Educational Outcome Of Minority Students example essay topic

Prospectus It is my hypothesis that diverse backgrounds have a great effect on the ability for a student to learn. I am not suggesting that a student from one background is less likely to learn than the student from a completely different background. I do predict that if educators do not take to heart the diverse backgrounds of their students at both the lower and upper levels of education than the student will suffer in one degree or another. My focus group will be high school and college students with an emphasis on those who are in the junior class of both institutions. I will take a small sample of each student group and the educators who are responsible for them. I initially planned on studying only high school students but in my collection of information I found that diversity issues are rising in numbers at institutes of higher education on a profoundly widespread basis.

Some issues that I will explore will be: 1. What role has racism as well as sexism and classism played in the American educational system? 2. Are educators receiving more education concerning diversity issues now than in the last 10 years and if so why? 3.

Is this training consistent and widespread? 4. How does diversity affect the students learning ability from both the student and teachers perspective? 5. Is it possible that a teacher who has nothing in common with their students to effectively teach and nurture the student? 6.

What can be done to bridge the gap between students and teachers. After exploring the above-mentioned items in great depth, I will then look at ways to either improve or implement the way that diversity issues are currently being handled. I have chosen this topic because as a person enrolled in an institute of higher learning and the mother of children who are currently enrolled in a public school system I am concerned that for to long we have turned a deaf ear as well as a blind eye to issues that could potentially affect us as a society in the long run. Introduction Racism, which is defined by the Webster School Dictionary as "A claim unfounded in scientific fact, that any race is superior to another" (p 586). For many years, people have tried to understand what is at the heart of racism. To understand racism entirely would be an educational experience in itself.

Racism has been engrained into our social fabric for a very long time and has inevitably found its way into the educational system. Brown V. Board Of Education was a milestone educational case. It was bought against the Topeka, Kansas Board of Education by a father on behalf of his daughter whom he had tried to enroll in an all white school to prevent her from walking a great distance. During the ruling, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the courts decision and below is an excerpt: We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other 'tangible' factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities?

We believe that it does... We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling brought about an end to segregation of students. It was no longer constitutional to separate students because of their race.

Although, this was a very great and essential ruling, it only changed things in the educational system to a certain extent. I say to a certain extent because although that and other rulings have changed the system on the surface those rulings cannot and probably have not had an effect on every individual's mindsets. Racism is not only a way of life but for many it is deeply embedded into their thought processes and more than often it is done unaware. It is those little preconceived notions that are at the very core of why racism and prejudices are permitted to exist. There is a distinct difference between racism and prejudice. The distinction between racism and mere prejudice, according to Blum, is often a matter of degrees, with the latter implying stronger antipathy, one that verges into hatred (p. 13).

This allows Blum to distinguish between a person who acts out of racist motives -- say severe hatred towards a group -- and a person who acts in a racist way on some occasions, but does not hold racist motives. The distinction could be useful in helping to clarify certain disputes. Racism is confined strictly to race while prejudice can cross all borders including gender, age and nationality. Racialism, which is the practice of placing an inordinate amount of importance on ones racial identity, and is often another thing that students are plagued with. In the 1940's and 50's, students of color were often forced or highly persuaded into careers that "suited" them such as mechanical and domestic work. Minorities were often dissuaded from seeking a higher education and when they would venture out to do so they were met with great hostility from people of the opposite race.

We would like to deceive ourselves into thinking that this mindset is no longer prevalent but it is. Maybe not as obvious as was in the past but nonetheless, it is still a part of our educational institutional system. In my own experience, I have been told that maybe college is not for me. At first glance, one may assume that that statement is not one that screams racism or prejudice but you must ask yourself what is more important how a statement is said or how it is perceived by the person it is being said to? That is what is at the heart of diversity issues not what may be intended by the educator but how the student receives that message. These messages can be said blatantly or simply implied through actions, either way they can affect the student.

