Race: concepts, history, and social implications

¶ … Eileen Gale Kugler, the Evidence is in: Diversity Helps Students.

Kugler's article is a brief account of evidences describing that diversity of race in school is beneficial to students. The content of the article, which basically enumerates studies and researches that support the hypothesis that racial diversity in a classroom is favorable in the cognitive and social learning of students, was written to assert the author's opinion in contrast to James Metcalf's contention that a diverse study body is not helpful to public interest. This belief of Metcalf makes him to disagree on Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology's goal of increasing diversity in its campus.

Kugler presented several findings of different researches regarding racial diversity in schools. One finding, based on Patricia Gurin's empirical studies, and as indicated by Kugler, states that all students, non-minority and minority alike, learn better in a setting where they are confronted with others who are different from themselves.

Gurin's study contends on the idea that only the racial minorities benefit from racial diversity. As evidence, her study found several benefits of racial diversity to white students. This includes increased test scores, motivation to learn, increased interest in a higher education, greater ability to comprehend social differences, and social communication skills (Kugler, 2003).

Another study, conducted by Kurlaender and Yun of Harvard Civil Rights Project revealed benefits of racial diversity among the different races in Louisville, Kentucky. Such includes critical thinking skills, future educational goals, and principles of citizenship (Kugler, 2003).

Kugler stated that the positive effects of racial diversity can be attested by many schools, whether from urban or rural areas. Academically and socially, experiencing and being engaged in a classroom composed of students from different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and social status can enhance student perspectives. Stories say that discussions in a classroom of diverse races were found to be lively. This is due to the participation of students in sharing their own experiences, beliefs, and cultures, which in turn were provided with responses by students of another racial group.

Kugler concluded her article by commending the educational experiences her children get at Annandale High School, one of the schools that promote racial diversity. She suggested that the benefits of racial diversity are clear, whether from people's viewpoint or from the findings of empirical studies.