Kristia Tolode
Bronx, NY
Cell: (347) 234-4432
Email:
Educational Gap In New York City
To: New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
From: Kristia Tolode
Re (Subject): The ChallengesUrban Schools are facing in New York City
Date: Thursday September 17th, 2015
In our society education has always been considered as an equalizer. From a young age we teach our children that getting an education will improve their chances for success as adults and overall aid to in acquiring a better life. However, a lot of recent studies and research articles suggest that the academic achievement gap between children of rich and poor backgrounds are widening. In a New York Times article, Sabrina Taversine cited a study at Michigan University where researchers found that “the imbalance between rich and poor children in college completion is the single most important predictor of success in the work force”. Traversine also stated that this inequity “has grown by about 50 percent since the late 1980s”(2012). According to the article, the results mentioned were from data collected for decades until the end of 2008. This statistic threatens to dilute the supposed leveling effect education is meant to have in our society.
The issue of the education gap due to socio-economic class as well as race is seen as one of the many challenges that urban schools, mainly inner-city schools face in New York City’s public school system. The New York Daily News published an article on 90 city schools that failed to pass a single Black or Hispanic student on state test. The article details that many children of color that failed the Math and Reading exams, were enrolled in inner-city public schools such as the School for the Urban Environment in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. A few others came from diverse high schools such as Public School 114 in Belle Harbor, Queens (Brown & Chapman, 2014). According to the statistics provided, in 2014 the achievement gap percentage for the state exams between Black and Hispanic students compared to White and Asian students was at 34.2 percent. Brown and Chapman (2014) suggested that these Black and Hispanic students come from low-income families, with needs that cannot simply be met with a faulty education system. There are many challenges that our urban school system is facing which are: structural challenges and cultural challenges.
Ahram, Stembridge, Fergus, and Noguera discussed some structural challenges aimed to examine the problems face urban schools in their article entitled “Framing Urban School Challenges: The Problems to Examine When Implementing Response to Intervention.” The article states that low student expectations and achievement is shown through the lack of high level courses and programs such as “advanced placement courses and gifted and talented programs” (Ahram et al., 2011). Other than the lack of demanding courses, teachers expect high-demanding students that lack the skills to do well. This results in low expectations set for the students. The perplexed cycle of low expectations, results in low achievement from the students. The socio-demographic background of urban school population shows that the students enter at different academic readiness, with different personal stressors that challenges the student’s ability to perform. However, the structural barrier of low expectation plays a role when these students come to school. Most students want to succeed in school and consider getting an education as a vital source of being successful in life. Research conducted by Ahram et al. (2011) shows that if given the appropriate support, students will live up to high expectations – if set forth for them.
More structural challenges include low funding, which is often a direct result of low achievement in the urban schools. Billy Easton (2012) in his New York Times article stated that New York’s funding cut has worsened since 2009, and continues to be a problem. Often times, urban public schools have their funds cut when the student achievement rate is low. This in turn affects the schools even more; how can you improve the system if the schools are under resourced? Although budgetary challenges are above the dealing of the schools, it is important to shed light upon the fact that this structural challenge affects the quality of teachers that are being hired to teach at urban public schools. Low funding results “in the loss of 30,000 educators” and an increase in “class sizes at two-thirds of the state’s schools” (Easton, 2012). In addition, Abram et al. (2011) argued that students in urban schools, where there is a “high concentration of low-income Black and Latino students are more likely to have inexperienced or unqualified teachers, fewer demanding college preparatory courses, more remedial courses, and higher teacher turnover”(qtd. in Lee, 2004). Experienced and qualified teachers are more likely to find jobs were they are better paid, and the reputation of the schools are known for academic excellence. It is important to note that over all, “cuts to poor and middle-class schools were two to three times larger per pupil than those imposed on wealthy schools.” This leaves inner-city schools with a lot of unqualified and unmotivated teachers; and just as the establishment of a school is necessary, teachers are also an important part of a school’s foundation.
The cultural challenges faced in the urban school system, deals with perception. There is a perception in our society when is comes to education that all students have the same experiences, thus there is an assumption that Eurocentric curriculum taught in most schools applies culturally to all students. For example, when you look at the standardized (SAT) tests that all high school seniors have to excel at in order to attend a high-achieving college, you can see the dire plights in the curriculum system. In a Time magazine article, Rooks (2012) mentioned that a recent study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows that the gap of standardized test scores between rich and poor have grown by almost 60% since the 1960s. One thing is certain, research has shown that “the issue lies with how we use these tests, not with the kids who take them” (Rooks, 2012). Standardized testing in our history, has never favored Blacks or Hispanics. Reese (2013) of the Huffington Post gave a great example of how the questions on standardize test are culturally biased, by telling the story of a young man named Michael who walked out during his 8th grade standardize test. He stated “one question, for example, asked which of the following words best matched the word “cup” – “wall,” “saucer,” “table” or “window”? Michael's friend Eddie, presumably an African-American, chose "table," because in his house, Michael said, there are no saucers to put under the cups” (Reese, 2013). Michael acknowledged that the questions on the test are culturally skewed to benefit upper class White students. This example highlights a cultural bias, based on the simple perception that all students are supposed to relate to the tests. How can we expect success from the students if the curriculum is not designed to benefit them?
Another perception challenge is the stigma that students of low-income families attending urban schools are not regarded as intellectually capable of doing the work. School and district officials, perceive “the cultural practices of the home environment as causing low-income and racial/ethnic minority children to be unable to learn or in conflict with school practices” (Abram et al., 2011). The idea is that because these children come from low-income background, their socio-emotional issues such as: abuse, high level of insecurities, etc. are preventing them from focusing and therefore making them less motivated to want to stay in school. Due to these stated challenges, many of these students tend to drop out, graduate later than expected, or graduate high school but do not have the adequate qualifications to attend college. Low student expectations and achievement, low school funding, unqualified teachers and Eurocentric curriculums are all factors associated with students of low-income households in urban schools. These are the harsh realities of our urban public school system, and these problems lead to the big educational gap that our nation is facing today.
Work Cited
Ahram, R., Stembridge, A., Fergus, E., & Noguera, P. (2011). Framing Urban School Challenges: The Problems to Examine When Implementing Response to Intervention. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
Brown, S., & Chapman, B. (2014, September 2). EXCLUSIVE: 90 city schools failed to pass a single black or Hispanic student on state tests, study shows. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
Easton, B. (2012, May 25). Albany’s Unkindest Cut of All. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
Reese, R. (2013, April 23). Minority Testing Bias Persists. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
Rooks, N. (2012, October 13). Why It’s Time to Get Rid of Standardized Tests. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
Traversine, S. (2012, February 9). Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Say. Retrieved September 14, 2015.