Lecture 4 –

Lesson Element .1: A Equity of Resources

• Series of Four Lectures on Barriers to Effective Education.
• The four most barriers to effective education are:
• Equity.
• Accountability.
• Mobility.
• Obsolescence.
• Equity as a Barrier to Effective Education.
• Need to define equity. Three definitions.Equity of Time of Years of Education, Equity of Resources, and Equity of Results.
• Equity in Time of Years of Education:
• Everybody in the U.S. gets 13 years of free education. Grades K-12 are free.
• Beyond that you have to start paying.
• Some people more than others, and some places more than others.
• However, not everyone actually gets their 13 years of free education.
• Some kids drop out at the end of grade ten.
• In actuality, they are being short-changed by two years of free education.
• Even if you think of the 13 years as a sort of equity, you have to take into account that all education has some subsidies.
• This course is being subsidized.
• In-state students subsidy is around 50%. The out-state students by 20%.
• No one is paying the full cost.
• The greatest subsidy comes to medical education. That's the most expensive education around.
• Dichotomy: the most expensive subsidy produces the class of people with the highest income. Is that equitable?
• Equity of Resources:
• This is how many dollars you spend on each kid.
• Not the money spent on facilities or materials used.
• This is equity of how the resources are distributed.
• The kids who have the most money spent on them are the kids who need it the least. They are from the higher socio-economic households.
• The kids who need it the most have the fewest resources available. That's not equitable.
• Another shortfall in our thinking about distribution of resources (equity), is that the short-changed kids often end up in jail or on welfare and we end up paying for them in another manner.
• It's actually in society's best interest to make sure education works for everyone. We need more equity of resources.

Lesson Element .2: A Equity of Results

• Equity of Results is the Third Kind of Equity.
• This mean results in terms of everybody getting as much education as will benefit them.
• Doesn't necessarily mean everybody going on to college.
• Big Difference Between Equity and Equality.
• Equality is impossible to achieve and is undesirable.
• Dr. Allen is opposed to equality in education.
• He strongly supports equity in education.
• Equality is impossible to achieve because we are not all the same. We have different needs based on an individual's special talents, abilities, and interests.
• Equity provides for everybody getting what they need and can profit from, not giving everybody an equal dose.
• The Way We Fund Education is Wrong.
• Half the funding comes from the state and the other half from the local community.
• The half from the local community usually comes from property taxes.
• Dr. Allen believes that the funding should come from the Federal Government.
• Since our population is so mobile it is the only equitable means of providing funding to take into account the differences in results.
• Example: A kid comes into the VA Beach school system after moving here from Mississippi. They may well be far behind the kids already in the system.
• Mississippi has the lowest per-capita spending on education of any state in the union.
• We would have to expend extra resources to bring the kid up to par with his classmates. That money comes from the pool of local property taxes which the kid's parents may or may not have to contribute to.
• The Equity of Results Model Could Well Be the Special Ed Act Currently in Place.
• We have already recognized it takes more resources to educate the Special Ed kid to the same level as the other kids.
• Ideally, we would treat every kid like a Special Ed kid.
• Give everyone the resources they need to educate them to the level that they can benefit from.
• Example: If you gave the resources to provide intensive kindergarten and first grade levels to the bilingual kid, then they would have a better chance at succeeding in the training provided later on.
• Instead, we are trying to mandate that they speak English and if their skills aren't up to par, it's just their tough luck.
• Equity of results could ultimately help everyone find their true niche in our society. Not everyone should be a rocket scientist. But we should ensure that those who are suited to be rocket scientists, get the chance at the education to achieve that goal.
• Medical school training is another example. We (as the public) subsidize medical school training. However, not everyone gets an equitable opportunity to take that training.

