Differentiation of social class in education

Social Class And Its Impact Upon Education in America

America is a nation theoretically founded upon the concept of social equality, and over time, its leaders began to associate fostering equality with expanding public education to all its citizens. The original model for the American educational system was that of the Prussian system, which was highly regimented. Paradoxically, this regimentation could be beneficial, given that all persons, regardless of social status, who embraced its structure, could theoretically thrive under its guidance. However, in actual practice, American education has tended to reinforce rather than level social distinctions.

In actual practice, even public schools tend to reflect the demographic composition of the areas where they are located, whether they are working-class, middle-class, or elite. Given that property taxes fund public schools in most areas of America, this is perhaps inevitable. Students in wealthier school districts have better access to educational and extracurricular support inside and outside of the school, as well as connections which facilitate their entry to elite colleges. Poorer school districts have fewer resources, more stressors outside of school to which the students are subjected (such as the threat of neighborhood violence and the distractions of poverty and crime), and often less innovative curriculums to stimulate their attention.

No Child Left Behind is a recent initiative that attempts to ensure that students, regardless of where they are educated, have complete and equal access to an education of parity with their peers in more affluent districts (Goodwin 2012). School performance is measured upon student's ability to improve their performance on state standardized exams. However, some educators allege that it has resulted in less, rather than more innovative and creative educational strategies. Schools have been so focused upon 'teaching to the test' that students lack the ability to truly use their creative intelligence. Even more affluent districts have been forced to 'teach to the test.' Even "very bright students now come to college and even law school ill-prepared for critical thinking, rigorous reading, high-level writing, and working independently" (Goodwin 2013).

In my personal experience in Guatemala, students suffer even more extreme discrimination through the public education and private education systems. Government-run schools are substandard, compared with private schools which are attended by children of the rich. The fact that so many wealthy and influential students attend private schools takes a great deal of pressure off the public schools to perform to a high standard. This is one of the fears that many American educators have regarding the discrepancies between schools in the American system: the more unequal the resources of rich and poor schools, the more isolated students will be from wealthier areas, and the fewer parents of students from richer districts will care about the suffering of under-educated poorer children. Thanks to the discrepancies between poor and rich in Guatemala, only a very small percentage of public school graduates attend university.