Resources for students, whether disadvantaged or advantaged, was a theme discussed throughout the semester. First-generation college students like Lizet in Make Your Home Among Strangers or low-income families like in New Orleans as discussed in Zeitoun are in need of more resources than privileged students. Not only are these types of students at a disadvantage, but students of color are as well. Some disadvantages including academic unpreparedness, unawareness of financial aid, and lack of confidence in a college atmosphere. Although racial discrimination has decreased over the years, racial bias still exists in higher education institutions.
Colleges across the country scream diversity in all advertisements. Whether that be a picture on a brochure of multiple races or broadcasting the numerous programs in the school that focus on inclusivity and diversity. Even though colleges may advertise diversity, most higher education institutions can provide much more in order to be equitable for all students. More often than not, colleges promote equality over equity when in fact it should be the opposite. Few programs promote equality for all students. Many faculty members would even say, “I treat all of my students the same”. Equity issues in higher education systems cannot be solved quickly, and take time to create change, but when will the change begin? All colleges must realize that not all students are the same, and some students are in need of more resources than others. These resources could include classes specifically for first-generation college students, a financial aid awareness program, and more one on one advising for disadvantaged students.
Annotated Bibliography
CITATION
Cochran-Smith, Ell, Grudnoff, Haigh, Hill, & Ludlow. (2016). Initial teacher education: What
does it take to put equity at the center? Teaching and Teacher Education, 57(C),
67-78.
BRIEF SUMMARY
We see the question: What is necessary to mainstream equity into education? posed throughout this article. Looking at evidence and progressive methods, the argument made by the authors centers upon many main targets. Addressing inequality within education in relation to student and educator; establishing equity practices; honing in upon patterned inequality and addressing the cracks and gaps; and, actively searching for improvement upon resources that guide practiced equity. All of these targets addressed in the article are then shown how they have an impact in specificity to a single context.
IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS
Cochran-Smith, Ell, Grudnoff, Haigh, Hill, & Ludlow (2016) argue, “Throughout the developed world, although some countries have much wider disparities than others (Levin, 2007), there are serious discrepancies and “gaps” between historically privileged and disadvantaged groups (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013) in terms of educational opportunities and outcomes” (p. 69). There is not full equity in education. Not only just equity of students but teachers as well. Even though education systems strive for equality and equity for all students, they are unable to achieve this, “…educational opportunities, resources, and outcomes are unequally and unfairly distributed among groups differentiated by race/ethnicity/language, socioeconomic status, gender, and disability” (p. 69). In order to understand equity in higher education, readers must recognize the disadvantage that minorities receive.
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE
The audience for this article are teachers that would like to have equity as the center of the programs. The purpose is a call to action for better equity in the educational system. This peer-reviewed source and uses scholarly language as well as research in order to inform readers about how resources are unfairly distributed.
SOURCE EVALUATION
This source would be valuable for my paper because it gives a different viewpoint on equity in the educational system. Looking at equity from a teaching standpoint allows there to be a broader perspective. However, since I am analyzing equity specifically on college campuses, this article fails to highlight specifically equity for students rather than centering programs on equity for teachers.
CITATION
Equity of Opportunity. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/equity
Summary
America, which attempts to be a country filled with hard workers that thrive and experience great success, fails to create this distorted image. Students, especially from low-income communities, are in need of access to better education. More resources, affordable higher education, along with an encouraging support system would allow disadvantaged students to be at the same level as privileged students. This article discusses the progress that America has made in creating a more equitable education system.
IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS
According to the Department of Education, “45 percent of high-poverty schools received less state and local funding than was typical for other schools in their district” (p. 1). Although there still continues to be disadvantages for poor and working-class families in the educational system, the country is trying to support all students. Recognizing these disparities, the Obama Administration is committed to advancing equity in education, “The 2017 budget continues to support expanded educational opportunity for all students” (p. 1). However, it is still unknown whether or not the 2018 budget is continuing in these footsteps Obama created.
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE
Although this article focuses on the changes America has made in creating a more equal education system, it counteracted these claims with negative aspects. Both the length and depth of the article’s content suggests its purpose is to inform the poor and working-class about the progress America has made. It uses its facts and statistics to reveal these advancements.
SOURCE EVALUATION
This source would be useful in my research paper for the statistics it provides that the Obama Administration. The downside is that The Trump Administration is now in executive order, therefore the statistics are not valuable anymore. It is also not a peer-reviewed source and not does state any authors, which makes it not a scholarly source. This source raises the question: What is the Trump Administration doing in order to continue to progress in making an equitable educational system?