Lesson Element .3: A Equity in Teacher Assignments

• Equity in Teacher Assignments is a Sub-Group of Equity of Resources.
• Providing more money is not the sole answer to achieving equity.
• Studies in the Chicago area showed that even when the per-child spending was the same, the children from the wealthier socio-economic groups did better than the poorer kids.
• There also must be equity in teacher competency and experience.
• The schools attended by the poorer students (inner-city), usually go the brand new teachers or permanent substitute teachers.
• The more experienced teachers often opt to go to the better schools.
• Salary may be higher or have better working conditions.
• Kids may be easier to teach, less social baggage.
• May have strong PTA and community involvement in comparison to the inner-city schools.
• Equity in Teacher Assignments Should Include Incentive Pay for Those Teachers Who Take on the Tougher Assignments.
• Another aspect would be to require smaller classes.
• We need to make the tougher assignments more attractive to the more experienced teachers.
• Another Inequity is that the Newest Teachers Get the Hardest Assignments.
• Everybody loses.
• New teachers require more preparations to teach their classes.
• Haven't had the opportunity to build up a stock of effective lesson plans.
• Tend to make more mistakes than the more experienced teachers.
• May be ill prepared to deal with the challenges of the toughest assignment.
• The Toughest Assignments Requires the Attention of the Best Teachers.
• Traditionally, we give the best teachers the honors classes and the newest teachers the hardest classes.
• The honors students are generally the kids who need the least attention!
• Maybe we should reverse that pattern. Let the new teachers ease into the system and gain experience before throwing them the hard curve balls.
• Ultimately, we could create a system where the most desirable assignments were the ones where the teaching is the toughest.
• Combination of incentives, pay, status, etc. to attract the best teachers.

Lesson Element .4: A Remediation

• There is a Lack of Real-Time Mediation.
• This is the time that it takes to resolve a student's academic problem.
• If having a difficulty learning something, you nominally should stop and help them with it.
• Current system doesn't allow for that.
• Current system based on end of year remediation.
• If you pass, you are promoted. If you don't pass, you are retained.
• Allows remedial needs to pile up for a whole year.
• Leads to frustration on the student's part. Forces them to start all over again.
• When they start all over again, the kids get bored and develop bad study habits.
• Doesn't turn out to be effective remediation of any sort.
• Real-Time Remediation Means That When There is a Problem, You Fix it Immediately.
• UCLA Research Study Points to Another Way to Approach the Subject.
• Madeline Hunter at UCLA decided to experiment with the summer gatekeeper cource in a masters degree program.
• Divided the subject matter (statistics course), into eight pieces, each a one week unit.
• You could not go on to the next unit unless you passed the test for the previous one.
• Typically, you wait until midterm exam to find out how you are doing.
• If you aren't doing well, it puts you way behind the power curve.
• Intensifies the amount of study. You have both catch-up material and new material to master.
• In the research study some people had to work as much as 18 hours to meet the criteria of the first test.
• Typically, a normal summer course consisted for 5 hours of Lecture time in the class.
• Some finished the week's material in a range of 5 to 18 hours.
• The requirement to pass the test before moving on was extended throughout the summer course period.
• Intent was to see how many hours of study would be required for the weakest student.
• First week was 18 hours.
• By using the pass before moving on approach, by the end of the summer the time to needed to pass the tests came down dramatically.
• Ensured that the student had mastered the basics before moving on to more advanced material.
• Time came down to 8 hours for the weakest student.
• 90 percent of the students got an AA in the course. These weren't special students, they simply got timely remediation.

