Issues of Class in U.S. Education

Inequitable educational opportunities exist between the social classes in the United States. Movements to advance other minority groups into reputable academic and career-oriented pursuits have proven to be quite beneficial; however, poor communities remain destitute. This article asserts that issues of class should become a distinct multicultural category. Family factors that influence educational differences between the social classes include reading endeavors as well as nutritional and financial matters. The hidden rules of social class, school conditions, and student perceptions of class discrimination are examined as well.

Keywords Achievement Gap; Hidden Rules; Low Socioeconomic Status; Middle-Upper Socioeconomic Status; Multiculturalism; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Overview

The Achievement Gap

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, scholars have sought to understand dynamics concerning the "achievement gap" (Flores, 2007; West, 2007), a phenomenon that surrounds discrepant educational attainment levels between people with opposing demographic traits, including minorities versus nonminorities (Howell, 2006; Rabiner, Murray, et al., 2004) and poor versus rich (Hu, 2006; Neuman, 2006; Wingert & Kantrowitz, 2001). In particular, social scientists and human service workers alike seek to uncover why people with longstanding histories of oppression respond less favorably to didactic educational methods compared with their mainstream counterparts. Several disparaging social trends entwine the lives of these individuals, many of whom are minorities or come from impoverished backgrounds. These trends include:

• Higher crime rates (Oberwittler, 2007; Reisig, Bales, et al., 2007),

• Developmental delays (Stevens, 2006),

• Substandard school performance (Wiggan, 2007), and

• Subsequent lower levels of professional employment (Grosswald, 2002; Wilson, 2003).

There are two schools of thought that theorize the root cause of such low achievement rates. On the one hand, some researchers pinpoint minority status (e.g., ethnicity, gender) as the culprit, indicating that our societal structure is ingrained with messages that enforce the dominant culture to constantly subjugate those that are deemed inferior (Mattison & Aber, 2007). These messages are directly and indirectly imparted within the community, the workplace, and school systems by authority figures. Frustrated, these exploited minorities develop higher levels of indifference or even retaliation, which preclude them from successful pursuits that they may have otherwise assumed. The end result is lower educational advancement, less career development, and higher levels of poverty. Indeed, data from the U.S. Census Bureau substantiates this stance through statistical synopses of poverty-stricken families categorized by race and gender. The percentages of Americans living below the poverty line for the period between 2007 and 2011 were as follows: 25.8 percent of blacks, 23.3 percent of Hispanics, 27 percent of American Indians, 11.6 percent of whites, and 11.7 percent of Asians (Macartney, Bishaw & Fontenot, 2013). In 2012, an estimated 16.3 percent of all females were living in poverty in the United States as compared to 13.6 percent of all males (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012).

The second perspective that examines "achievement gap" origins targets poverty as the prevailing source of educational, professional, and financial privation (Levin, 2007). This position alleges that although people may experience poverty for different reasons (e.g., cultural oppression, family-of-origin factors, etc.), the end result is a similar set of life struggles, including low academic achievement and correlating factors such as long-term financial repercussions and a higher accrual of legal infractions (Whitaker & Buell, 2007). Evidence that poverty is the underlying cause for such detrimental and enduring life patterns is demonstrated through similar struggles that are endured by people who hold divergent ethnicities (e.g., Caucasian, Hispanic, African American) but who share equivalent socioeconomic statuses. Or, more specifically, poverty as the primary source of distress can be substantiated when low SES communities fare worse than ethnic minorities. For example, the National Center for Education Statistics (2012b) indicated that students coming from low-income families had a 13 percent status dropout rate in 2011, whereas 7.3 percent of African American students dropped out that year. Likewise, upper-income minorities mirror the successful achievement statuses of upper-income Caucasians. Nearly three-fourths of students (including Caucasian, Hispanic, and African American) enrolled in highly reputable U.S. universities come from middle- or upper-class families, whereas only about 5 percent represent students who come from the lowest socioeconomic backgrounds (Kahlenberg, 2013).

