Kostelnik,1

Rachel Kostelnik

Deliberation Paper

EDUC-H205

Jina Kim

March 2, 2021
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Part I:

Students of all ages are faced with outside factors that impact their daily lives in school.

Factors such as the impact redlining had on neighborhoods, hunger and food insecurity, as well

as homelessness. The achievement gap is a situation in which students are being separated

between being successful and unsuccessful. Receiving high quality education has been

unreachable for students based on geography and ethnicity. According to The Atlantic website

and their article titled, “The Concentration of Poverty in American Schools”, students of color

are more likely to suffer from racial isolation and cause racial gaps in educational achievement

(Boschma and Brownstein, 2016). Viewing the achievement gap as an opportunity gap, students

are not provided with the same opportunities and resources based on their socioeconomic

background. One solution to this problem to focus more on the social issues, providing students

and their families with free housing and food can set all students off on the right foot with a

decrease in an educational gap. The target population for this solution are families and children

who have been impacted by redlining and people of color. Although students who come from

african american and hispanic backgrounds are not the only ones struggling, their population has

been shown to be impacted by socioeconomic backgrounds and inner cities. In conclusion, some

of the factors that have contributed to the educational achievement gap and the discourse of

equal opportunity in schools are the implications of redlining, students who struggle with

homelessness, and the idea of hunger and deprivation from necessary nutrients.

Redlining was a term coined in the 1960’s where families were sectioned off into specific

areas based on their incomes and qualifications. It is considered to be a discriminatory practice

that puts service providers, such as financial aid, out of reach for residents (Lebret, 2019). It was

seen to be a denial process based on location rather than their successes and accomplishments.
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To be more specific, Indianapolis has been racially segregated long before the 1960’s. It forced

boundaries between white and black populations that have still been seen today. Redlining has

not ultimately been the cause of poverty, but it has had a large impact on poverty stricken

communities. Therefore, when an area is deemed as being hazardous based on the lines drawn,

the quality schools and education automatically decrease and struggle with providing their

students with what is necessary. To build on to that thought, many families grow up in lower

income neighborhoods that have been impacted by redlining and have difficulties and face

challenges when trying to leave such as financial reasons. If redlining started to reverse itself, it

will ultimately impact schools in the surrounding areas and displace the unequal opportunities

with a level playing field for all students.

Much like redlining, many students in the US school system face the physical and mental

challenges of homelessness. In the US, at least 17% of students are considered to struggle with

this problem, which totals up to be around 129,000 children (Sparks, 2020). A common

misconception of being homeless is that they sleep on the streets and are faced with adversity.

Although this is true, many students who are considered to be homeless go from couch to couch,

living off their friends and other family members. The main struggle of homelessness in

schooling is the continuous thought of where the student is going to be sleeping that night and

how they are going to find somewhere to sleep. To follow up, students who struggle with this

outside factor begin to reassign their attention to sleep and security rather than the homework

assignment that was assigned that day. When placed in a position of not knowing, their goal is to

find the necessities and not on their grades or assignments. Think of it this way; would you rather

focus on your english essay that counts towards 5% of your grade, or whether or not you are

going to get sleep that night. On top of being distracted by outside factors, students who are
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experiencing homelessnes are four times more likely to show slow development, and two times

more likely to have a learning disability. With that being said, slow development affects the

child's social development and self-esteem in the classroom as well (Atlanta Missions, 2020).

One of the last outstanding factors that impacts a students success in the classroom is

hunger. Students who struggle with food tend to have difficulty with paying attention and

behavioral problems which conclude to not performing to their fullest potential in the classroom.

Hunger is an overlooked factor that distracts students and eating a regular part of a daily routine.

Growing up and participating in health classes, students learn that breakfast is one of the most

important meals of the day. It provides people with the nutrients they need to start the day off

strong with energy and focus. When the most essential part of a daily routine is subtracted, many

students struggling with hunger tend to be more focused on their stomach growling than the

assignments that are given. Many school districts have concluded to give students free and

reduced lunch programs that provide them with what they need, but many of them only provide

breakfast and lunch. With our plan of providing students with housing and food options, the

inconsistency of food on a daily basis will be reduced into giving them the nutrients they need to

be successful in the classroom, and ultimately, in life.

In conclusion, by giving students the opportunity to focus on school and their future, they

will be more successful and less distracted. Money can be difficult when it comes to building

low income families homes, but when that factor is taken away, the only way to attack the

problem of unequal educational opportunities and injustice in the classroom is by setting all

students off on the right path with the correct resources. By subtracting factors such as redlining,

homelessness, and hunger that students face, it will eventually lead to fixing the problems of
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unequal education and diminish the recurring cycle of students not reaching their full educational

potential because of lack of resources and outside factors.

Part II:

There are many solutions to fixing the problem of unequal educational opportunity for

students, but, not all of them focus on the bigger picture of why students are struggling with this

problem. In particular, one solution presented was changing the start and end of time of schools

to best fit the needs of working parents who have students attending the school. They provided

research as to why a 9am-5pm schedule would work best for achieving success in the classroom

as well as fitting the needs of guardians and families. In contrast from free housing and food to

the 9am-5pm work day, changing the schedule of school does not attack the bigger picture of

what is prevalent in classrooms around the US and how to reduce the achievement gap.

