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Diversity and Teaching
Perhaps no other institution so clearly reflects the diversity of individuals in America as that of public school systems. After the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case that ruled segregation a constitutionally prohibited practice, schools have been struggling to incorporate and value the diversity in students. However, this has not been an easy endeavor given the influx of illegal immigrants into America and the declining funding available for school districts.
While immigration continues to change the once homogenous makeup of classroom's throughout America, teachers, administrators and students continue to struggle with the implementation of practices designed to address a discernable minority-based achievement gap in test scores, grades, and overall successes in education. With the increase in student's in America's classrooms that do not speak English as a native language and who continue to struggle with language acquisition, it is more important than ever to objectively evaluate the effects of funding and allocations of expenditures available to schools to achieve higher levels of academic achievements for all students.
While I don't work in a school, I am familiar with the struggles of school districts' funding of...
While funding sources may dictate or earmark certain funding for educational programs, discretionary spending continues to dwindle yearly given the failing economy in conjunction with the 2002 No Child Left Behind law that, among other provisions, requires that every student, regardless of ethnicity, race, income or ability, demonstrate proficiency in reading and math. It really is similar to a rock and a hard place; teachers, as highly trained educational professionals, struggle with implementing standards-based curricula in face of increased pressures to address the specific needs of English language learners in America's classrooms. Teachers and school administrators are left with little alternative than to "teach to the test" as funding sources are conditioned on school performance indexes. Clearly, education has become an industry that is as predicated on performance-based criteria as any factory or business institution. The adage "only as strong as the weakest link" comes to mind when evaluating the effects of directly allocating funding for certain learners to the exclusion of others. The practice itself harkens…
References:
The United States Commission on Civil Rights (2006). The Benefits of Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Elementary and Secondary Education: A Briefing Before. Washington, D.C., Retrieved from: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/112806diversity.pdf
Grissmer, D., Flanagan, A., Kawata, J., & Williamson, S. (2000). Improving student achievement: What state NAEP test scores tell us. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
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