Educational equity
Educational equity, also known as equity in education, is a measure of equity in education. Educational equity depends on two main factors. The first is distributive justice, which implies that factors specific to one's personal conditions should not interfere with the potential of academic success. The second factor is inclusion, which refers to a comprehensive standard that applies to everyone in a certain education system. These two factors are closely related and depend on each other for an educational system's success. Education equity can include the study of excellence and equity.
Educational equity's growing importance is based on the premise that a person's level of education directly correlates with their quality of life and that an academic system that practices educational equity is thus a strong foundation for a fair and thriving society. But inequity in education is hard to avoid because of inequities in socioeconomic standing, race, gender, and disability. Educational equity also operates in a historical context. History can shape outcomes in education systems.
Those without the skills to participate socially and economically in society generate higher costs of healthcare, income support, child welfare and social security.
Equity vs. equality
Equity
Equity is equality of outcome for all subgroups in society. Equity proponents believe that some are at a larger disadvantage than others and aims to compensate for this to ensure that everyone can attain the same lifestyle. Examples of this are: "When libraries offer literacy programs, when schools offer courses in English as a second language, and when foundations target scholarships to students from poor families, they operationalize a belief in equity of access as fairness and as justice". Equity recognizes this uneven playing field and aims to take extra measures by giving those in need more than those who are not. Equity aims to achieve equal outcomes for groups, also called substantive equality. Equity aims to ensure that everyone's lifestyle is equal, even if that requires unequal distribution of access and goods. Social justice leaders in education strive to ensure equitable outcomes for their students.Differential outcomes between groups and individuals can occur as a function of biology/psychology and not social background; appropriate 'equitable' resource apportionment would therefore appear to require a clear distinction between where differential performance is caused by social background and where it is caused by biological/psychological factors. The extensive literature on the subject of equity typically does make such a distinction.
Equality of opportunity
Equality of opportunity in education occurs when the chances only depend on meritocracy and do not depend on characteristics such as sex, ethnicity, race, caste, relatives or friends, religion. The American Library Association defines equality as "access to channels of communication and sources of information that is made available on even terms to all". On this definition, no one has an unfair advantage. Everyone has equal opportunities and accessibility and is then free to do what they please. This is not to say that everyone is then inherently equal. Some people may choose to seize opportunities while others let them pass.Educational tracking
systems are selective measures to find students at different educational levels. They are created to increase education's efficiency. They allow more or less homogeneous groups of students to receive education that suits their skills. Tracking can affect educational equity if the selection process is biased and children with certain backgrounds are structurally put on lower tracks. Students can be viewed and treated differently depending on their track, generating unequal achievement levels and restricting access to higher tracks and higher education. The quality of teaching and curricula vary between tracks and those on lower tracks may be disadvantaged with inferior resources, teachers, etc. In many cases, tracking stunts students who may develop the ability to excel past their original placement.Tracking systems
The type of tracking has impact on the level of educational equity, which is especially determined by the degree in which the system is differentiated. Less differentiated systems, such as standardized comprehensive schools, reach higher levels of equity in comparison to more differentiated, or tracked, systems.Within the tracked systems, the kind of differentiation matters as well for educational equity. Differentiation of schools could be organized externally or internally. External differentiation means that tracks are separated in different schools. Certain schools follow a certain track, which prepares students for academic or professional education, or for career or vocational education. This form is less beneficial for educational equity than internal differentiation or course-by-course tracking. Internal tracking means that, within a single school, courses are instructed at different levels, which is a less rigid kind of tracking that allows for more mobility.
The organization of the tracking systems themselves is also important for its effect on educational equity. For both differentiation systems, a higher number of tracks and a smaller number of students per track is granting more educational equity. In addition, the effects of tracking are less rigid and have a smaller impact on equity if the students are located in tracks when they are older. The earlier the students undergo educational selection, the less mobile they are to develop their abilities and the less they can benefit from peer effects.
Socio-economic equity in education
Income and class
Income has always played an important role in shaping academic success. Those who come from a family of a higher socioeconomic status are privileged with more opportunities than those of lower SES. Those who come from a higher SES can afford things like better tutors, rigorous SAT/ACT prep classes, impressive summer programs, and so on. Parents generally feel more comfortable intervening on behalf of their children to acquire better grades or more qualified teachers. Parents of a higher SES are more willing to donate large sums of money to a certain institution to better improve their child's chances of acceptance, along with other extravagant measures. This creates an unfair advantage and distinct class barrier.Factors contributing to socioeconomic achievement gaps
A broad range of factors contributes to the emergence of socioeconomic achievement gaps. The interaction of different aspects of socialization is outlined in the model of mediating mechanisms between social background and learning outcomes. The model describes a multi-step mediation process. Socially privileged families have more economic, personal, and social resources available than socially disadvantaged families. Differences in family resources result in differences in the learning environments experienced by children. Children with various social backgrounds experience different home learning environments, attend different early childhood facilities, schools, school-related facilities, and recreational facilities, and have different peer groups. Due to these differences in learning environments, children with various social backgrounds carry out different learning activities and develop different learning prerequisites.Costs of education
The extraordinarily high cost of the many prestigious high schools and universities in the United States makes an attempt at a "level playing field" for all students not so level. High-achieving low-income students do not have the means to attend selective schools that better prepare a student for later success. Because of this, low-income students do not even attempt to apply to the top-tier schools for which they are more than qualified. In addition, neighborhoods generally segregated by class leave lower-income students in lower-quality schools. For higher-quality schooling, students in low-income areas would have to take public transport which they cannot pay for. Fewer than 30 percent of students in the bottom quarter of incomes even enroll in a four-year school and among that group, fewer than half graduate.Racial equity in education
From a scientific point of view, humanity is a single species. Nevertheless, the term racial group is enshrined in legislation, and phrases such as race equality and race relations are in widespread official use. A report by Association of Teachers and Lecturers discussed the racial, religious or cultural terminology used in the UK educational system. Racial equity in education means the assignment of students to public schools and within schools without regard to their race. This includes providing students with a full opportunity for participation in all educational programs regardless of their race.The educational system and its response to racial concerns in education vary from country to country. Below are some examples of countries that have to deal with racial discrimination in education.
- US Department of Education: The Commission on Equity and Excellence in Education issued a seminal report in 2013, a blueprint for making the dream of equity, and a world-class education, for each and every American child a reality.
- Asia-Pacific Region: Globalization of the economy, increasingly diverse and interconnected populations, and rapid technological change are posing new and demanding challenges to individuals and societies alike. School systems are rethinking the knowledge and skills students need for success, and the educational strategies and systems required for all children to achieve them. Within the Asia-Pacific region, for example, Korea, Shanghai-China, and Japan are examples of Asian education systems that have climbed the ladder to the top in both quality and equity indicators.
- South Africa: A major task of South Africa's new government in 1994 was to promote racial equity in the state education system. During the apartheid era, which began when the National Party won control of Parliament in 1948 and ended with a negotiated settlement more than four decades later, the provision of education was racially unequal by design and resources were lavished on schools serving white students while schools serving the black majority were systematically deprived of qualified teachers, physical resources and teaching aids such as textbook and stationery. A study evaluated progress towards racial equity after end of apartheid using three distinct concepts: equal treatment, equal educational opportunity, and educational adequacy. The authors find that the country has succeeded in establishing racial equity defined as equal treatment, primarily through race-blind policies for allocating state funds for schools. Progress measured by the other two criteria, however, has been constrained by the legacy of apartheid, including poor facilities and lack of human capacity in schools serving black students, and by policies such as school fees.