User:Eliotbonsey/sandbox

Neinas Elementary School (Detroit) 2

HFHS-1957

Inner city schools in the USA

An inner city school is an educational institution that is located within the central area of a city. The term ‘inner city’ is generally considered a euphemism to describe the collective area where lower income and minority races of people dwell within a city. ‘Urban schools’ and ‘public schools’ are often associated with inner city schools, despite having distinct historical, academic, and sociocultural differences. The inner city schools are regarded as controversial institutions that act as both sociocultural and educational hubs within lower income communities in the USA. The schools are public, and owned by the state, relying on government funding to maintain infrastructure and resources. Inner city schools are often associated with having rougher and less disciplined study environments, as a result of stigmas popularised by media and experiences from teachers, ex students, and visitors to the institutions. The importance of inner city schools as fundamental institutions for affordable public education, has resulted in disputes within the US educational sector for both local and federal educational bodies. Resource allocation, development, and management of these institutions are some of the topics that are frequently discussed by policy makers and various boards of education .

History and development

The history of inner city schools can be traced from the back to the late 1800s, during a time in which the US government was attempting to provide mass education for its growing population. The growing importance for educating people in lower economic positions became the driving force for the development of schools in areas where public housing was situated. The initial movement was to provide affordable education for children and teenagers from minority backgrounds, in an effort to increase the standard of education and foster a sense of community between various ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

Ownership and operation

Inner city schools like public schools are not operated solely by the federal government. They are instead operated by their individual states, and subject to the educational policies put in place by that state. Funding for inner city schools are dependent on tax payers to the state and a minor contribution from federal funding. The allocation of resources are regulated by the state in most cases, and the amount the funding allocated to the school depends on the educational policies that are put in place by that state. The management of inner city schools begins at a federal level, where the American public school board of education determines a set of standards for education and other operational policies for states to follow. Each state is divided into districts, and for each district, a locally elected school board and superintendent preside over the managing of schools affairs such as employment of teachers, textbooks, curriculum, funding, etc. In 1983, a report titled "A Nation at Risk" highlighted the US schooling system's inability to compete with international schools. In response to the need for educational reform, in 2002 President George W. Bush signed the "No Child Left Behind Act", holding public schools more accountable for the success of its students. Schools that failed to meet the new criteria set out by the reforms would have allow students to transfer to schools with better performance. If a school repeatedly failed to meet the criteria, the state would be able to take over its operation.

Components of inner city schools (curriculum, teaching practices, culture)  

Curriculum  

Inner city schools follow similar curriculum guidelines as most American schools. Emphasis is placed on traditionally fundamental subjects such as English (reading and writing), maths, sciences, and humanities. Offering other extra curricular and supplementary courses such as drama, languages, and sports vary from school to school. Educational reforms have changed the spectrum of what is taught in inner city schools, with new focus on areas such as Information Technology and other digital skill sets . Inner city schools use the US standardised testing known as SATs or Scholastic Aptitude Test as a method of assessment for students in secondary schooling. The use of SATs as a method of assessment for inner city school students has drawn an increasing amount of controversy in recent decades. The lack of funding to inner city schools often results in schools being unable to purchase the latest iterations of the SAT curriculum. Students are left to study with older textbooks and are taught a dated curriculum, many scoring poorly as a result .

The current quality of education for inner city schools has been a point of controversy in recent years. Lack of funding and poor resource management has led to the deterioration of school infrastructure and quality of education. Reports have shown “50 percent to 80 percent of all inner-city students drop out by the second year of high school; one million urban teenagers cannot read above the third grade level and almost one-fourth are functionally illiterate”- (McLaren, 1988b).

Teaching practices (WIP)

Culture (WIP)

Security (WIP)

Due to media portrayal, student and faculty experiences, as well as the socio economic positions of many students, Inner City Schools carry a stigma of violence and rough demeanour. In response to this, teachers and security personnel are trained to deter students from violent acts, as well as respond to situations should they occur. Surveillance in the form of CCTVs and metal detectors have become commonplace for many educational institutions in the US including inner city schools, following the prevalence of firearm attacks and bomb threats. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported In the years 2015 to 2016, 94% of public schools had doors that were monitored and could be restricted, 81% used security cameras as an added security measure, and 4% used metal detectors.

Student demographics (WIP)

Historically Inner city schools are more diverse in terms of race and cultural background. Post educational reforms in the late 1960s, “the percentage of white public school students has dropped from 80% to 57% during that time; in some regions, white students are no longer the majority (G. Orfield & Lee, 2007). While most of the students of colour in the 1960s were black, by 2005–2006, Latinos out-numbered black students. One-fifth of the entire enrolment is Latino while another 17% are African American, and 5% are Asian” -  Frankenberg (2009).