persuasive essay

Xiuting Pang Pang

Online ENGWR 300

04/12/20

Pang

1. What was your main research question?

a. Does the white teachers really have bias against the black children towards their behaviors in school?

2. What writing/reading/researching strategies and tools did you use and find helpful? What made them helpful?

a. Resources that I have found in the academic library.

3. Did you find it helpful to see other people's drafts or to meet with a WAC instructor? Explain.

a. Yes, people’s draft helps me with more ideas of how to write the exploratory essay.

4. Did you run into any difficulty completing this assignment? If yes, please explain what challenges you faced and what you did to overcome them.

a. Although this is the first time I’ve written an exploratory essay, as long as I follow the instructions, it is not that difficult to write about.

5. What do you like about your final draft? If you had more time, are there any parts you would change? Why?

a. My final draft is a conclusion explaining how does teacher brings strong effectiveness of the relationship between white and black students

6. Anything else you'd like me to know before I read your paper?

Barriers to Students Success

Historically, the black people in the United States have been exposed to marginalization, exploitation, discrimination and even prejudice on the basis of color. Additionally, having been victims of slavery and all sorts of inhumane acts, most of the black students have issues with regard to school achievement and attainment. Different factors have been presented as to why there exists disparities between the school success between the white and the black question, with the core question revolving around the possibility of bias of the white teachers. Therefore, this research and exploratory essay will involve the analysis of the question: Does the white teachers really have bias against the black children towards their behaviors in school? Ideally, although there has been the formation of movements for the fighting of liberation of the black people, issues of racism, inequality and even discrimination seem to be inevitable. The teacher, in this case, play the central role in the prevalence of bias, discrimination and the imposition of punishments on the black students, barring them from desired educational achievement.

Having been in school with black students, some issues are reality as opposed to the assumed stories made by we, as the white students. The ideologies presented by the earliest scholars, for instance, equal but separate by Jim Crow, have heightened disparities in the school set up. It is a war which nobody is certain of its end, resulting in the suffering of school. Although education has been introduced among the black students, issues such as accessibility, affordability, quality and the intensity of disciplinary measures imposed by the white teachers. Additionally, policies such as the zero-tolerance have also heightened the existence of disparities in the success of the students, reducing the school attainment. When analyzing the problem from the contemporary worldview, the teachers are the core problem in the success of the black students, on the basis of bias. Some of the studies have indicated that the words and that statements made by the teachers hurt the black students, whether done deliberately or even unconsciously.

Although most of us, that the white students, have little experience of the suffering and the plights of the black people, historical texts and writing help us familiarize with all these. Ideally, the suppression of the suffering of black people has taken a new dimension in the current world. For instance, instead of having segregation laws, we have unequal distribution of resources. Bias has been prevalent in the school set-up, with the teachers playing the big role.

For years, most of the black students have been lagging behind in terms of academic achievement when compared to their counterparts, that is the white students. Reports presented by the National Center for Education in the year 2014 indicate that, statistically, the graduation rate for the white students was approximately 83% while the black students were roughly 73%. On the idea of test scores, the same disparity was realized. In spite of the fact that there are other factors prompting such disparity, the key problem has been associated with the biases of the teachers and the administration at large. Anne Gregory, a psychology professor at Rutgers University ascertains that disparities have taken a new dimension, which can only be blamed on the teachers.

In many cases, the differences in terms of treatment of the students may not be malicious or even intentional. As a result, it has been realized that some of the disparities are as a result of cultural misunderstandings, while others have been termed as implicit bias which is not intentional. Maryland University Psychologist, Millie Killen has clearly stated that total elimination of bias is inevitable. What this means is that people have the role of avoiding acting on their biases. Reading and the analysis of different resources has enabled me in the understanding of the intensity of bias in the education system. For instance, teachers in most cases hardly identify blacks’ students with outstanding academic achievement. For example, according to the data presented by the study done by Early Childhood Longitudinal, Sean Nicholson-Crotty together with other colleagues realized that 54% of the black students were less likely to receive the recommendation for programs which are educated- gifted, when compared to the whites. Such recommendations did not put into consideration aspects such as the test scores which were standardized (Owens & McLanahan, 2019). On the contrary, in the event whereby the black students had black teachers then they had high chances of getting referrals for such programs.

