Joy Fuller

EDU 601 Critical Issues in Education

Field Experience
A Title 1 School in Comparison with an Affluent School
From Westsides Demographic Report from 2012-2013 Westsides enrollment was
5,854. Males were 50.5% of population and females were 49.5%. Free and reduced lunch was
31.3% and no assistance was 68.7%. Students involved in the ESL program was 2.2%. Special
needs students consisted of 13.56% of the Westside population. The ethnicity of Westside is
77.8% are Whites, 7.7% are African Americans, 6.1% are Hispanic, 3.4% are Asian, 4.2 % are
two or more races, 0.7% are American Indian and 0.1% are Pacific Islander (westside66.org).
Westgate is a Title 1 school and has 340 students (ard.education.ne.gov). From
Westsides Demographic Report from 2012-2013 Westgate has the highest percentage of Free
and Reduced Lunch. Westgate also has the highest percentage of ESL students and special needs
students. Westgate has the highest percentage of Black or African American students. Westgate
has the second highest Hispanic percentage and the lowest percentage of White students. 61.7%
of students at Westgate are White, 19.2% of students are Black, 9.1% of students are Hispanic,
7.3% of students are two or more races, 1.7% of students are Asian, and 1.1% of students are
other. 23.7% of students are special needs, 8.7% of students are English Language Learners, and
58.9% of students are free or reduced lunch (westside66.org).
A theme that manifested within the articles was lower socioeconomic students have more
obstacles to face. An article Education stated that low-income students with higher scores on
tests have a lower rate of graduation than those students who are higher income with lower test
scores. The gap between socioeconomic classes has grown as far as getting accepted to college,
earning a college degree, having tutors, involvement in sports, music, and other enrichment
opportunities (2012).

Willingham compares families socioeconomic statuses, which he describes as a families

income, parental education, and parental occupation. He states that wealthier families have more
resources due to money, human capital, and social capital. If parents are wealthy then they can
afford more materials such as books and more opportunities for their students such as summer
programs. Human capital refers to the skills or knowledge a parent may have which includes
education, while social capital is whom the parents know and the resources their friends or
colleagues can access. Willingham goes in depth about the negative effects that poverty has on
those of low socioeconomic class in particular chronic stress. Chronic stress can lead to
emotional and behavioral problems, inconsistent parenting, brain changes, and emotional and
cognitive disadvantages. Some other effects of low socioeconomic class he discussed were job
insecurities, abuse, hunger, increased sickness, and fetal alcohol syndrome (2012).
Related to Willinghams outlook on socioeconomic classes, Smith writes about her hope
that more affluent parents will send their children to public school so that they can give their
time, money, and voice to public schools to help their child, which will in turn positively impact
all children. A mom who chose public schools over private schools was not impressed with the
library, so she formed a team of parents that put on a gala and raised $55,000 for a cybrary.
The team also removed the principal and got interactive whiteboards for all classrooms. Smith
iterated that they did not care more, but simply had more resources. As a result of parent
involvement academics were more rigorous and they got a new playground. When more affluent
parents are involved in public schools they keep school officials accountable and test scores rise.
When these parents are satisfied with their school then the parents spread word by mouth to their
friends who are also affluent. One parent suggests that administrators should be marketing to
parents and giving school tours; this is how schools can achieve economic integration. When

money is put into public schools instead of private schools it can result in good schools
becoming great schools (2009).
In the article, How Rich Parents Can Exacerbate School Inequality, McKenna compared
and contrasted parent involvement financially across the country in particular the range in PTA
fundraising. Some PTAs fundraise through bake sales and book orders, while others organize
auctions that fundraise $400,000 in one night with prizes that include island vacations. Parents
who are affluent are raising money for their own students schools and keeping the money in
their own district. McKenna suggests that parents continue to give to their community school as
well as give to less affluent areas. She feared if parents are not able to give to their own school
they may go to private schools (2016).
When comparing Westgate with an affluent school, Elkhorn South High School, it was
found that Westgate has 182% more students with special needs, 26% more students who are
ESL, 30% less students who are Caucasian, and 358% more minorities. Westgate has a rate of 59
times higher regarding students that receive free and reduced to lunch. Students at the Elkhorn
high school have a sense of entitlement compared to my students who are focused on their basic
needs being met. Parents in Elkhorn tend to do things for their student thus leaving their student
without problem solving skills; in comparison, students at Westgate are forced to solve their own
problems due to parents not being available for various reasons. While students at Elkhorn are
not facing issues such as hunger or shelter they do encounter issues that affect all students such
as divorce, blended families, depression, and anxiety. While it seems at times that the
community does not support Westgate the way we desire, Elkhorn has more than adequate
support from the community. Elkhorn also has strong parent support through PTO, involvement
in the classroom, activities, and events; while Westgate receives support from the same small
group of dedicated parents.

After looking at Westgates demographics, reading about affluent families impact on

education, and comparing Westgate to Elkhorn, I would like to improve parent involvement first
in my classroom, then school wide, and this hopefully will bring in some parents who are more
affluent. It is clear that students in my school have some obstacles they will have to overcome
due to their socioeconomic class such as lower academic achievement, more behaviors,
decreased graduation rates, fewer college acceptance rates, fewer college graduates, and job
insecurities. However setting an expectation and fostering parent involvement can increase
attendance, academic achievement, test scores, and the drop in behavior and suspension rates.
My plan for getting parents involved in my classroom next year will start with the Back
to School Barbeque, I will have a sign up for parents so they can decide for what area they want
to be involved, such as: writing celebrations, centers (math or language arts), projects (in
particular for science and social studies), reading aloud, writers workshop assistance, field trips,
class lunches, or special occasions. Knowing that scheduling can be difficult for families I will
also ask parents the frequency in which they would like to be involved in the classroom: daily,
weekly, monthly, or on the special occasions. The sign up will be available at the barbeque as
well as parent collaboration night. For parents who do not attend I will contact them and ask
them their interest and availability. My goal is that every parent is involved at least once
throughout the year.
In addition to these opportunities for parent involvement I will continue to provide parent
communication through my website, Seesaw, student notebooks, e-mails, phone calls, and faceto-face communication. In addition to these I plan on creating a weekly newsletter that I will
send home and put on the website.
By involving parents in my classroom I hope to increase parent relationships, student
achievement, and lower behaviors.

References
(2012) Education. The New York Times. Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/22/education/Affluent-Students-Have-anAdvantage-and-the-Gap-Is-Widening.html?_r=o
McKenna, L. (2016) How rich parents can exacerbate school inequality. The Atlantic. Retrieved
from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/rich-parents-schoolinequality/431640/
Nebraska Department of Education. Westgate Elementary. (2013-2014). Retrieved from:
http://reportcard.education.ne.gov/Default.aspx?AgencyID=28-0066013&AgencyName=WESTGATE%20ELEMENTARY%20SCHOOL
Smith, R. S. (2009). Affluent parents return to inner-city schools for educational opportunities.
Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/parents-activism-urban-public-schools
Trotman, M. F. (2001). Involving the African American parent: recommendations to increase the
level of parent involvement within african american families. The Journal of Negro
Education (70) 4, 275-285.
Westgates history. Retrieved from:
http://westgate.westside66.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=84179&sessionid=8f79
8b1a62065e4c2c3b8bb507ed48af&sessionid=8f798b1a62065e4c2c3b8bb507ed48af
Willingham, D. T. (2012). Why does family wealth affect learning? American Educator.
Retrieved from https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Willingham.pdf