AQILATUL FITRIAH

 ENVIRONMENT INEQUALITY LEADS TO MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS

Educational inequality has always been the most discussed topic in the world including Malaysia. More specifically, education issues have possible influences on social environmental activities while some of them are unaccounted for. To percisely, it is consider as a unequal distribution of academic resources such as school funding, qualified and experienced teachers, and technologies to socially excluded communities. These communities tend to be disadvantaged and oppressed.

Firstly, school funding. Millions of students and educators grapple with disparities in their schools on a daily basis. Also, this couse the learning and teaching process difficult for teachers and students. Futhermore, the harsh reality is some schools have the benefit of quality buildings and facilities, while others must make do with leaking ceilings, broken fans and lights. It is makes it difficult for students and teachers to create a conducive learning environment. Some schools provide up-to-date instructional materials and equipment, while others have outdated computers and textbooks. It’s no wonder that achievement gaps exist.

Secondly, qualified and experienced teachers. A teacher who has more experience in the classroom is more effective because she has had extended time to test procedures and lessons on several cohorts of students. As they gain experience, they often being a mentor young teachers and help to create and maintain a strong school community. In my research on internet, North Carolina middle school experienced teachers become increasingly adept at doing other important things such as reducing student absences and encouraging students to read for recreational purposes outside of the classroom .Teachers effectiveness increases at a greater rate when they teach in a supportive and collegial working environment, and when they accumulate experience in the same grade level, subject, or district. Thus, more-experienced teachers support greater student learning for their colleagues and the school as a whole, as well as for their own students.

Last but not least is technologies to socially excluded communities. Nowadays, students can collaborate on group projects using technology based tools such as Wikis and Google docs. The walls of the classrooms are no longer a barrier as technology enables new ways of learning, communicating, and working collaboratively. Technology has also begun to change the roles of teachers and learners. But, the digital divide in education is the gap between those with sufficient knowledge of and access to technology and those without. For example, a student who has multiple laptops in their home and has access to high speed broadband likely will have better educational success than someone who has one computer to share with their entire family and only has dial-up internet access. In US, About 17 percent of students are unable to complete their homework due to their limited access to the internet. Additionally, 50 percent of low income families and 42 percent of families do not have the technology required for online education, according to the education trust. These outcomes most impact to those students in low-income families. They also inhibit the long term success of students.

Finally, it is concluded that educational inequality has a negative effect on environmental inequality. The impact of the educational gap has contributed significantly to educational success among students. However, the efforts to address this disparity must be continue so that students can be given equal opportunities to accept changes in the country's education system.

REFERENCE

Bas van Leeuwen & Jieli Li (2022). 7.Inequality in educational achivement. OECD iLibrary.              

    https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/d20a2c62-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/d20a2c62-       en 

Tara Kini & Anne Podolsky (2016). Does Teaching Experience Increase Teacher Effectiveness?

    A Review Of The Research. Learning Policy Institute. 

    https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/does-teaching-experience-increase- teacher-         effectiveness-review-research

Terry Heick (2022). 5 Problems With Technology In Classrooms. Teachthought.

    https://www.teachthought.com/technology/problems-with-technology-in-classrooms/

Kimberley McGee (2019). What Is A Suburban School?. TheClassroom.

    https://www.theclassroom.com/suburban-school-5108665.html 

URBAN VS SUBURBAN INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION

The majority people believe that suburban schools cannot provide a high level of education to their students, mostly because they lack the funds to provide an average level of education and an enriching educational experience, while urban schools can provide the educational facilities like school up-to-date instructional materials and equipment. As there are many factors to take into the differences between urban and suburban school such as size of building, qualified teachers, and  student behavior.

Firstly, urban school usually larger than other school. Plus, urban school had larger enrollment, between urban, suburban, and rural students and schools incorporates a control for the concentration of poverty in the school. A possible reason for this is that tends to be socio economies background. Differences in students’ socio-economic background explain only part of the performance gap between students who attend urban schools and those who attend schools in non-urban areas. In Australia, Colombia, Dubai (UAE), Finland, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Uruguay, a significantly higher proportion of students in urban areas than in less populated areas attend schools that have broad authority over resource allocation. For example, a classroom size at an inner city which is urban school might be nearly fouthy students where a suburban school might has a class size of lest than twenty due to the populaion of students is dramatically higher than in suburban school. However, the smaller the class size, the more able a teacher is to futher interact with their students.

Seccondly, urban school have more difficulty hiring and keeping teachers while suburban school attract more and often better experienced teachers. From the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) notes teacher turnover has been increasing over the past 15 years, with some school districts reporting a higher dropout rate for teachers than students. This trend of new teachers leaving underserved schools becomes a vicious cycle, especially from urban school. It is proven by the NCTAF study estimated the cost of a teacher leaving a small rural district (Jemez Valley, New Mexico) to be $4,366, and in contrast, a teacher leaving a Chicago Public School to be $17,872. Many people believe the reasons that are more frequently maybe comes from the student who are unmotivated, alienated or apathetic that sap the enthusiasm of first-year teachers and make them feel ineffective. However, from research by Ingersoll, teachers do not leave because of the students, but they leave because of the schools. They mentioned for leaving are feelings of isolation, lack of support from the administration, lack of empowerment over decisions and ineffective school leaders.

In the other hand, student behavior problems were more common in urban schools than in other schools, particularly in the areas of student absenteeism, classroom discipline, and student pregnancy. However, the use of alcohol was less of a problem in urban schools than in rural schools. Many of the student background characteristics and school experiences of urban students outlined above would suggest that students in urban. In majority, urban schools serve low income students coming from poor families, often living in crime ridden streets, or being minorities. On the contrary, suburban schools tend to serve middle class, higher income or even affluent students, who have moved to the suburbs to avoid low quality life in the city. Because of their affluence, suburban students have the luxury to be attended by their parents who are not obliged to work all day. Although, reported criminality in suburban schools for 2008 is 24.4%, still it is half the 49.9% of urban schools. Therefore, they grow up in a more stable and protected environment.

Lastly, studying in suburban school will likely to have parents with high expectations for their education who push them to succeed in college, higher motivate teacher, and more influence over school’s curriculum. But, after concidering all the variation, we found that urban and suburban school has no much gap differences unless the difference is due to the location and the influence of the environment.

REFERENCE

Ssn Basic Fact (2013). Why Experienced Teachers Are Important - And What Can Be Done To                 Develope Them. Scholars Strategy Network. 

    https://scholars.org/contribution/why-experienced-teachers-are-important-and-what-can-be-                   done-develop-them 

Brian Eron & Jacob (2007). The Challenges Of Staffing Urban Schools With Effective Teachers.

    ResearchGate.net. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6413856_The_Challenges

    _of_Staffing_Urban_Schools_with_Effective_Teachers

NYU Steindhardt. Teacher Retention And Teaching In Urban Schools. NYU Steindhardt                             Teacher Residency Program. https://teachereducation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/high-teacher-                            turnover/