Socio-economic Integration
Largely minority urban schools, on the whole, score lower on Standardized Tests than their suburban counterparts. Likewise there is a strong correlation between family income level and test scores. With urban schools often catering to more impoverished students, it is not surprising their test scores are lower. If socio-economic status is such a key issue towards determining test scores, how can we improve test scores without improving socio-economic status?
Burlington Schools in Burlington, Vermont have an idea. They want to have the enrollment in their school system based on family income. They want to mix poor students with middle-class students with rich students. This is interesting though I feel it is a tad misguided. An article by Molly Walsh of the Burlington Free Press examines this issue as it applies to her locale as well as the national image.
At least four decades of national education research shows that low-income students generally perform worse on standardized tests than students from families with more money. Lower-income students are also more likely to drop out of school, less likely to be enrolled in honors or advanced placement classes at the high school level, and less likely to go to college.
I can not argue with this statement. It seems basic. Poor families generally have lower education levels than those who are better off. If a family is minimally educated they may not stress the importance of staying in school, enrolling in honors courses, and going to college. This quote from the article seems like common sense. But how are people trying to solve this socio-economic issue? One proposal includes moving students with low family incomes into middle class schools.
“Clearly, the research finds that, on average, low-income students will do better in middle-class schools,” said Richard Kahlenburg, a senior fellow at New York City think tank The Century Foundation and author of “Altogether Now, Creating Middle Class Schools Through Public School Choice.”
Statistics prove students from a lower class background in a middle-class school perform better on tests. But isn’t this missing the point? Moving kids into middle class schools may guarantee better instructor but it does not help these students once they go home. To me this seems like putting a bandaid over a knife wound; the problem is more than skin deep. Moving students does not fix schools which are still in impoverished areas. And what about the students who cannot / will not move? Instead of keeping quality education separate from urban areas we should try to bring quality education into the city. It may, on the surface, help students to attend a different school. But failing schools are still not being fixed, just glossed over.
The Economics of Learning
February 25, 2007
Molly Walsh
