ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Abstract
This paper aims to shed light on the gap between the Europeans Americans and African Americans or Latinos. The gap between the two( African american and Latinos) and the Europeans have grown rather than decreased. Most research has shown that parents take their children to school so that the school institutions can be able to reduce these disparities and the research has mostly relied on the children’s experiences with the assumption that family and the school system is similar for everyone. This study aims to examine the ethnic differences that exist in the achievements of children through a framework that is focused on the differences of the experiences they have accumulated to establish whether they have similar benefits to all children. It is evident that the aspect of family and school is different and thus their academic achievements are also different (Herron, 2009). This article also examines the patterns in Latino and white maths and reading achievements and the gaps that exist. The gap is evident in that Latinos students enter elementary school with a much lower average but with time they manage to stabilize. However, they still have difficulty especially if they come from families where English is not fluently spoken. The research that has been one in the past highlighted the reasons for the gaps, the results of the gap in the academic achievements of the children and the measures taken to reduce it.
Introduction.
Education in the early life of an American child’s life is a very important aspect because it not only determines the child’s outcome in school in the coming years but also their future career work options, economic stability and social opportunities (Sanders-Phillips, Settles, Walker & Brownlow, 2009). The achievements will determine how they perceive their place in society. When they are compared to the European children the gap that is evident in their educational achievement is substantial. Their performance in school is a determinant of the future constraints they will face as African Americans. The score for children in school varies in that the American children rank the lowest and the Asians Hispanics and Latinos are average while the white students top in the scores.
Many of the ethnic children feel discouraged and thus end up quitting school and having no academic achievements to show for it. The ones who decide to progress through school are the ones who get a chance to enrol in honours courses and might even get lucky and get into a competitive college for four years (Valant & Newark 2017 ). The achievement gap that they experience not only affects them but also affects the communities they live in and their families and the equality the country is trying to achieve as well. The past economic and social conditions accumulated by the present situations are said to be the root causes of the achievement gap that is seen between the two ethnic groups. The efforts of the society to handle this situation and get away with the prejudice and discrimination facing African Americans and the Latinos have not been enough. This is because there continues to exist the same inequalities and even arise in the numbers in every aspect of life and education of the ethnic individuals. Education is supposed to be a basic necessity for the children of America and the fact that children still have to face discrimination in this area is saddening.
While they struggle with discrimination in the education sector which also affected their academic achievements they also encounter scientific and technological changes which also raise requirements of enrolment in education and careers that are fulfilling. This puts an even greater burden on their communities, schools and ultimate future. The problem has become significant since researchers have taken the deficits in the group and their primary focus instead of looking at the factors that have led to an increase in the situation. Once these factors have been understood by teachers they can be able to develop and ensure the implementation of the strategies that are necessary to facilitate the shift from school being a failure to them being a success which will enable more academic achievements and better opportunities for every student in the system.
The discrimination in the education sector has not happened overnight but rather has been as a result of several aspects that have been affecting the lives of the African American as well as Latino students and their families. The changes are difficult to achieve due to the deeply rooted racism that is structured to create economic disadvantages in our systems and national institutions such as schools. We have witnessed school systems being unfair to the ethnic communities in that they expel suspended students of colour at a higher rate compared to the other European students (McKinsey & Company 2009). Some of them are afraid of the backlash from the European students, and also in case of incidents between students the student of colour is less believed whether he was on the right or wrong. The College costs are also very expensive and thus many students of colour have a difficult time getting costs covered, some end up working to cater for the costs and even full time to support themselves and their families leaving no time to attend a school or even complete their education at all. This builds up the already existing gap between low-income families and higher-income families.
Like every other child, any child of colour can learn once they are born but they need the relevant experiences to bring their potential capabilities to fruition. In the year 2015 it was estimated that almost 38 per cent of children of colour lived below the poverty line (Alter 2017) When these students become parents they still are affected since they miss the chance of getting well-paying jobs, they are more focused on dealing with the issues that come with their level of income. This leaves them with no time to invest in the educational development of their children outside of school as they are busy making ends meet working odd hours and multiple jobs without insurance or any form of benefits. The situation at home often ends up affecting the school performance of the next generation in line.
The shortcoming in any child’s early developments in school often leads to issues in their later grades in school and even be perceived as underachievers by their teachers when in real sense they can be able to bloom if the economics, social and basis of their development were handled right rather than just hold back their potential. A child’s capabilities are identified and nurtured when they are still young, to shape their brain’s ability to control their cognitive, physical, social and emotional development even aspects such as learning a specific language is highly dependent on the early years of the child and the people they interact with during that age. In a situation where a child is at the age of learning language and how to speak. The people around her will determine whether she or she will learn the black English, Latino English or the standardized European English. The language they decide to pick up will be a reflection of them as individuals but also a resemblance of the culture they’re accustomed to. This will also affect their later performances in languages at school and since the school uses standardized English language the students with a European background end up having an upper hand compared to the students of colour.