CITATION
Francis, Andrew M., & Tannuri-Pianto, Maria. (2012). The Redistributive Equity of Affirmative
Action: Exploring the Role of Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Gender in College
Admissions. Economics of Education Review, 31(1), 45-55.
Summary
Throughout this source, we can see an examination of the issues surrounding equity and affirmative action in Brazilian racial ties. On the basis of higher education admittance and student-oriented surveys, there were clear signs of racial, socioeconomic, and gender-based obstacles in terms of attending higher education. Still, the chance of Brazilians proceeding to college after high school is still rare, which means higher education should do more to increase attendance.
IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS
Francis and Tannuri-Pianto (2012) found that “displacing applicants were considerably more black than displaced applicants and were, by many measures, from families with significantly lower socioeconomic status” (p. 46). This quote is important because it emphasizes, with numbers and statistics, the role black and lower-income communities have as applicants to a University. This can then lead to more discussion as to how to repair this divide going forward.
The authors also claim, “Despite the historical notion of racial democracy in Brazil, significant racial disparities exist in education, income, and other dimensions” (p. 47). This shows that there are racial disparities are not limiting to college campuses in the United States – racial disparities do not discriminate. They are found in all countries, across many different platforms.
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE
This article mainly focused on how people of color in a lower socioeconomic status are not given the same opportunities that high-class families are. The targeted audience is educators and universities in order to inform them to change the educational system to make it more equitable for families of lower socioeconomic status and minorities. Its language uses a persuasive and informative tone to fulfill its purpose.
SOURCE EVALUATION
Although this source provides beneficial insight that relates to my research, the fact the study was in Brazil makes the source not as useful. If this study was conducted towards American college schools, it would be a much better use for my paper. That it focuses on Brazilians, this would limit my paper and narrow the scope of people that would be discussed.
CITATION
Lorimer, J., & Williams, L. N. (2017, October 31). Equity Along the Paths to and Through
College. Retrieved from
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/equity_along_the_paths_to_and_through_college
Summary
Many people in the United States do not realize the number of resources young people need in order to be successful after high school. Programs at the local and state level have been created to aid in students attending higher education. The program founded by Lorimer and Williams has had great success in increasing attendance for college students that are at a disadvantage.
IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS
According to Lorimer and Williams (2017), “The Research Alliance for New York City Schools recently found that while about 48 percent of Asian students, 43 percent of White students, and 38 percent of high-income ninth graders earn a college degree in a decade, only 20 percent of Black and Latino students, and 16 percent of ninth graders from neighborhoods in the bottom income quartile do” (p. 1). Based on the statistics, readers can recognize that there is discrimination and bias based on race and college degrees. Not only race but income as well. The source provides a program that helps people of color and lower income families with college applications and attendance, “In 2017, 97 percent of our college freshmen persisted to the end of the year, and outcomes for our first college cohort are shining” (p. 1). The statistics show that the program is increasing attendance for students, and does so by increasing equity.
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE
The intended audience for this article is people either searching for solutions to equity on college campuses. Readers would read this and become inspired by the work the source is doing which may lead to more people creating equitable resources. The length and language of the article creates a non-scholarly tone but is still persuasive and informative.
SOURCE EVALUATION
Due to this source not being peer-reviewed, it may not be as useful in a research paper. However, the source does provide an example of making higher education systems more equitable. If more people would create similar programs, there would be more equity for all students on campus. The length of the article was a limitation for its usefulness. The article was quite short and did not have all of the information I expected it to obtain.
CITATION
Maranto, R., & Dean, J. (2015). Not Separate and Not Equal? Achievement and Attainment
Equity in College Towns. Social Science Quarterly, 96(4), 985-995.
Summary
Throughout this article, the author tests whether college towns are more equitable than communities that do not obtain colleges. According to the tests, low-income students in Pennsylvania college towns do not achieve as much success in the math department compared to low-income students in other places. In the end, the source concluded that college towns are less equitable than the public perceives them to be.
IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS
It is extremely important to those going into college with a small to non-existent income. Maranto and Dean (2015) state, “low‐income students are at a disadvantage in college towns” (p. 1). Being at a disadvantage in a college town is extremely hard, especially due to the fact that students are now living on their own (without their parents), simply getting themselves an education while they also have to attempt to earn themselves an income on top of their heavy course load. Understandably, “the large number of university‐based intellectuals in a college town will pressure the school system to maintain quality” according to Maranto and Dean (2017, p. 1). The amount of students attending my university is extremely large, so the university itself needs to have several resources for the students to look for in the good times and the bad times. The university needs to demonstrate itself as a quality based institution so that the individuals attending, or those that plan to attend will know that they are attending a high-quality university.