Lesson Element .5: A Rights to a Bad Education

• Many Communities Feel That They Have a Right to a Bad Education.
• The U.S. believes in local control of schools.
• Every community has the right to have its own curriculum and make its own decisions.
• Does that include the right to a bad education?
• There are Disparities In the Ways that Different Communities Approach Education.
• Example: Two communities in the same metropolitan area.
• One does an excellent job with special education and the other does a miserable job.
• Special Education is costly, and although you get federal and state subsidies, if you go beyond that pool of money, it is very costly to the local district.
• Parents moving into the are naturally opt for the school that does the better job.
• This increases the pressure on that school district to meet the needs of a larger population. Unfortunately, the money available doesn't keep pace with the population.
• Dichotomy: If you do a good job you get penalized. The less effective district program stays within the fiscal amounts, but the better school district has to ask for more money from it's taxpayer base.
• Some Communities Have Opted to Deliberately Have Poor Programs to Avoid Tax Payer Burdens.
• Some communities in Arizona have no schools because the families know the schools are bad and they don't send their kids there.
• This gives tacit approval to the concept of a right to a bad education.
• There is Also a Problem with System Accountability.
• There is no external accountability.
• Different levels of the system may do a great job, but the overall effect may be poor.
• Example: If the kindergarten teacher does a great job, but the succeeding teachers do a poor one, you get a poor result.
• However, if the kindergarten teacher does a poor job and the following teachers do a good one, the result may be good.
• Of course, you can have a mixture of good and bad throughout the 13 years of education, this may well give you a mediocre result.
• The circumstances of each school, in each district may negate the good or the bad. There is not pinpointing of accountability for the end result.

Lesson Element .6: A Elements of Equity

• The Right to Have Bad Schools Also Creates a Problem of Selfishness and Prejudice.
• A segment of the population known as DINKS (double income, no kids) plays a role in promoting the selfishness and prejudice.
• Concept behind their argument is: I don't have any kids in the system so why should I have to pay for it? (Paying through the tax base).
• Prejudice is also promoted where districts has a substantial minority population.
• Simple prejudice, but a real problem.
• Some minority community kids require more resources to allow them to successfully stay up with the majority kids.
• Increases the tax base and breeds resentment in some segments of the majority group.
• These Difficulties Create a Barrier of Ignorance.
• This barrier of ignorance makes us short-sighted.
• Bad schools penalize all of society.
• Poor educated segments are more likely to:
• End up in jail or on welfare. They don't fit into the mainstream of society.
• Requires a higher tax base to build jails and fund welfare systems.
• We still end up paying, but paying for highly negative systems instead of a more positive system: education.
• Some Elements of Equity.
• Funding Equity: Needs to be improved.
• Staff Equity: Put the teachers where they are most needed, not good teachers solely with the good students.
• Organizational Equity: This is a big factor. We need to ensure that the support staff, facilities, and materials are available as they are needed.
• Remediation Equity: Ensure that the time and method of remediation is immediate, not delayed.
• Homework Equity: Eliminate homework. There are other more effective means of getting parental involvement while still ensuring that the kids learn the materials.
• Equity of Access to Schools: This is access by the parents to the school.
• Many parents cannot come into school during the normal working day.
• Make the teacher available one or two days a month from noon to late in the evening.
• Currently, the average teacher works a 54 hour work-week. Unless the teacher is willing to sacrifice their own time, many parents will never have the opportunity to ever meet with the teacher.
• Equity in Transport: The bus schedules may well preclude some student's involvement in extracurricular activities. No way to get to or from the activities because of the parent work schedules.
• Equity of Parent Access: This is access to the parent by the school. Again, work schedules of both teacher and parent may never permit interaction.
• Curriculum Equity: Some curriculums are richer in depth and offerings than other school's curriculums. Is this equitable?
• Facilities Equity: Some diversity is inevitable because we can't build all the facilities at the same time. However, some kids go to school in ancient, badly maintained buildings, while others enjoy new facilities wired with the latest technology.
• Ironically, its usually the same schools that always phase in the new things first.

Lesson Element .7: A Abstract

• Remember: There are Three Types of Equity.
• Equity of time, resources, and money.
• We Don't Have Equity in the American School Systems on any of Those Dimensions.
• Big Distinction Between Equity and Equality. Equity is Desirable, Equality is Not.
• Barriers and the Way We Do Things Produce the Greatest Resources Where They Are Needed the Least.
• One of the Key Flaws Is in the Way We Fund Schools.
• Accomplished primarily through local property taxes and state subsidies.
• More affluent localities are able to afford higher funding.
• Funding would be much more equitable if it came from federal sources.
• The System must Deliver Timely Premediation and Remediation. It Currently Doesn't Do Either.
• Remediation and premediation are two prime components of equity