Racism has found its way into the classroom setting through such vehicles as textbooks. Although many look for it to be done in such a audacious and deliberate manner this is not often the case. It can be done by simply ignoring the backgrounds of students of color or as is often done completely erasing the history of an entire race of people from the books. What is often more frustrating are the textbooks that give a page or two of explanation for things such as slavery versus the many pages that are dedicated to European history. These things can often lead to a student feeling disconnected from the teacher and vice versa. Although diversity issues exist amongst many schools, the focus of this paper on secondary and post-secondary schools which tend to make diversity training a choice for students and staff rather than a requirement.

Elementary schools, in our local district, tend to put a greater emphasis on diversity issues. That is not to say that what they are doing in the elementary schools is enough, however, it is a step in the right direction. Being aware of the fact that racism and prejudice will never be fully eradicated, I have decided to try and examine ways in which educators can move beyond their own mindsets and ideals and unite in such a way that will and can be beneficial to their students. Although, for the most part we have moved beyond racism in the educational system, we must still deal with diversity issues. We all have diverse backgrounds. Rather these diversities lie in race, gender, economic or family dynamics (single parent families e. t. c.) they can either divide or unite us.

It is true that each teachers background will undoubtedly be different from their students but that should not be a reason to further divide the educator from their student. The Status of the Educational System There are numerous approaches to defining and addressing educational issues associated with a diverse student population. According to the College Student Journal, by the year 2020, one of every three Americans will be a person of color, and students of color will make up almost 50% of the student population. In the lifetimes of many of today's college and university students, non-Hispanic whites are predicted to become less than half the population of the United States (Meacham, 1996). Although this prediction is years away from coming into fruition, it is evident that we are quickly approaching it. In recent years, we have heard in news stories and read in print reports how Latinos are quickly advancing in population size and Caucasians, who were once the most numerable population, are being drastically outnumbered.

This trend is also reflective in the classroom setting. Our college and universities are now comprised of the most diverse student population in our history. Those old mentalities that were once forced upon minorities through racialism are now all but extinct and minorities are entering the workforce in higher numbers and into positions that were once reserved for only non-minorities. The educational outcome of minority students has fueled my look into diversity.

If teachers were to embrace the diversity of their students than their differences can be used to enrich their learning experiences. Rather we choose to consider it true or not, teachers have a great effect on student's ability to learn. States have now begun to recognize the need for diversity training in the educational system. For years, corporations have included this training for its employees as well as the military.

However, the institution that has the most direct involvement with our children has been the last to embrace this issue. According to an article in Teacher Education and Special Education, all states and the District of Columbia were requested to send documents describing requirements for teachers in preparation for diversity used (Watson 67). Although forty-one states were found to have some type of requirement, the specifics, definitions, standards and the way these were applied varied significantly. The reports tend to show how seriously, or rather how non-seriously the states have taken the issue of diversity. A ninth grade student at Junction City Senior High School relayed to me a story that is at the heart of this issue. This student spoke of an incident concerning her and a substitute teacher where the teacher made a truly inappropriate "joke".

As it was told to me, the teacher was speaking of the new SUV's that our local police department had purchased. He said that now that the police had purchased these new vehicles then the incidences of resisting arrest should go down because minorities would rather ride in the new vehicles than the old standard police vehicles. Now, one may ask themselves what is so bad about that statement. What is so bad is that it perpetuates a mindset that is already prevalent in our society that somehow minorities "enjoy" being arrested and are only concerned about new "rides". Now, if that teacher wanted to perpetuate that mindset around his dinner table or while amongst his friends then I would not mind as much because it is not poisoning the minds of young moldable students. Nevertheless, for him or any other person to perpetuate this type of attitude in a classroom setting, amongst young people whose minds are still forming, and call it a "joke" is of great concern.