From my own understanding and perception, expectations of the teachers should be held accountable and responsible for such disparities. Most of the white teachers do not expect black students to excel more than the white ones. Additionally, Seth Gershenson, from a university in America evaluations done by both white and black teachers on the evaluation of ne black student, 12% of the white teachers are likely to predict completion of school by the black student, as well as 30% prediction of the graduation possibility. When it comes to the giving of feedback, for instance in essays, most of the white teachers give more criticism on poorly written work by blacks when compared to whites. This resource is essential for my research in that it gives a clear guide on the excellence rates of the white students when compared to the white ones. Moreover, the low school attainment and performance of the black students is attributed to biases in marking and the making of referrals, especially when done by the white teachers.

Racial bias influences not only the teaching but also the mannerism of discipline imposition on the students, as a result of misbehavior. Data collected and presented by the department of Education’s Office of the Civil Rights in the United States back in 2013 and 2014 indicated that black students in the K-12 level received more suspensions when compared to the whites. This does not necessarily mean that black students cause most of the problems as noted by Gregory. Most of the studies done have indicated that most of the white teachers take advantage of the socioeconomic status, behaviors self-reported as well as the reported behavior by other teachers for punishing the black students. As a result, most of the punishments imposed on the black students tend to be disproportional. Students suspended from schools tend to drop out, and become run-ins in the systems of juvenile justice (Bacher-Hicks, Billings & Deming, 2019). Repetition of this pattern, (that is suspension, dropping out and juvenile cases) have resulted in the documentation of various literatures, termed as the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

Reading these reports by researchers enabled me to realize that most of the disparities and gaps in discipline can be done in a subtle manner. Research done by psychologists from Stanford University, that was Jennifer Eberhardt and her colleague Jason Okonofua discovered that handling of cases of misbehavior by the teachers is not influenced by the held stereotypes for that particular group of people. These assertions only applied in the first infraction, and indication that repeat of such behavior incorporated the underlying stereotypes. For instance, in the case of black students, description of troublemakers is used, making the punishment be extremely harsh as a way of instilling desired behavior. Implicit bias prompts teachers in making assumptions that misconduct has direct correlation with misbehavior. Therefore, they say that stereotyping of the blacks as troublemakers and even violence is borrowed in cases of misbehavior in schools (Gopalan & Nelson, 2019). On the other hand, I say that imposition of punishment should be based on facts, rather than summed up stereotypes and irrational assumptions.

This article is essential for the study of the issue of bias due to the presentation of well-researched and factual information. Based on the ideologies presented by the researchers, there has been clarity on the relationship between color and the imposition of discipline in different levels. Despite the effectiveness of the article in addressing the issues of bias in discipline measures between the black and white students, reactions of the students have not been included. For instance, when black students realize that they are being suspended from school due to misbehavior which is heightened by their color, how do they take it? Do they become more violent when they return to school? Or do they suppress the violent behavior presumed to be possessed? On the other hand, do the white students bother about the privileges they enjoy because of color?

According to reports presented by the researchers in the Negro Education Journal, higher rates of the suspension of the black students exists. When these suspension rates are compared to those of students from other ethnicities and races, cases of blacks are still the highest. Analysis of the suspension data over a period of three years was conducted for the explanation of the school variability percentages on the black students in the secondary schools in the urban parts. Analysis of the results in backward hierarchy elimination showed that explanation for the high percentages of suspension of the white students, the increment of the school attainment and achievement discrepancies between the black students and the white ones. Variables used in the model and the percentages of the school enrolment of the black students, instructional staff who were blacks as well as the novice of the instructional staff hardly give the prediction of the suspension possibilities of the black students (Mitchell, M. M., Armstrong, G., & Armstrong, T. 2020). Therefore, the variations in the suspension rates of the black students is dependent on unpredictable variables, for instance, the race of the teacher.

