Economic Class Gap

The economic class gap in recent years has widened drastically as the rich have become richer and the middle and disadvantaged classes have stagnated in growth. In a time when money fuels the world, and education is the safest path to a well paying job, school has become more essential to the average American. Although students are all equally likely to achieve what they apply themselves to, racism and economic stereotyping has often hindered their passions from showing. To combat this, policy makers have already changed the education process in historic cases such as Brown v. Board of Education to narrow the divide between Caucasians and African Americans and other major ethnic minorities, yet few have made any real improvements to the economically …show more content…
Similarly, popular belief is for ethnic and gender minorities to perform below Caucasian male students. However, a study done by Dr. Laia Bécares, a PhD from the University College London and Dr. Naomi Priest, a PhD from the University of Melbourne found disadvantaged hispanics and white females perform above the average white male in academics. Challenging stereotypes in impoverished communities, females tend to do better than their ethnic male counterparts in reading, math, and science across races and economic positions. This proves race and gender can be overcome, although class remains ambiguous as the performance gap increases with higher status, and females remain dominant only in reading. As claimed by Bécares and Priest, education disparities will continue to exist as long as people do nothing to change the existing social stratifications. They support their argument by showing how minorities and disadvantaged students perform below caucasian males and the scores are lower than those achieved in flourishing communities. Another interesting find was the way different classes deal with low academic performance. Keith Robinson from the University of Texas and Austin Angel L. Harris from Princeton University found higher social classes tended to call for outside help and appealed to reason when trying to influence child behavior, on the other …show more content…
Today, disadvantaged students are overcome with the difficulties presented to them in the education system because of their gender and race. Students in low income families are often trapped in the lower economic bracket because they are not given adequate opportunities at education, and are hindered by a lack of parent involvement and education. The most effective way to promote quality education for all classes is to give each child a caring, educated, and qualified teacher. Globally, Singapore had one of the highest test scores in the 2012 PISA because the education system places teachers with the most expertise work with the most underprivileged children, and parents have developed a culture where education is most important. To solve the American crisis in public education, policy makers should mimic the most efficient systems, most notably, Finland. Because it teaches all kids the same curriculum regardless of any factors except age, the achievement gap is one of the lowest in the world. By identifying problems in parental involvement and embracing reforms limiting the disparities of socioeconomic classes, America will be able to create a more equal public education