Now, I will be the first to admit that this may be at the more extreme end of the spectrum, as I don't believe that most people would be as forward as this gentleman was, it is still those other "less mentioned" attitudes that must be eradicated. Schools today are rich in student diversity. A growing number of American classrooms and schools contain a complex mix of races, cultures, languages, and religious affiliations. Two other sources of diversity are becoming increasingly prominent as well. The widening gap between rich and poor students is creating more social class diversity, and an increasing number of gay students are publicly proclaiming their sexual orientations.

In some of the local elementary schools, a new program entitled Character Counts is being implemented. This program emphasizes, amongst other things, citizenship, respect and fairness. I do believe that programs such as this one will assist in helping students as well as teachers in developing respect for one another. This can only be construed as a positive step in the right direction, however, it is only one step.

School districts, in my opinion, must make diversity training a top priority. The Supreme Court has recognized the need for diversity. In a recent decision the court is quoted as saying 'Student body diversity promotes learning outcomes, and better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce and society, and better prepares them as professionals". If the court system has recognized the need to acknowledge diversity in the educational system then how long will it be before our educators realize its importance as well. Diversity Training In my research of diversity issues, I was hard-pressed to find any concrete evidence that educators were truly trying to implement diversity training. Yes, you may say that there are diversity courses, and seminars going on nationwide.

Although that is true, what are they really focusing on? I found that they are focusing on the recruitment and retention of minorities in both the workforce and educational systems. I would agree that while this area is one of great importance it must not stop once the minorities are behind the "safety gates" and make these institutions seem as if they are "reaching" the minority population. Diversity is an issue that must be dealt with once those doors are closed.

The University Of Connecticut has implemented a plan that does exactly that. The goal at this institute is not to tell its employees what to say or think but to let them know that their words do and will have an effect on their students. This is what must be at the heart of diversity training across our nation, not the issue of right versus wrong. Diversity means accepting that every one is different.

Rather those differences come across through our color, sexual preference, nationality, religious backgrounds our gender is not the issue but our ability to be tolerant of those difference is. According to an article in Black Issues in Higher Education, most states currently require approximately (3) three hours of diversity training while Connecticut requires up to (8) eight hours with follow-up sessions after six months (Jones p 36). One may ask is eight hours even enough? Well, it may not be but this state is obviously taking a step in the right direction, a direction which other states should be hard-pressed to follow. The first step in handling diversity issues in high schools and even elementary schools is understanding that there is a real connection between a child's home life and his ability to function in school.

Consider the following scenario: Student A comes to school on a daily basis and falls asleep during instruction time. The teacher has repeatedly spoken to this student and has tried to make contact with the parents of this child on a daily basis to no avail. After a few weeks the teacher becomes frustrated and begins have preconceived thoughts that the student is just "lazy" and is not interested in learning and will probably drop out of school anyhow. Although the teacher never voices these thoughts, she portrays them through her actions towards the student. Now this scenario could unfold in many different ways. It would depend on many factors such as the student's age.

An older student may be able to look beyond the actions of the teacher while a younger student may began to embrace the actions of the teacher and allow it to further impinge on their classroom experience. It may be concluded that the students are ultimately responsible for their own learning experience by some people with a very narrow thought pattern but I would say differently. A young person faces many different dilemmas in today's society. In the above-mentioned scenario there is no reference made towards race, which is generally seen as the only issue in diversity discussions.

Now, one could garner several things from the perspective of the educator. The first being that perhaps, as indicated, the student has no interest in learning however, that can be disputed on the basis that although the student is sleeping during critical teaching times, he is still coming to school. This indicates that either the student or the student's parent (s) does have an interest in their education, thus nullifying that the thought of disinterest. Secondly, the teacher may argue that she has spoken to the student on several occasions to no avail but has she tried to reach out to others who may have further knowledge of this child? I have worked in the school district in which I live in and on several occasions have heard teachers say that they are tired of being seen as counselors, social workers, parent (to the students), psychologist, psychiatrist and finally teachers (the only profession that they chose).

