When one addresses factors that need to be considered when assessing educational equity, I believe that the textbook Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education states it best in that the world in which one lives is a world of differences and it is these differences that one must prepare for. As one looks at the world, one can see the importance of preparing individuals in areas of multilingualism, multiculturalism, information literacy, technological fluency and high levels of knowledge along with skill proficience (pg. 192). It is no longer acceptable to speak one language, understand one culture or not be able to utilize technology in some form for the purpose of placing one throughtout the global community that exist beyond the traditional classroom walls. It is imperative for one to become a twenty-first-century student/citizen which does include the use of technology along with many other tools.
The textbook states that an assessment of equity considers who is being served and how those individuals are being served. When one looks at educational equity, one needs to not only be concerned with the who and the how, but also the access that the students may have to resources along with how effectively are those resources being utilized. We understand that differences exist among individuals, communities, cultures, etc. but in education we must ensure that students are provided with effective learning opportunities that will help them to become well-rounded individuals that can contribute to society. Important factors that need to be considered according to the textbook include the following:
1. Social Context -This is where educational systems are deemed important because schools are seen as a way of socializing students inspite of the differences that exist among individuals. Schools are also important in that they are supposed to prepare individuals for the necessary skills to exist in society.
2. Economic Context – In the educational system it has been a push since Brown v. Board of Education to ensure that equality exist across the board in every school for every student. But as many of us know, that is just not the case. According to the text, despite efforts by states to equalize funding across schools, that some schools are consistently under-resourced while other are fully resources. (p. 193) This has a direct effect on the quality of education that individuals receive. It is imperative that equality exist across the board and the best way to ensure this is through the economic context.
3. Political Context – Politics has no place in education; or does it? I listened to an interesting news report the other day on NPR (National Public Radio) found at the following address: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18632834. The interview was titled: Plan Would Nationalize Schools End to Disparities with Matt Miller in which he states that funding should be federalized for the purpose of removing disparities in per-pupil funding among poor and afluent communities. I feel that some very good points were made regarding the political context and the role it should play in education.
4. Educational Reform Context – What really is “educational reform”? This is a term that is thrown around and I am not really sure anyone really knows what it means. It is supposed to be responsible for improving teaching and learning but after each political group gets finished and renames the beast what they want to call it, what has educational reform actually improved?
The basis for looking at the four context listed above is actually used for the purpose of accessing educational equity; or at least should be. The main concern should be that individuals in any educational setting should be equal and provided with the same equal resources/tools for learning!
