The following is an essay I wrote for one of my economics classes this summer. I hope to follow up on this research as I progress in my profession and my own further education.
Greenville County School District’s three Title I middle schools sit in Greenville County’s west side, an area with a population of significantly lower socioeconomic status. Most are not surprised that these schools consistently pump out the lowest scores of all Greenville middle schools although the ignominy of absolute bottom shift periodically between the three schools. Although some of this area hosts a growing Hispanic, English language learner community, the common thread between the three schools and their depressed scores is income inequality. This income inequality significantly affects the educational outcomes of the students.
In this essay, one of the schools, Lakeview Middle School, will be used as a case study of sorts, due to author familiarity with the school, the students, and the surrounding area. No names will be used to protect privacy.
The income inequality can be seen first hand at the school in what the school does and does not have to offer for the students. The income inequality of these students and their families creates inequality of opportunity in the school. For example, Lakeview Middle School offers a limited number of related arts classes, extracurricular activities, and honors courses. Five out of the thirteen related arts classes are remedial or specifically designed for English language learners. One additional related arts class, P.E., is mandated by the state. Two more, band and orchestra, are limited to students who started playing in sixth grade. Thus, advanced students who do not play an instrument, are forced to choose their remaining three related arts classes from only five options.
With regards to honors classes, Lakeview offers standard honors English and math in grades six and seven as well as four high school credit courses in eighth grade: English I, Algebra I, Art I, and Spanish I, the only language class offered. It is also available only as a virtual class. By comparison, other middle schools in more affluent areas of Greenville County offer high school credit courses beginning in the seventh grade. Some students at those schools can amass six or more high school credits before leaving middle school. These same schools offer twice as many related arts class choices as well.
This inequality also affects parents’ ability to send their student to one of the magnet schools that provides the opportunities described above. A couple factors contribute to this. One, many parents have limited transportation options to get their student to and from school. Due to lack of reliable transportation or inflexible work schedules, parents must rely on the school bus system which takes the student to only the school for which the student is zoned. If a student attends a school other than their “home” school, the parent must provide the transportation to and from school. If a student is chosen through a highly selective process for the opportunity to attend one of the district’s magnet schools, a separate bus is provided but space in the magnet school programs is limited. Second, much of this information is provided to parents electronically. Although many more household have internet connectivity at home than in previous years, many others either have no access or are limited to connectivity through a mobile device. The economic inequality of these households not only limits the offerings of the school but also obscures the possibilities that do exist.
This inequality in educational opportunity leads directly to inequality in educational outcome, often in a perpetually downward cycle. Students at Lakeview, for example, who do not have the opportunity to pursue the advanced classes in a variety of subjects, may maintain the status quo at an underperforming high school when they leave Lakeview, and may even obtain top marks at said high school but enter college only to face remedial classes with a mounting cost that scholarships and limited family income cannot bear. Most of the students, however, may not even make it that far before other economic and social pressures limit their educational opportunities. For example, one of last year’s eighth graders gave birth on what would have been her last day of eighth grade. This particular student already struggles with a severe learning disability necessitating substantial support for economic success. Although currently, she still plans to attend high school in the fall, she will likely have to find employment of some sort to support herself and her child which will cut into the time she can spend on her education. She faces an unlikely prospect of ever graduating from high school. The cycle, also, is likely to repeat with her daughter, since this student will be unable to provide educational support for her daughter starting in the infant’s formative years.
Many of the previously described factors, along with a few others not mentioned in this essay, significantly affect the ability of low socioeconomic status families to invest in their student’s education and improve their educational outcome. For example, as described by Christansen in Disrupting Class, children of these families hear approximately 35 million less words in their first year of life than children of college-educated parents. Many research based
studies have shown the benefit this vast “hearing vocabulary” provides to children, how it sets them up for future success. It is not that these parents with lower income do not want to give this step up to their children, many of them simply lack the vocabulary themselves or due to inflexible work schedules, cannot spend that amount of time “language dancing … [with] deliberate, uncompromised, personal adult conversation” with their children.1 As the student progresses through school, those same economic pressures also prevent parents from making other investments in the student’s education.
Although, without a doubt, income inequality affects educational outcomes, this inequality need not be permanent. Through strategic analysis and investment from all involved parties, even those who may not consider themselves involved, can go a long way to closing the gap not just in educational opportunity but also in outcome.