While I will be the first to sympathize with them from both the co-worker position as well as the parent of five children, I will say that yes, there is some obligation on the educators behalf to wear all of these hats at one time or another and some times they may wear them all at one time! Today, many different societal issues surround us then we were challenged with in the past. Teachers have and continue to reveal their uneasiness surrounding their ability to deal with diversity. I think that most United States school districts find it difficult to fully prepare their teachers for the awareness and knowledge required to deal with issues of race, culture and class as they effect education.

One thing that stands in our way in comparison to most other industrialized countries is that we are the most diverse. There is no other country that citizens form such a rich mixture of and a wide range of economic differentials. While there is much advocacy for diversity training there still yet remains no consistency amongst states or government concerning the requirement. Until there are some unanimous, decisions made regarding training the teachers will never truly be prepared. Consider the teacher who was solely taught in the inner city schools and has to move to a rural community, will they be prepared for the transition? Undoubtedly there current students will be much different from their former students.

Will they try to handle their students in the same manner that they dealt with the other students? Teachers must be versatile and able to deal with a group of students while understanding that the group consist of individuals from unique situations. There may be no other institution or group of people that have a stronger role to play in the future of our country besides educators. If we truly give thought to it, these people spend almost as much time with our children as we do so therefore they should be held to almost the same standard of care as parents.

Statistical Information In my examination of statistics, I have decided to look at two districts in the state of Kansas. The first is USD 475, the district in which my own children are enrolled and USD 501 (Topeka), one of the largest districts in Kansas. USD 475 is considered a rural community according to Charles Volland, director of demographics for the district. When asked why, since we live next to a military base, he stated that it was labeled that for budget reasons. He said that these budget issues are what would allow the school district to hire and retain qualified teachers.

To the contrary, there is nothing rural about Topeka and its school district. There number of enrolled students greatly exceeds the number of students enrolled in Junction City. In spite of these differences, you will see as you examine the following information that both districts have a large number of minority and economically disadvantaged students. I would like to emphasize that these are not the only issues that require attention and care. Other diversity issues abound in our society and within the confines of our schools besides race and economics and should be treated with the same level of respect as these two issues. Unfortunately In this district, there are a large number of minority children (90.92% combined) and a total of 45% economically disadvantaged.

What is extraordinary to me, concerning both districts is that there are no statistics on the number of minority and non-minority teachers. There are only statistics concerning their classifications. In such high-level minority districts, there must be a full representation or at least close as possible. Through my experience, as both an employee of this district and the parent of students in this district, I can honestly say that there is in no way a fair representation. For instance, a friend of mine shared with me that she has four full-time students and they have actively participated in this district for the past seven years. Only one of her children has ever had a teacher that was non-white and this occurred only one time in her five full years within this district.

These are the differences that we can see, there is no way to fully examine the impact of the economically disadvantaged and this school district has a high number of these children. Now, let us examine the Topeka school district. In this school district, for this year, the number of minority students equals 51.2% (very small in comparison to Junction City). The percentage of economically disadvantaged students equals 58.8%, which is an equally alarming percentage. Just like the other district, there are no numbers concerning the racial make-up of the staff. There may not be a way to fully ensure fair numbers but there is room for improvement.

At Junction City Middle School, the school, there were only a few minority teachers. From my examination of the school, there are only three African-American teachers and no Latino or Asian teachers at all. There are other minority employees within the building but, they were working in paraprofessional positions (and there were only a few of them as well), janitorial positions (the numbers were considerably higher there) and food service positions. I have actually seen elementary schools that had no minorities teaching at all.

While some may consider these conditions extreme or an unfair representation, I consider them a testimony of the way in which school districts value diversity amongst their staff. Statistics for USD 475 (Junction City, Kansas) (Figure 1) Military Connected 53.3% Civilians working on Post 10.4% Low Rent Housing 1.3% Total Federally Connected 65.1% Student minorities 47.5% Free & Reduced Lunches 55.5%In this district, there are a large number of minority children (90.92% combined) and a total of 45% economically disadvantaged. For instance, I have four full-time students and they have actively participated in this district for the past seven years. Only one of my children has ever had a teacher that was non-white and this was only one time in her five full years within this district.