Low Socioeconomic Status as a Multicultural Dimension

As such, this article will focus on contrasting the educational experiences among individuals with varied socioeconomic statuses (SES) and will consider low SES as its own multicultural dimension. Multiculturalism is often defined as a society composed of ethnic and/or religious diversity (Brimicombe, 2007; Kurien, 2006). These varied ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs contain distinct traits, values, life experiences, and obstacles that differentiate one from another. Moreover, within the U.S., there are ethnic and religious ideals that are considered to reflect mainstream norms, as well as ethnic and religious ideals that reflect minority norms. Members of the latter are often subjected to judgmental attitudes and discriminatory behaviors. Similarly, a person's SES can yield similar outcomes, in that those with middle and upper SES are considered to be the privileged norm, while those with low SES face subordination, hardship, lower success rates, and prejudicial conduct. Frequently, studies that point out SES inequities also interlace other ethnic and/or religious themes into the equation (Jones, 1997; Schmitz, Stakeman, & Sisneros, 2001), which obscure the importance that SES in itself carries.

Certainly, the complexities surrounding ethnic and religious multiculturalism should not be undermined, and both the research community and various social service initiatives such as affirmative action (Anderson, 2005, Rubio, 2001) have proactively sought to represent minorities and help them thrive in a world that can be competitive and disapproving. Many such efforts have been successful. For instance, the National Center for Education Statistics (2012) reports that the percentage of ethnic minorities who receive doctoral degrees within the United States has been increasing: In 2009–10, blacks earned 7.4 percent of all doctorates; Hispanics, 5.8 percent; and Asian/Pacific Islanders, 11.8 percent, whereas a decade earlier, in 1999–2000, blacks received 6.6 percent, Hispanics, 4.7, and Asians/Pacific Islanders, 10 percent. Women have superseded men with conferment of their doctorates, constituting 53.3 percent of doctoral recipients in 2009–10, up from 47 percent in 1999–2000 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012a, p. 112).

Low SES Culture

Admittedly, nutritional and financial provisions such as WIC (Lee, Mackey-Bilaver, 2007; Swanson, Roman-Shriver, Shriver, et al., 2007) and welfare (Johnson, 2007; Koball, 2007) that have allowed low SES communities to survive have been an asset to society and should not be minimized. At the same time, the low SES culture should also be privy to educational programs that promote their scholastic advancement, particularly since they often fare worse educationally, professionally, and financially than other underrepresented groups and could utilize such endorsement. Their low SES alone does not qualify them for many educational scholarships and grants unless their financial standing is coupled with another multicultural component, such as gender, ethnicity, or religion (Lipson, 2007).

There have been many studies that have greatly contributed toward our collective knowledge regarding multiculturalism and relevant educational approaches (Ippolito, 2007; Jennings, 2007), most of which begin by defining the intricate components that warrant a "multicultural" label. One such study, conducted by Jones (2004), cited Cushner, McClelland, and Safford (1992) in operationalizing diversity in broad terms by including "differences based on gender, ethnicity, race, class, age, and handicapping conditions" (p. 14). The article then transitions into instructional techniques that teachers should incorporate in order to uphold a multicultural-friendly classroom. The author encourages teachers to help students convey the unique multicultural stories that set them apart from their peers and to display their cultural backgrounds with a sense of pride. While this suggested strategy is quite useful for multicultural students with varying ethnic and/or religious backgrounds, who may or may not simultaneously struggle with economic deprivation, it is not applicable for students whose multiculturalism is represented solely by a low SES. Whereas instilling a sense of honor with one's ethnic background is irrefutably valuable, a low SES is something that most people find shameful and seek to overcome.

Further Insights

Family Variables

Rothstein (2004) discusses differences in family philosophies and parenting styles among social classes, which contribute toward dissimilar educational functioning among low and middle SES groups. Outside of the educational strides that students achieve within the classroom, parents play a pivotal role in imparting knowledge that accentuates their formal schooling experience. Parents who read to their children prior to the onset of kindergarten provide their children with a significant advantage by enhancing their vocabularies (and subsequent word recognition), which also transcends into more advanced conversational patterns that allow them to grapple with sophisticated content. Other important lessons are shared when parents read to their children, such as the tactile experience of properly holding and interacting with books (a skill that is often overlooked).

