilege to succeed. I compared these historical contexts to Bettina Love's 2019 book, We Want To Do More Than Survive. Love explains in her book, racism cannot be solved by education alone, but it can be a piece in the puzzle. On page 19 she states, “No type of pedagogy, however effective, can single-handedly remove the barriers of racism...” She continues “Pedagogy should work in tandem with students’ own knowledge of their community and grassroots organizations to push forward new ideas for social change.”
Because all students come from different backgrounds and experiences, classrooms must be an environment of equitable teaching, where teachers help lift students to succeed. This requires work inside and outside of the classroom. Love's story proves the necessity for the partnership of educators and grassroots organization to mobilize change toward equitable education. in their communities
The Digital Divide in America
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49600 Senior Seminar in Education Studies
In this assignment I reflected on the Digital Divide in America, a film that explores how technology resources are distributed to different school districts in America.
The film explores different ways of funding of the school district - local, state, federal and outside non profit and private resources. This breakdown does not address the differences in local funds available depending on the SES of the district. Additional funds on top of local funds actually makes the allocation more inequitable because it allows wealthier schools to have more success and incentivize these donors to reward them further.. States and districts featured in the film are taking action to combat this like a group suing the state of Pennsylvania for not supporting low wealth communities in the state, as there are some students in Pennsylvania graduating who never had access to a computer. The federal government must also provide funding and technology investments for low income students, but that is not happening because it is not a federal priority. Luckily the film shows that many nonprofit and private companies are leading the way to encourage change and progress in K-12 classrooms.
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