Equity and Participation; our Response

This was one of those news reports that really got my attention as an educator.  There are many, of course, which should get my attention as a person and citizen; this report talked right to the ‘teacher’ in my brain.

The role of AP courses has been debated; in the mathematics community, we have some concern about how much benefit actually accrues to the majority of students in AP calculus.  However, as long as AP courses are offered … our goal needs to be equity: no group of students should be participating or not-participating at significantly different rates.

My college serves a blended district — a small-to-medium city (Lansing) and a surrounding area made up of suburbs and rural communities.  AP courses are offered in both the city and suburbs.  Here is a quick breakdown for two of the local districts for student population and AP population.

Lansing Public Schools (9-12) Holt Public Schools (9-12)
Category Student Pop AP Pop Student Pop AP Pop
Black 46% 34% 13% 10%
Hispanic 16% 13% 9% 3%
White 27% 40% 69% 76%  q

The school data came from a tool at marketplace.org; see http://www.marketplace.org/topics/education/learning-curve/spending-100-million-break-down-ap-class-barriers.  The city population data came from the 2010 Census.

One way to look at this data:  The Lansing high schools are about 73% ‘minority’; the AP classes in Lansing are about 60% minority.  Another view: the AP participation rate for white students is 50% higher than their proportion of the population would indicate, while the black student participation is 25% lower.

We might conclude that this discrepancy is a Lansing school problem; that is not the case.  The same pattern is present in Holt … just not quite as extreme, due to the smaller minority student population.

In case you are wondering, the national figures are:

USA
Category Student Pop AP Pop
Black 15% 9%
Hispanic 21% 17%
White 54% 59%

We’ve known that minority students are over-represented in developmental math courses in college.  This recent data suggests that the equity problem extends through the whole range of abilities.  I respect the difficult work that our K-12 colleagues are doing, often without support or respect; this equity problem is not about the teachers … it’s about society and us.

We can, and must, do better.  How will we respond?  I think we recognize signs of a problem; what actions can be taken?

 
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categories politics of developmental mathematics, Professional Development | | datetime April 28, 2015 8:23 am

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