Children who are raised in an environment that is safe and does not limit them in any aspect end up being more open to their parents exploring learning and even questioning systems and ideas they see as misfits. African American children do not have that luxury since their environment is faced with so many challenges. When they get to attend school they have that safe space that is why most of their grades improve as they move from grade to grade. Teachers who did not have the will to invest in them as they saw them as underachievers start to invest in them so that they can be able to reach their full potential (Catapano, 2006).The students who seek mentorship from the teachers who decide to invest in them often end up beating the odds get better grades in science, maths and languages thus have better chances of getting into good colleges and better a shot at good jobs in future. However, these incidents of mentorship are not as many as they need to be.
As parents who have children of colour adapt to the occurring challenges, they come up with different methods to raise their children and most of these methods are greatly misunderstood and most of all they are facilitating issues such as racism to continue in the communities they live in. Racism has been an issue for several years, from slavery to insurance unfairness, unreliable healthcare and citizenships to do not allow equal voting, the African Americans and Latino community has faced a different form of racism that often starts at a very early age (Gilliam 2014) The level of racism in schools have allowed parents to teach their children that they need to accept whatever is given to them be it grades they feel they do not deserve, bullying from popular kids because of the colour of their skin, and even accept they are in the wrong when they are not. Before the initiative, Black Lives Matter the African Americans had accepted the oppression but it reached a point that they decided enough is enough. The same way the children whose parents are assimilated to the culture of acceptance also have decided enough is enough.
Suspension and expulsion cases are mostly because a student of colour chose to fight the system, to not apologize for what they know in their mind is right but the school system sees it as wrong. Some parents have taught their children to fight for everything they think is theirs or they think is right. This strategy that they see working outside the school environment is however unacceptable on school grounds. Telling them to handle issues differently and calmly is unknown to them as the environment they have lived in is toxified with fighting back that it is difficult and almost impossible to help them return to a reasonable ground and learn new ways of handling trajectories (Shonkoff et al. 2012). The culture in which African Americans and Latinos come from encourages them to tame their response to any form of criticism they get and not engage to avoid trouble (Calarco 2014). This approach has been beneficial to them in the school setting since they keep themselves segregated to not react to any form of criticism that might arise during their interactions with others.
Some of them end up denying their cultures to fit in since without fitting in they feel powerless and are filled with self-doubt. The language they speak and culture they associate with is kept hidden so that their new status is not tampered with and they end up rejected. The few who are proud of their origins tend to know the history of the African American over the years and the hardships they have had to endure to get to where they are. The hardships have been a form of motivation and this enables the students to also know that accepting who they are is part of the process despite the challenges that they have to face while at it. Teachers who know about history also understand both types of African American students as the two methods are both coping mechanisms. They understand the segregated students, the rebellious ones, the one who want to change the situation and most of all they understand the injustices that the people of colour face.
Challenges that the students face in school are often related to the home environment. The knowledge they get to learn at home is not what is required in school, yes they can apply at home what they were taught in school but the vis a vis is not applicable. The same applies in the language they speak, Black or Latino English is what they learn at home but standardized English is what is accepted and taught in school this makes their grades in languages have issues since standardized English is what is set in the academic exams. Unless the issue is addressed early enough it may end up being a barrier in their final scores and result in failing in school. African American children also face the problem of having gaps between their preschool years and their primary grades (Takanishi 2016). Many children are left in child care where essential skills for young ones such as formal literacy, number literacy are not taught. It is evident from the various researches that consistency for the long haul is important so that the children from low-income homes van be able to master and overcome the challenges that they face at school.
The best way to narrow down the academic achievement gaps between the African Americans, as well as the Latinos and the Europeans, is by making early childhood education a norm. Teachers, administrators need to be made aware that most of the African American children are either underdeveloped or have their developments delayed. The system should provide them with a preservice system that prepares them and trains them on how to handle such students and ensure that they can overcome the delayed development and eventually catch up with the other European students. Once they get to understand the professional development programs that preparatory institutions give then they can be able to know the link between academic learning and child development, they will be able to handle students from different backgrounds as needed.
In the society we live in it is better to win as a whole than just a certain population winning. All students need to be given a chance to fully explore their academic potential and achieve the highest credentials they can irrespective of their race or ethnic group. The first way to handle the issue is for us to understand the social psychology behind the gap and how the psychological threat affects them in the real-world environment. This will enable us to improve the minority student’s performance by improving their grades (Cohen, Garcia, Apfel, & Master 2006). Teachers also should play a major fail to understand the behaviours of certain students they should not lower their expectations for the children of colour and label them a gone case. This affects the students mentally because most of the time they internalize the evaluation the teacher’s give them and once they feel demotivated then they will surely believe they can not be able to excel academically.
The government should also look into underfunded schools that are the major educational institutions in densely populated African American cities so that the school can have the necessary resources to provide a good foundation for the students as they go through the road to achieving academic excellence. African American and Latino parents should also be sensitized on the importance of early childhood education for their children. They should create time to be involved in the development of their children outside of school so that they can be able to identify the areas where their children lack help them grow in those areas and if they are unable to help them then they can raise the issues with the teacher so that the issue can be handled effectively. This will help a great deal ensuring the gap of academic achievement between the different ethnic groups.
Works cited.
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