America is usually likened to be the "Land of Dreams," or the "Land of Opportunity." However many are unaware or don't like to realize that the opportunity in this country isn't equal. The education system in America is a large window into this problem of unequal opportunity due to many different factors.
These factors are put under the umbrella term, "socioeconomic status," and the American Psychological Association defines socioeconomic status or SES, as, "...not just income but also educational attainment, financial security, and subjective perceptions of social status and social class. Socioeconomic status can encompass quality of life attributes as well as the opportunities and privileges afforded to people within society."
Socioeconomic composition, or SEC, is the average of socioeconomic status and it seems be a huge factor in how well a student does in their future, according to research done by Gregory Palardy. According to Palardy, "Controlling for an array of student and school factors, students who attend high socioeconomic composition (SEC) schools are 68% more likely to enroll at a 4-year college than students who attend low SEC schools." Because of how schools are setup this has allowed for segregation in a sense.
Usually poverty stricken areas have schools that have lower socioeconomic composition, and tend to be areas with a high density of minorities. While the schools with higher socioeconomic composition tend to be more white. This continues to be a feedback loop, as those stuck in school systems with lower SEC are less likely to go to college and less likely to get out of the poverty stricken area, thus their children are then stuck in the same type of low SEC school as they were.
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