The constantly expanding gap in achievements of students from the poor schools in comparison to the rich schools is a matter of great concern. The resource allocations form a huge part in creating these disparities among schools. Notably, students who attend rich schools get high achievements that propel them into higher levels of success in the future to the disadvantage of those who attend poor schools which is in line with the principle of causal inference. In the long run, disparities emerge where the lives of people who learnt in poor schools are of low status while their counterparts who went to rich schools lead high quality lives. This therefore makes this gap a pertinent issue in social sciences.
In investigating the widening achievement gap between poor schools and rich schools three sources will be explored. The first is “Rich Schools, Poor Schools: The Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity” by Arthur Wise (1969). The reasoning of Wise in this book is splendorous in the practical analysis of the public education system. The second source is Coley et al, (1996) “Computers and Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools, Policy Information Report”. Throughout the report, comparisons between high cost and public schools are made on how well endowed each was. The third source is Gordon, (2015) “Rich' and 'Poor' Schools Revisited”. This source has adequate information touching on the implications of inequalities in the schooling system that is causing the gap between the rich and the poor to get widened. The third source is Gordon, (2015) “Rich' and 'Poor' Schools Revisited” published in New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies where the information depicts the inequalities between rich and poor schools as being caused by the policies in the education system.
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From these sources, the principle of causal inference is well outlined. Wise 1969, points out that although politicians and stakeholders in education utilize economical data while apportioning resources to schools, there would always be a question on the evenhandedness of the benefits. Moreover, he shows that there are inequalities in the allocation of expenditure on the basis of the amount an individual student got. In like manner, Coley et al, 1996, covers the scope of access to technology on a per-student basis in the public schools as well as in homes. Moreover, Coley et al., 1996 shows that students who had adequate access to technology had an upper hand in life compared to those who were inadequately endowed with the same facilities. Additionally, Gordon, 2015 outlines the facts on poor schools where he states that they were mostly populated by students from poor families. This was as a result of the policy that had been put to ensure that the inequality remained.
Notably, the major principle highlighted in this topic is causal inference. The information from these sources could be communicated to the policy makers on the education system to adjust it and make it more equitable. The message could be tailored in a way to highlight the role that policy makers were playing in causing the gap between rich schools and poor schools. Additionally, statistical facts and figures using tables and charts to make pictorial representations could be used to capture the attention of the audience.
In conclusion, the information obtained from these sources provides facts on the widening achievement gap between poor schools and rich schools. However, another question comes up; what has the society done to prevent the highlighted gap from widening? In researching on this question, information given above could be used as the foundation coupled with other recent researches on the topic.
References
Coley, Richard; Cradler, John; Engel, Penelope K. (1996). Computers and Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools. Policy Information Report . Retrieved on December 4, 2016 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED412893
Gordon, L. (2015). Rich' and 'Poor' Schools Revisited . Retrieved on December 4, 2016 http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/109172728/
Wise. A. (1971). Rich Schools, Poor Schools: The Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity . Retrieved on December 4, 2016 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1084350?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
