education & social inequality Flashcards
what is the achievement gap
in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students - shows up in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, among other success measures
- Quantitative measures of performance - think numbers that you could count or plot on a graph
what is the opportunity gap
the cumulative differences in access to key education
resources that support learning e.g. access to expert teachers, high quality and rigorous curriculum; etc.
- Qualitative indicators of performance - think about opportunities that are available in schools
what are the factors that shape the opportunity gap
- Unequal access to quality teachers
- Lack of access to high-quality education
how does Unequal access to quality teachers shape the opportunity gap
- Nationwide teacher shortage: 18 % of public schools had one teaching vacancy and 27 % had multiple teaching vacancies
- minimum of 406,964 positions were either unfilled or filled by teachers not fully certified for their assignments
- More than half of public schools in high-poverty neighborhoods (57 %) had at least one teaching vacancy, compared to 41 % of public schools in low-poverty neighborhoods
- Certain state policies allow teachers to teach without a degree in Education
how does Lack of access to high-quality education shape the opportunity gap
Students are treated differently based on race, class, and gender and are offered different opportunities to take certain classes
what is parental engagement shaped by
time and social class
one solution to separation and inequality in education
early education
how can early education solve separation and inequality in education
Level the playing field
- Quality care and education from birth to age 5 can reduce child poverty and increase labor force participation
- Quality preschool programs improve nutrition and stimulate brain development
disadvantages to early education to solve separation and inequality in education
- tends to be the responsibility of individual families
- The cost can be a barrier to enrolling children
what are educational outcomes typically measured by
proficiency or growth
what is proficiency
judging whether students hit a benchmark, such as whether they can read at a certain grade level
- e.g. 76% of 4th graders in Leon County Public Schools are reading at a 4th grade level
what is growth
means judging how much progress students have made
- e.g. 24% of 2nd graders in Leon County public schools started the 2022 school year reading at a kindergarten level but by the conclusion of the 2022 school year, 15% were now reading at a 2nd grade level
what is no child left behind (NCLB)
The federal education law in effect from 2002 to 2016 - required schools to measure proficiency (but not growth) and penalized them if their students were not meeting proficiency markers
what is the every child succeeds act
the law Congress passed in late 2015 to replace No Child Left Behind - gives states more freedom to decide how to hold schools accountable (more leeway)
- still requires states to assess students annually in core subjects, publish statewide report cards, and hold schools accountable for student achievement while giving states significant flexibility in how they implement these requirements
what are charter schools
Publicly funded + governed by parents, educators, community groups, or private organizations
- free from some legal and bureaucratic constraints
- Roughly 7% of students attend a charter school; some cities 40% of students attend charter schools
- Results are mixed; graduation rates; academic performance, teacher quality