Not surprisingly, parents with advanced educational degrees also tend to be of middle and upper SES. This group of parents tends to surround themselves with more reading material and therefore serve as literary role models who demonstrate that reading is an enjoyable and leisurely activity and who regularly read work-related documents that are brought home from their professional business ventures. Moreover, the manner in which middle and upper SES parents approach the process of reading is significantly different, in that they pose more reflective and theoretical questions intermittent throughout story time. They might ask their children why the characters made certain decisions or ask their children to brainstorm what potentially might have taken place long after the story ends. Low SES parents tend to propose factual questions that simply require their children to reiterate the material.

Parents are inclined to immerse themselves with others who come from the same social class. This includes the self-selected friends that hold mutual values and ideals, as well as the neighbors whose ability to reside nearby reflects a similar income and the coworkers with whom they likely share similar educational paths. Parental social networks simultaneously serve as role models to children, who acquaint themselves with the education and career paths that these adults have acquired and the possibility of replicating such options become more feasible. The limitless job titles that these middle- and upper-class adults occupy include doctors, lawyers, teachers, and social workers, whose professional positions are also accompanied by advanced graduate degrees. The prototypical parent of low SES children is seen as a poorly educated adult who is employed in subservient roles and who begrudgingly associates work with oppression and stress. The characteristics associated with this prototype communicate to children that work is purely functional, is to be dreaded, and is something for which educational pursuits do not serve as prerequisites.

Gardner (2007) further expands on parental factors that contribute toward the achievement gap. Starting in the womb, low SES parents tend to have less adequate prenatal care, which can impair brain and physiological development. A lack of sustenance may extend into the children's formative years when meals are prepared on limited budgets and are therefore less fortified in nourishment. As these children enter school, low SES parents often work many nontraditional hours, often at multiple jobs that offer limited benefits (e.g., personal time, vacation), in contrast to their middle- and upper-class counterparts. Their limited funds prevent them from engaging in as many enriching activities, including cultural trips abroad and weekend family trips to the zoo or park. The time constraints that accompany long hours of work can prevent parents from engaging in supervisory activities, such as facilitating homework assignments. All of these restrictions coalesce into very different, and often second-rate, educational experiences for low SES students.

Educational Variables

Educational variance between social classes has been well documented (Sutherland, 1942; Jackson & Marsden, 1962). Warner, Havighurst, and Loeb (1944) unveiled some inequities in American schooling, noting that although we live under the premise of "all men [i.e., people] should be created equal," this has proved to be erroneous. Such a fallacy is indicated in the exclusionary determination of who is deemed to be a worthwhile recipient of conventional education and who is discarded. These biases can be examined hierarchically, beginning with large-scale societal values and continuing with curricula choices, school administration, teacher beliefs, and peer rejection.

Former principal Ruby Payne (1996) noticed that the achievement gap among her former students was marked and that their socioeconomic statuses indicated their academic achievement levels regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. Her Caucasian, Hispanic, and African American students with low SES collectively performed much lower than her Caucasian, Hispanic, and African American students with middle-class demographics. Thus, she set forth an initiative to enlighten educators on the stark educational feats between the social classes. In particular, she asserts that there are profound "hidden rules" that intertwine with people's low-, middle-, or upper-class standings, which influence their values, communication style, and behavior. Such differences can be examined in myriad life realms. For example, Payne (1996) presents the following distinguishing perceptions of time, language, education, world view, and driving force among the classes:

Time:

Poverty: Present most important. Decisions made for moment based on feelings or survival.

Middle Class: Future most important. Decisions made against future ramifications.

Wealth: Traditions and history most important. Decisions made partially on the basis of tradition and decorum.

Language:

Poverty: Casual register. Language is about survival.

Middle Class: Formal register. Language is about negotiation.

Wealth: Formal register. Language is about networking.

Education:

Poverty: Valued and revered as abstract but not as reality.

Middle class: Crucial for climbing success ladder and making money.

