Multicultural

Education Issues and Perspectives Seventh Edition James A. Banks and Cherry A. McGee Banks
Chapter 4 Review: Social Class and Religion 1) According to Persell, in what ways do schools contribute to inequality? Persell gives three things that contribute to inequality. The first is the structure of US schooling. The second is the beliefs held by the majority of society, and therefore by many educators (I honestly think this is a stretch). The third and last is the idea that teachers and schools choose different curriculum and teaching methods inside schools. 2) Give examples of how each of the following factors contributes to educational inequality: educational structures, funding inequities, testing practices, and teachers & curriculum. Examples of Educational Inequality: - Funding Inequities: A perfect example of funding inequality is my school, which is poor compared to surrounding schools. Other schools charge more on taxes and can consequently offer more advanced classes, extra-curricular activities, etc. They also have access to technology while Im lucky if I can even have access to our one computer lab with less than 20 computers. - Educational Structures: School structures are closely linked to the funding inequalities that exist. Obviously, a private school charging for enrollment can afford nicer facilities, better trained staff, and offer more courses/activities. - Testing Practices: I see this every day in my school. The English teacher I am acquainted with tells me every day how shes teaching differently in her various levels. She spends more time with her higher levels critiquing the books theyre reading, participating in projects (like building a survival cave like in Lord of the Flies and playing a segregation game to mirror To Kill a Mockingbird), while with her lower Reading Fluency class she spends more time reading with the kids IN class and working on behavior challenges. - Teachers & Curriculum: I believe schools with more funding have better quality teachers and better curriculum. When I walked into my current school, I didnt even have a textbook to look to as a reference! My administration couldnt tell me what students learned the previous year. It was such a nightmare! This is a major contrast with local schools like Ankeny or Urbandale that have curriculum maps for teachers and expect teachers to be teaching the same content at roughly the same time. 3) What are three characteristics of each of the following types of schools: elite private schools and exclusive suburban schools, parochial schools, and large urban public school systems? - Elite Private Schools/Exclusive Suburban Schools o Nice big grounds. Extensive facilities for computers, language, labs, and athletics. o Teachers are well educated. Teachers are not unionized. o Class sizes are small, around 15 students. o Lots of extra-curricular opportunities. o Nearly every student receives college-prep work. o Lots of homework given. o Students have an academic advisor. Elizabeth Wood January 2013

o School board most likely knows everyone in school community. o Not cool to be dumb here attitude Parochial Schools o Relatively small school but relatively large class sizes (sometimes 40-50). o Students study an academic program. o More homework assigned than public system o Costs are low, because religious groups subsidize them. Urban Public Schools o Usually quite large, part of an even larger school system o Varied courses offered o School board members are elected city wide, and often times send their own student to a better school o Teachers often more worried with procedures and union business o Supported by local property taxes. Poor area? Less money. Rich area? More money.

4) What cautions should teachers, principals, policy makers, and parents keep in mind when interpreting standardized achievement tests? Everyone needs to be leery when considering results from standardizes tests. First of all, this tests do not take intelligences like creativity or divergent thinking, logic, and critical reasoning skills into account. Because these test affect everything from financing to schools, graduation rates, to teacher evaluations, sometimes schools try to work more with those students but often times schools and teachers encourage those students to leave the education system, so as not to taint the statistics. 5) What is the self-fulfilling prophecy? How does it affect teacher expectations? In education, a self-fulfilling prophecy is when the teacher teaches higher or lower, in relation to how s/he thinks their students are capable of. To see what a teacher does differently, please see my answer to the last question. 6) What is tracking? Why do you think tracking is more widespread in large, diverse school systems and in schools serving primarily lower-class students than in upper-middle class suburban, private, and parochial schools? Tracking is when students are assigned to learning groups, based on a variety of factors that include background, subject area achievement, and other skills or prior knowledge. I believe tracking is not prevalent in parochial or private schools because they cater to a certain clientele, and their clientele comes from similar background with similar values to one another. The public system has quite the reverse, and needs to accommodate more difference (in knowledge, capabilities, etc.). By tracking students, it becomes easier to teach one group one way instead of trying to differentiate a lesson 5 different ways for each class period. 7) How do the school experiences of students in lower and higher tracks differ? How does tracking contribute to educational inequality? What is detracking? Elizabeth Wood January 2013

Students perform to what their track asks of them, so obviously students who are placed in lower levels and are being told that theyre not as smart as the other children will not perform as well as their counterparts. On the opposite spectrum, the higher tracked students are being told theyre phenomenal, being given more resources, and more encouragement. Teachers appear to change their teaching style/content based on what they think their students are capable of. So, if a student is labeled as lower then theyre not expected to perform as well and the teacher does not try as hard. Tracking contributes to inequality because not all students are being given the same opportunities. While Id like to say all teachers are teaching the same material just with different methods based on students abilities, it doesnt happen that way. Detracking is the removal of tracking systems out of schools. 8) Why does tracking persist? According to the text, tracking persists because few teachers are willing to manage heterogeneous classrooms effectively (p. 97). In essence, teachers have a lot on their plate, what not with the aforementioned procedures and union matters, and dont want to take on something extra. 9) How do teacher expectations influence how teachers and pupils interact, what students are taught, and what students achieve? According to Persells studies, social class IS related to teacher expectations. The text elaborates on this idea by stating teachers show their expectations of their students in 5 ways: 1) Climate Factor Teachers show more general warmth to higher achieving students 2) Praise Factor Teachers give more praise to higher achieving students 3) Content Amount Factor Higher achieving students receive more instruction 4) Frequency Factor High achieving students get called on more and are given more opportunities to respond 5) Different Curricula Factor Some teachers give higher achieving students completely different lessons, or they receive much more difficult assignments

Elizabeth Wood January 2013