BEING A LEADER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

IN EDUCATION!!!By: Ryan Nichole Flynn

SOCIAL JUSTICE IN SCHOOLS! Social Injustice is a common problem facing

our education system today. Many students are being cut short within their education due to several issues within our society. These issue range from teacher qualifications, economic status, lack of resources, standardized testing, achievement gaps, discrimination, and the list is endless. The biggest social injustice our schools system faces however is the issue of economical discrimination. Schools in areas of higher poverty are lacking the resources necessary for success and it stems from the very beginning.

ECONOMIC STATUS?!?! How does economic status effect our

Education system? Well lets look at the very beginning.

Children who grow up facing higher levels of poverty are less likely to succeed. How? From the beginning parents cannot afford the same educational advancements as parents not facing poverty. Children facing higher poverty are not engaged

in community activities. They are less likely to attend preschool or head

start programs. They are more likely to grow up in area’s of

higher crime.

ECONOMICAL STATUS FACTS! “Schools in low-SES communities

suffer from high levels of unemployment, migration of the best qualified teachers, and low educational achievement “(Muijs, Harris, Chapman, Stoll, & Russ, 2009).

“A teacher’s years of experience and quality of training is correlated with children’s academic achievement (Gimbert, Bol, & Wallace, 2007). Yet, children in lowincome schools are less likely to have well-qualified teachers. In fact, of high school math teachers in lowincome school districts 27% majored in mathematics in college as compared to 43% of teachers who did so in more affluent school districts” (Ingersoll, 1999).

ACADEMIC SUCCESS FOR POOR STUDENTS?“Children with higher SES backgrounds were more likely to be proficient on tasks of addition, subtraction, ordinal sequencing, and math word problems than children with lower SES backgrounds” (Coley, 2002).

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MATH, READING AND SCIENCE SUCCESS

How does economical status

effect student test scores?

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READING SCORES! Are you convinced that economic status

matters to student success? Well just in case you aren’t lets take a look

at reading scores for children in Baltimore inner city schools, verses other central Maryland counties.

STILL NOT CONVINCED?!?! Ok you are, at least you say you, but

let’s take a look at the difference in student success for children who are on free or reduced lunch programs, verses students who are not!

FROM THE BEGINNING!!! Preschool enrollment in the U.S is

among the lowest in the world. Preschool is essentially education in it’s purest form. This provides educators an opportunity to prepare children for school. So why is enrollment so low? Is it lack of understanding or head start education? Money that prevents families from enrollment? Or is it the fact that in the United states, preschool education is optional?

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?!?!?!

EARLY EDUCATION! We need to begin by enforcing early

education in children! Children learn the most within the first 5

years of their life, yet school is not mandatory until age 5. Why?

TEACHER CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY! Policy makers need to begin reforming

schools within school. How?Giving control back to teachers and then

holding schools and teachers accountable for student success. Until Schools, school districts and teachers have

control over their students education and we cannot hold teachers accountable for student performance.

HOW’S THIS AFFECT ECONOMIC STATUS. Funding must be fair in order for

education to be fair. Funding needs to be evenly distributed

among all schools. Student enrollment = amount of fundingTest scores and performance should not =

funding Community involvement =student success

HIGH POVERTY=LESS INVOLVEMENT? Why?

Families who face higher poverty are less likely to be involved in student success because: More working families More one parent household More struggles within the home Higher rates of crime, drugs or domestic

violence More people to a household

PARENT INVOLVEMENT Schools need to begin to get parents involved with their

children’s education. Parent teacher communication School family communication Community school communication Teacher student communication

Unless everyone is involved in a child’s education a child cannot be success.

DOES ECONOMIC STATUS HAVE TO AFFECT A CHILD’S SUCCESS Although no one can successful dispute that economic

status does not affect a child’s success in school it doesn’t mean that children who face higher levels of poverty cannot be successful. Children who face higher levels of poverty are more likely to come from homes that are facing environmental factors such as, financial difficulties, one parent households, hunger, domestic violence, physical/emotional abuse, violence, drugs, and less parent involvement. With the correct educational reform we can still see these kids succeeding in school and in life. Schools need to work with families to ensure parent involvement with their children. Communities need to become more involved, and policy makers need to ensure funding is fair to all schools, and not just watch poor schools become poorer. . Schools in areas of higher poverty are lacking the resources necessary for success and it stems from the very beginning so we need to go back to education in the purest form and make changes from there, however education should be fair for all students, and not just for lower poverty students.

REFERENCES: http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/

factsheet-cyf.aspx Marshall, C. & Oliva, M. (2010). Leadership for social

justice: Making revolutions in education (2nd ed.).  Boston, MA: Pearson.

(Fratiglioni, Winblad, & von Strauss, 2007; Karp et al., 2004; Fratiglioni & Rocca, 2001; Evans et al., 1997)

(Purcell-Gates, McIntyre, & Freppon, 1995).  (Steptoe & Marmot, 2004; Colhoun, Hemingway, &

Poulter, 1998; Kaplan and Keil, 1993)  (Weissman et al., 1984; Goodman, 1999; Spencer et

al., 2002)