Parents play an important role in the students outcomes and how they are performing

inside and outside of the classroom. Although this thought might change as the student gets

older, younger aged students learn from their environment and the situation in which they grow

up in. To be more specific, if parents are proving the student with a support system and allowing

for mistakes to be mad, the student is more likely to be confident and accomplish their goals.

But, when the only solution to unequal education is a focus on the working and lower income

parents, the idea tends to only be beneficial for said parents. Schools around the world have

implemented transportation to and from school which has helped working parents who do not

have the opportunity to drive their children. Some could argue that busses help, but the student

might be going home to an empty household and forced to wait until their parents come home

from work. To contradict, many parents have worked out ways for that not to be the case. They

could be transported to an afterschool program or daycare as well as go home to other family

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members that are capable of taking care of the student until the parents arrive home. This

situation is also only prevalent for younger aged children. Once they reach the age of

understanding what it is like being independent and alone, they are more than capable of

spending two or so hours alone until their parents arrive.

The second problem with the solution of a 9am-5pm school day is the attention span of

students for all ages. According to the Brain Balance website article on “Normal Attention Span

Expectations By Age”, students who are 8 years old, which is typically a 3rd grade class, have an

attention span of 16 to 24 minutes. Although it increases as the students get older, the attention

span of a 10 year old is 20 to 30 minutes. Students typically have breaks throughout the day such

as lunch, snack, or recess. But when more time is added at the end of the day, their brains have

been overworked and might be tired from the earlier day activities. By the end of the day, around

5pm, students start focusing on their basketball practice or what they are going to be eating for

dinner. When asked about how they were going to keep students focused for that long, the group

who presented the idea explained that the time period from 3pm to 5pm being a specific pick up

period where students can stay if needed or parents who are able can pick up their child.

Although that allows more leeway between when parents are able to pick up their child, it

ultimately ends up shortening the school day and makes those two hours into a daycare. With

having experience in after school programs and day camps, I would think the last thing students

want to do after having class all day is possibly spend a few hours waiting around for their

parents to get them from school.

With expanding the daily schedule for students, there are ultimate effects on

extracurricular activities and outside of school programs that could suffer. After school activities

typically start around 6pm, which would only give students around an hour to get home, eat
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something, and redirect their focus and attention to sports or other activities. Having school all

day as well as participating in extracurricular activities takes up time from their out of school

assignments such as homework and projects. When comparing this group's ideas of changing the

school day to providing housing and food, school and extracurricular activities will not suffer. It

will increase the amount of focus students have on school as well as their outside activities.

Equal Educational Opportunities can have just of an impact on schools as the new

policies that are being implemented. As for the group's chosen way of thinking about the equal

education opportunity, they chose to support the strong human justice. In this option, students

who have been short changed at home or at school are given extra time and attention. This is a

beneficial way of thinking to provide students with the necessary support that is needed to be

successful, but it unfortunately leaves out students who are seen as being successful. Even

though they might not need extra time to learn the content, giving them a chance and opportunity

to ask questions and gain more insight and knowledge on the topics will be beneficial. As for our

group, we chose to follow the democratic equality approach. Although I agreed with this

approach at the time, after further education and conversation, I think the best approach that fits

with our policy would be weak humane justice. In this approach, students who are struggling

with less advantages and opportunities as fellow peers, they are given the chance to be

compensated. In this approach, followers believe society is responsible for the environment in

which children and students grow up in, not based on what genes they are given by their parents

(strong humane justice). When reviewing our policy and drive to implement housing and food to

subtract outside factors, it focuses on the environment that the students are living in not how

much attention they are receiving in the classroom. In Christopher Jencks article of “Whom Must

We Treat Equally for Educational Opportunity to Be Equal”, he states that students who are
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growing up in such environments are the by-product of our collective commitment to unequal

socio economic rewards for adults (523). With that being said, raising awareness to the bigger

picture and noticing all outside factors that contribute to the achievement gap will ultimately

create a better learning environment for all students.

To conclude, the ideas that arise from the weak humane justice policies as well as

implementing housing and food options deduct the factors of redlining, homelessness, and

hunger that students face in the day to day life. With providing students with the necessary

resources that improve their success and motivation, the cycle of being stuck in an unequal

education system and high achievement gap rates will deteriorate.

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Works Cited

Jencks, Christopher. “Whom Must We Treat Equally for Educational Opportunity to Be Equal?”
Ethics, vol. 98, no. 3, 1988, pp. 518–533., doi:10.1086/292969.

“The Impact of Homelessness on Education.” Atlanta Mission, 21 July 2020,

atlantamission.org/the-impact-of-homelessness-on-education/.

Balance, Brain. “Normal Attention Span Expectations By Age.” Brain Balance,

www.brainbalancecenters.com/blog/normal-attention-span-expectations-by-age.

Sparks, Sarah D. “Number of Homeless Students Hits All-Time High.” Education Week,
Education Week, 3 Dec. 2020, www.edweek.org/technology/number-of-homeless-
students-hits-all-time-high/2020/02.

LeBret, Becky. “Education Research Non-Profit K-12.” Education Research NonProfit K12, 30
Apr. 2019, nextedresearch.org/redlining-and-its-stealth-impact-on-education/.

Janie Boschma, Ronald Brownstein. “Students of Color Are Much More Likely to Attend
Schools Where Most of Their Peers Are Poor.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company,
21 Aug. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/02/concentration-poverty-
american-schools/471414/.