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE
The statistics dominated the majority of the article. This very analytical role took part in educating readers in different aspects of college campuses. The intended audience may be students that are in high school looking into different universities and the diversity within them. Based on this strictly factual article, this source serves as an informative article.
SOURCE EVALUATION
This article agrees with my critical question that college towns prize equity on campus, but do not deliver. The statistical evidence is a bit overwhelming and is hard to understand if reader’s do not have a background in statistics. The limitation of this article is that it focuses on the GPA of people of color and high school graduation rates which does not fully relate to my research.
CITATION
Vue, R., Haslerig, S., & Allen, W. (2017). Affirming Race, Diversity, and Equity Through Black
and Latinx Students’ Lived Experiences. American Educational Research Journal,
54(5), 868-903
Summary
Proceeding President Obama’s campaign, some say that the United States was over racism. The source investigates this theory by inspecting how successful Black and Latinx college students maneuver through policies regarding affirmative action, even though racism is still relevant in higher education. This article differentiates between racial conditions proceeding Obama’s campaign and future racial desires.
IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS
I argue that inequality on campus is not inescapable, but certainly a problem. Vue, Haslerig, and Allen (2017) disagree, “For Black and Latinx students, debates about racial frames and affirmative action can be inescapable on college campuses” (p. 876). Although their statement offers a deep understanding of the perception of inequality on campus, it is an argument against my proposition. Later in the article, they argued, “… colorblind racism undermines the value of diversity, intersectionality offers students of color a way to address the complexity of racialized experiences” (p. 879). This is important because it is an argument of how to solve, fix, and address the problem of racism on campuses, which is essentially my argument!
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE
The purpose of this article is to inform education systems the racial discrimination on college campuses. A study conducted by the source backs up the argument. The language of the article and that the source is peer-reviewed makes the source very scholarly. In addition, the facts provided by the study increases how scholarly the article is.
SOURCE EVALUATION
This source supports my critical question by its arguments of race on a college campus. However, it focuses primarily on affirmative action and specifically black and latinx students which is more narrow than my argument. The article does not focus on equity, which is a limitation to this source.
Conclusion:
Institutions of higher education strive to be equitable for all students but rarely achieve this goal. Although advertisements from colleges may argue the excessive amount of programs the school contains, colleges focus more on equality than equity. One of the few resources that are equitable in higher education systems is financial aid, but even that is not equitable for all because only students of low-income families receive the need-based grants. When looking at financial aid, more than just a families income should play into consideration. Besides a few programs in schools and need-based financial aid, colleges can do much more to make higher education more equitable for everyone. All of the articles compiled within my annotated bibliography declare how not equitable education systems are, and different ways to improve equity.
A majority of the articles I researched delve into themes of lacking resources for students of color and students that come from low-income families. Each article discussed the negative aspects of higher education systems regarding equity. A few of the articles explained the progress America has made in making colleges equitable for all students. In particular, the article from the Department of Education mainly focused on evidence and statistics of how America has made progress in reaching equity. Even though the article focused on the advancement education systems have made, it counteracts these claims by stating the challenge of ensuring educational equity. Similarly to the factual evidence shown in that source, Maranto and Dean’s article, “Not Separate and Not Equal? Achievement and Attainment Equity in College Towns”, mainly focuses on evidence from statistical tests conducted to answer the authors’ critical question. This article stood out compared to any of the others because it was the only source that based their conclusion strictly off of statistical tests. Very little opinion was included, but the use of factual evidence disclosed a strong conclusion.
Throughout the research, all of the articles explained how equity has not been achieved in higher education, and a majority of the sources discussed how equity can improve in higher education institutions. Lorimer and Williams article, “Equity Along the Paths to and Through
College”, deeply explained the specific program that has made college more equitable for disadvantaged students. More specific program likes these are needed in order for equity to increase. It starts with faculty members making the first step to change. In Cochran-Smith, Ell, Grudnoff, Haigh, Hill, and Ludlow’s article, “Initial teacher education: What does it take to put equity at the center?”, they focus on how higher education faculty members can make equity the priority in their classes. By doing so, students are able to gain more opportunities which leads to greater success in college.
After researching how colleges can become more equitable, it would be interesting to further examine how successful the current equity programs set in place are, especially programs at the University of Minnesota. I would also like to dive into the controversial argument of whether colleges should focus more on equality or equity. Not until researching this topic did I realize the difference between equality and equity, and many students do not realize the difference as well. If universities elaborated on the difference between the two concepts, would students hold strong opinions on matters like resources and opportunities for students with disadvantages? Overall, there is a great need for colleges to create a more equitable education system for all students in order to achieve maximum success.