Equity in Education: What It Is and Why It Matters

According to Nielsen (2013), the government has been working hard in the due process of providing education to the children in the United States. Despite the efforts that have been initiated by the United States education department, there is a problem of equity in education access around the nation. There are a good number of students who do not have the same opportunities as others when it comes to the education sector. For instance, in most cases, the quality of education that a student will get depends with their social class in the community. Those with a weak living condition are less likely to have the same quality of education as those who belong to the wealthy families. Therefore, the importance of equity, issues with sameness and the strategies suggested by Natalie (2013) and the report by the equity and excellence commission will form the basis of discussion for this paper. 

Importance of Education Equity 

Economic Improvement 

When each child gets equal access to education, the result is always a working and productive portion of the country’s population. With the state having a large percentage of working people, there is a remarkable improvement realized in the economy due to the high revenues collected by the government. For instance, if the low performing would have hard better measures to ensure educational equity, each would have had a general improvement of $425 billion to $700 billion regarding the GDP ( Nielsen, 2013) . 

Illiteracy Reduction 

The fact that a large number of those belonging to the sparse population do not have the same opportunities to education access means that there are many illiterate children and youths in the society. Such low level of illiteracy results to the kids making uninformed decisions such as turning to substance abuse or robbery. Such activities lead to the insecurity that affects the country especially when it comes to the economy ( Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, & Cuéllar, 2013) . 

Decrease in Dependency Level 

Nielsen (2013) argues that also, with the provision of equity in the education sector across the United States, the dependency of the unemployed people decreases as a result of a majority of the total population working. Access to education widens the opportunities of getting employed due to skills possession. Therefore, when every child in the country has equal access to education facilities, it would be easy to realize changes in diverse areas of the society. 

Issues with Education Equity 

Various issues contribute to education inequality across the United States. The following is a discussion of the problems associated with education equality. 

Social Class 

The economic capability of different people belonging to diverse social classes plays a vital role in the type of education that a child will have access. For instance, in the United States, those that belong to the high class in the society have higher chances of getting better schools with the best facilities. On the contrary, those without such opportunities end up in disadvantaged schools economically or even drop out at the end ( Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, & Cuéllar, 2013) . 

Poor Teaching Strategies 

In the classroom set up, not every student who has the capability of grasping information as fast as the other. In most cases, a majority of teachers across the United States rely on one approach that leaves those with slow learning nature disadvantaged thus resulting in inequality. As such, some end up performing poorly in exams which kills their zeal to work hard in academic work ( Nielsen, 2013) . 

Grade Repetition 

If a student has failed to perform well in a particular grade, the repeat of the class is not necessary since many other factors are contributing to academic failure that is not children related. For instance, a child might be getting a lot of pressure from home thus failing in class work. Grade repetition demoralizes a student who contributes to school dropout ( Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, & Cuéllar, 2013) . 

Strategies Suggested by the Authors 

Appropriate School Funding 

Nielsen (2013) claims that if the government increases the amount of revenue allocated to the education sector, there will be adequate funding that will assist those students from less advantaged families in the country. 

Flexible Pathways for Secondary Education Completion 

After finishing secondary education in the United States, the completion process is always tiresome due to the various procedures in place. As a result, a good number of the students end up failing the systems thus contributing to dropout cases as a result of education inequality ( Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, & Cuéllar, 2013) . 

Elimination of Grade Repetition 

Failure of exams of a given grade does not necessarily mean that a student is dumb enough to repeat the grade. Exams should not be used as the only determinant factor for one to proceed to the next level. Therefore, elimination of grade repetition would aid education equity across the United States ( Nielsen, 2013) . 

School Leadership Strengthening 

Through the installation of good leadership in schools, the management of the academic work and finance would be possible thus widening the chances of everyone having equal access to education. As such, in any institution, the policies implemented by the leadership of the school plays an essential role in determining students’ performance ( Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, & Cuéllar, 2013) . 

Promotion of Effective Teaching Strategies 

While in the classroom, teachers should not only rely on one plan but several for diversification purposes. Depending on one approach contributes to a particular group of students being the less advantaged thus improving the aspect of education equity ( Nielsen, 2013) . 

Conclusion 

In a nutshell, taking into account the importance that education equity plays in the country, the government of the United States should work towards the provision of circumstances that discourage school dropout. Such strategies as appropriate funding and promotion of teaching strategies aid the process of education equity. 

References  

Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, C. F., & Cuéllar, M. F. (2013). For each and every child: A strategy for education equity and excellence . The Commission. 

Nielsen, N. (2013). Education, equity, and the big picture. Issues in Science and Technology , 29 (3), 76-82.