Where does the Urban Education System Leave My Friends?

In today’s America the educational system is consistently being called into question. There is always debate on how to regulate the different districts’ educational systems. It is not uncommon of for colleges to report that they have many students with various learning curves. Unfortunately, those with the largest learning curves tend to be from urban areas. Personally, I am from a suburban area and had a fairly good education however, now that I am in college I see that some of my friends that are from urban areas, such as New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, or Newark, struggle in major academic areas. For instance, I have witness one of my good friends go from being valedictorian in their high school to catastrophically struggling in STEM courses such as chemistry and math. Many professionals who look at the education systems in urban areas say this disadvantage is due to unqualified teachers and lack of funding. For instance, in the mathematic department many of those who teach have degrees in disciplines other than math.

In an era where professions in STEM field are promoted, students from urban areas are at a serious disadvantage. It is reported that many of the public schools in these areas have inadequate labs. Many of which are outdated and have very limited supplies which hinder the students’ education significantly. Though it may not be directly obvious because of these limitations in urban schools many students do not see STEM fields as viable professions for them. Thus, while the rest of the schools in suburban and rural areas are promoting professions in STEM fields urban schools are, unfortunately, hindering the ideology that STEM field professions are obtainable.

Beyond the inadequate labs and text books urbans schools tend not to teach the skills needed to be successful in the work place. It is seen that countless students from urban areas do not know how to go on an interview, send a proper email, or create a professional resume. In many suburban areas, these skills are taught in computer classes however in urban areas there is a lack in up-to-date technology which makes teaching professionalism a challenge. Therefore, when students from urban schools enter college and it is time to interview for jobs or summer internships they have a much larger learning curve than their counter parts.

Due to the fact that the inequalities between educational systems is no secret there are quite a few approaches that have been formulated to improving the educational system as a whole.

The number one thing that is needed is funding and policy changes. By increasing the funding of public school, specifically, and requiring certified teachers to teach their respective subjects there will be a great improvement in the educational system as a whole. In addition to more funding and sufficient teaches, an update in technology in these schools is vital. Studies have shown that better computer programs/software motive students to learn. For instance, subjects such as physics taught with computer program supplements interest students more, which lead to more success learning.

The environment of which a student learns is vital as well. Imagine learning in the freezing cold or the stifling heat in an overcrowded classroom. This is unfortunately the environment that some urban schools teach in. By upgrading the schools to state of art buildings can vastly improve the learning in urban areas.

So are there any programs or organizations that work towards improving these conditions? There are!

Programs such as Michigan State University’s (MSU) Teachers Urban Education Program teach teachers how to teach urban students. There are also organizations such as Facing History and Ourselves who hold symposiums to teach how maintain safe and progressive environments and recruit teachers to teach in urban. For example, the Engaging Education: Full Day Conference in Memphis invites 400 scholars, teachers, administrators, and reformers from different disciplines together to discuss these topics.

By supporting organizations and programs like those previous mentioned there will be a vast improvement the diversity in the STEM field. Urban students will be able to aspired to bigger and greater things. There will be less students like my friend who come from urban areas that struggle in academia due to their academic background. Therefore, we will no longer have a loss generation of scholars that could contribute significantly to society.

2 thoughts on “Where does the Urban Education System Leave My Friends?

  • August 5, 2018 at 8:39 am
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    This happens everywhere, those from suburban performs well there but not in the city based school or college. In the city, there’s too many competitions between students when all the smart students went to the school or college in the city. Changes that the government made must have positive results. We’ll wait and see. Quizizz Login

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