The percentage of economically disadvantaged students equals 58.8% an equally alarming percentage. At Junction City Middle School, the school at which I was an employee, there were only a very, very few minority teachers. As I recollect, there were only 3 African-American teachers and no Latino or Asian teachers at all. There were other minority employees within the building but, they were working in paraprofessional positions (and there were only a few of them as well), janitorial positions (the numbers were considerably higher there) and food service positions. We must work to improve these numbers by fairly representing all members of our community. These points are as follows: .

The educational system has seen major changes since cases like Brown V. Board of Education... In spite of these changes, we must still strive to achieve a higher level of care concerning our children. Teachers must be able to adapt to every environment and have the ability to see beyond what is at the surface level of a child... School districts must provide a sense of balance within their staffs. A child wants to feel as if they are represented in some manner...

Diversity training is a need; it is not up for debate. As minorities from every class and race become more prevalent in our society, our educators must be able to assimilate themselves. Imagine a local public school district that instituted such policies. We might see the following statement: It is the policy of this school district to ensure that we attract and sustain a diverse student body and a diverse workforce that is well trained and educated. If you come, we will serve and support you - whatever it takes to ensure your success as a student or employee. We intend to enhance our community's collective diversity by creating a community of learners.

If you accept the invitation to join our district, you promise to do your best. Your achievements are our profits. Although, there is no quick fix solution, it is in our best interest and the best of our children to do something rather than nothing at all. Educators do not have the right to do nothing. Today, many people find themselves in situations that are not comfortable to them nor or they familiar with but this does not negate the fact that they must adapt.

Educators ask it of their pupils. Every day kids are told to follow the rules and pay attention because the teacher knows what is good for them concerning their education. If this teacher is not in tune to the "whole child" then the teacher may not be as aware as to what is in the child's best interest. I did an interview with Lavonne Carter, a former teacher in the Manhattan-Ogden school district and who is currently an educational counselor to soldiers and their families on Fort Riley.

I found our conversation very interesting for a number of reasons. She relayed stories to me of how at one time in the mid seventies she was the only African-American teacher at a particular school in Manhattan. During this time new district lines were drawn and children were going to be moving into different elementary schools. Teachers and parents began to protest at her school because some new kids that would be joining them in the fall were from the "poor" side of town. They were not like the kids of the college professors and other professionals that attended this school and the only difference was their economic situations. Although, this was the only difference, it was enough to cause such uproar that Mrs. Carter no longer wanted to teach there.

To the contrary, she decided to stay for a few more years before moving on to gain her Master's Degree in education because she thought that she could possibly have an effect on the children who were coming into the school and ultimately give them a soft place to land going into such a tough situation. I was moved by her story because she could have left and not been concerned about these incoming students but she stayed because in her words "as a teacher it was my duty". Ultimately, that should be the way every educator thinks. Diversity will exist until the end of time, but educators as well as others in society have a duty to ensure that no one person feels less because they are different.

It should not be a choice for school districts but it should be a requirement for both educators and their students from kindergarten until they are seniors in high school. I admonish all school systems as well as individual educators to not take the attitude that you can not affect change alone because you can. I clearly remember the one teacher that influenced my life alone and I remember those who had a negative impact on me. How do you want to be remembered?

Bibliography

Blum, John (1995).
Beyond Prescriptive Pedagogy. Journal Of Teacher Education. 46, 3, 28. Brown, Benjamin, (1958).
Desegregation and the Supreme Court. Boston: Heath and Company. Carter, Lavonne. Personal Interview. Conducted on March 7, 2005.
Character Counts. web Retrieved on May 5, 2005.
Collins, William (1974).
The Pocket Webster School and Office Dictionary. New York: Simon and Schuster. Statistical Information. web Retrieved on March, 15 2005.
Volland, Charles. Personal Interview. Conducted on April 3, 2005.