Wealth: Necessary tradition for making and maintaining connections.

World View:

Poverty: Sees world in terms of local setting.

Middle class: Sees world in terms of national setting.

Wealth: Sees world in terms of international view.

Driving force:

Poverty: Survival, relationships, entertainment.

Middle class: Work, achievement.

Wealth: Financial, political, social connections (Payne, 1996, p. 59).

Misinterpreting Hidden Rules

Moreover, Payne maintains that the educational methodology utilized in U.S. public school systems reflects that of middle-class values, or "hidden rules." Incompatible sets of hidden rules can create many misinterpretations between students and teachers. Survival techniques are revered among low SES communities, such as using physical force to resolve problems and profanity usage, which corresponds with impoverished populations whose communication style rely heavily on casual registers. When children of poverty are reprimanded, they may laugh in order to "save face" or become involved in a heated rebuttal, defying authoritative boundaries and use more "participatory" methods over compliance. All of these behaviors are highly shunned and severely punished in American school systems. Rather than becoming critical or offended by such responses, Payne suggests that teachers and administrators understand the framework from which such students operate and gradually instill school-appropriate (i.e., middle-class) values that will enable them to flourish in an educational setting.

Discrepancies in School Environments

The state of affairs within school systems is significantly disproportionate. Perkins-Gough (2004) reports on behalf of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF), which comparatively evaluated the condition of schools within the U.S. The findings are bleak. When measured against upper SES school districts, schools that serve low SES populations are excessively negligent. Low-income schools are less aesthetically maintained and demonstrate poor hygiene, evident by the presence of cockroaches, rats, and other vermin. These schools are less equipped with technological and scientific apparatuses, as well as fundamental essentials such as textbooks. A "revolving door" depicts the high student-teacher turnover rate, leaving students midstream with new authority figures and requiring them to constantly adapt to new teaching philosophies to continuously and abruptly establish emotional rapport.

Value Structures

Garrity (2005) provides commentary on societal value structures that allow for such inequities to exist. Personality traits that are attributed to people of lower SES are oftentimes quite reproachful, possibly reflecting society's covert belief that such individuals are ultimately responsible for their destitution or that they are collectively ignorant and incapable. These convictions allow for such populations to become continually suppressed. This notion is expounded upon by Brantlinger (2001), who claims that people residing within the upper echelons in society have the desire to tyrannize those beneath them in attempt to maintain their advantageous positions. In other words, in order for "winners" to exist, the presence of "losers" is necessary. Crook (2007) points out the persistence of SES stating that "poor children stay poor" and "rich children stay rich." He indicates that "the real focus of any effort to restore social and economic opportunity in America ought to be ladders out of poverty" (Crook, 2007, p. 24).

Student Perceptions of Teachers

Brantlinger (1994) elicited feedback from middle school students regarding the educational disparities afforded students from low and upper SES groups. Both sets of students internalized the faulty assumption that low SES students were intellectually and behaviorally inferior. Additionally, low SES students held emotionally charged attitudes toward their teachers that were either exceptionally favorable or deprecating; there was no middle ground. They were attuned to the fact that their economic standing differentiated them from upper SES students and were exceptionally appreciative of faculty who extended patience, compassion, and friendliness toward their life dilemmas and provided alternative teaching strategies to elucidate the material more thoroughly, as is illustrated in the following passage:

I had a favorite teacher. He explained if you didn't understand. He really tried to make you understand. He was happy when you got good grades. There would be fun times—someone would say something funny and everyone would laugh and he wouldn't be mad. He'd give you a chance to talk things out, but he wasn't nosy. If you saw him on the street after school, he'd say: 'Hi, how ya doin'? He was real friendly, real nice. I really liked him (Brantlinger, 1994, p. 196).

More frequently, these low SES students interpreted that their teachers were predisposed toward favoring their richer peers, leaving them jaded toward the system and dismayed at their teachers, as one female student described:

No, I don't have good relationships with teachers. They don't try to make school good for you. They just care about getting paid. Sometimes I stand out as a troublemaker, alright, but other times I try not to talk so much or make smart remarks. It doesn't make any difference. I can't change things. They don't respect me. I don't care what they do (Brantlinger, 1994, p. 193).