This resource is crucial for my research topic in that it aids in the explanation of the guidelines dictating suspension variables. Additionally, I have also noted that suspensions are not prone to the black students alone, but also includes the white ones as well. This means that most of the variations are based on tangible facts, rather than assumptions. Although most of the black students tend to be more vulnerable to suspensions, conformity to the set guidelines of the institutions mitigates the occurrence of such chances. Ideally, variability of these rates of suspension elaborate as to why there exists some correlation between the percentages of the suspensions in the different ethnicities and races in the United States.

Unfortunately, most of the early trainees of the black students often identity and brand black boys as troublemakers at a very early age. Walter Gilliam, directing the School of Medicine in the Yale University, when directing Edward Zigler Center in the Child Development as well as Social Policy documented the cases of expulsions in the preschool. In the case of a child, Walter Gilliam realized that there are three factors that made a preschool child be more vulnerable in being kicked out of school. These factors tend to be child-related and include the following: being black, looking a little bit older when compared to other classmates as well as being male. Moreover, studies done by scholars and researchers, for instance, Phillip Atiba Goff found out that students from the different racial backgrounds, involved the overestimation of both the age inclusive of the culpability (Anobile, Guerrini, Burr, Monti, Del Lucchese & Cicchini, 2019). On the other hand, when addressing the issue from the implicit bias perception, the African American boys are not only culpable but also the most dangerous, resulting in the imagination of high possibility of suspension and expulsion from schools.

Resource is significant in the study in that it aids in understanding that the marginalization and the stereotyping of the black male gender starts at early stages. I find it hard to believe how a preschool teacher can judge the violence or even the vulnerability of extreme misbehavior at such an early age. To some extent, I would argue that the teachers ought to be accountable for such bias. Rationale for my assertion is based on the fact that, at such an early stage, most of the behavior of the child is learnt from the surrounding. Therefore, the question of the role of school in shaping the desired behavior should be put into consideration.

To conclude, from this exploratory research paper and essay, it is evident that racial disparities in the schools are heightened by the teachers. Issues of the magnitude of discipline, the academic attainment and achievement is highly dependent on the race of the teacher. As a result, cases of disparities and gaps seem inevitable between the black and white students. As well, there is evidence that black students disproportionately face harsh discipline actions in the school, for instance suspensions or even in and out of school suspensions. Punitive actions imposed on the black students result in low academic achievement. Rationale for this assertion is based on the fact that disciplinary policies interfere with the time that the student could have spent engaging in meaningful educational activities.

References

Anobile, G., Guerrini, G., Burr, D. C., Monti, M., Del Lucchese, B., & Cicchini, G. M. (2019). Spontaneous perception of numerosity in pre-school children. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 286(1906), 20191245.

Arcia, E. (2007). Variability in schools' suspension rates of black students. The Journal of Negro Education, 597-608.

Bacher-Hicks, A., Billings, S. B., & Deming, D. J. (2019). The School to Prison Pipeline: Long-Run Impacts of School Suspensions on Adult Crime (No. w26257). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Gopalan, M., & Nelson, A. A. (2019). Understanding the racial discipline gap in schools. AERA Open, 5(2), 2332858419844613.

Mitchell, M. M., Armstrong, G., & Armstrong, T. (2020). Disproportionate school disciplinary responses: An exploration of prisonization and minority threat hypothesis among black, Hispanic, and Native American students. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 31(1), 80-102.

Owens, J., & McLanahan, S. S. (2019). Unpacking the drivers of racial disparities in school suspension and expulsion. Social Forces.

Teague, J. (2019). Middle School Teachers’ Perceptions of Factors that Contribute to the Discipline of African-American and Impoverished Males in Urban Schools: A Qualitative Case Study (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).