Interestingly, most of the upper SES students were indifferent toward their teachers. When asked to describe their teachers, upper SES students focused on their teaching ability or on personality quirks that they bore as opposed to direct teacher-student relationships. The implications of such findings emphasize that teachers should establish a rapport with their lower SES students and reach out to them in personalized ways. Low SES students seem to intuitively discern the unjust institutionalized norms that cater to the learning styles of middle and upper SES students, and personal exchanges might buffer the realities of such partiality.

Conclusion

It is unsettling to see low SES communities face a lifelong series of obstacles that begin at birth. Continuing into elementary school, they struggle to interact with classmates and teachers who operate from dissimilar sets of "hidden rules." Discouraged, and with little societal sponsorship, many of these individuals eschew college degrees, which in turn affect their long-term financial prospects. As they establish families of their own, the likelihood that such an educational pattern will perpetuate itself is high; the parenting techniques that accompany their low SES backgrounds will likely produce children who develop corresponding low SES values. It behooves society to isolate socioeconomic status as a distinct multicultural classification, as well as focus on programs that will increase educational and financial opportunities among those with low SES.

Terms & Concepts

Achievement Gap: Disparate levels of achievement between minorities and Caucasians, as well as between low-income and upper-income students.

Hidden Rules: Values, communication style, and behavior that correspond with a person's respective social class.

Low SES: People with limited financial resources. This social class is considered to be disadvantaged.

Middle-Upper SES: The privileged classes, who tend to be economically affluent, educated, and consequently hold more power.

Multiculturalism: A set of diverse qualities (e.g., ethnicity, religion, gender, economics, ability, sexual orientation, etc.), their values, and subsequent life experiences.

Socioeconomic Status (SES): A person's income that reflects multiple variables, including family-of-origin economics, as well as educational advancement.

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Swanson, B. J., Roman-Shriver, C. R., & Goodell, L. S. (2007). A comparison between improvers and non-improvers among children with anemia enrolled in the WIC program. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 11 , 447–459. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25684304&site=ehost-live

U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). Poverty. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html

U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). Table 7. Poverty of people, by sex: 1966 to 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/historical/people.html

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Whitaker, M. S., & Buell, M. (2007). Everyone has a role. Corrections Today, 69 , 91–93. Retrieved from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26113041&site=ehost-live

Wiggan, G. (2007). Race, school achievement, and educational inequality: Toward a student-based inquiry perspective. Review of Educational Research, 77 , 310–333. Retrieved December 1, 2007 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26546916&site=ehost-live

Williams-June, A. (2007). Proportion of U.S. doctorates earned by minority students grew in 2006, report says. Chronicle of Higher Education, 54 , A10.

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Wilson, F. D. (2003). Ethnic niching and metropolitan labor markets. Social Science Research, 32 , 429–467. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=10425008&site=ehost-live

Wingert, P., & Kantrowitz, B. (2001). Putting poor kids first. Newsweek, 137 , 26. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=4028810&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Berends, M. (2002). Challenges of conflicting school reforms: Effects of new American schools in a high-poverty district. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.

Books, S. (2004). Poverty and schooling in the U.S.: Contexts sand consequences (Sociocultural, political, and historical studies in education). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Kahlenberg, R. D. (Ed.). (2010). Rewarding strivers: Helping low-income students succeed in college. New York, NY: Century Foundation Press.

Marsh, T. J., & Desai, S. (2012). "God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason": Building on cultural wealth through a call-and-response pedagogy. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 14, 1-17. Retrieved November 15, 2014, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=84624973

Payne, R. K., & Evans, C.A. (1995). Poverty: A framework for understanding and working with students and adults from poverty. Baytown, TX: RFT Publishing.

Winkle-Wagner, R. (2010). Foundations of educational inequality: Cultural capital and social reproduction. ASHE Higher Education Report, 36, 1–21. Retrieved December 9, 2013 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=51837886