This reminds me of an issue that was discussed in my global studies class. Often times, history is told from a Westernized perspective and limits the representation of a global history. This results from the fact that public education has enforced the idea of presenting the “West” as being a dominant and superior power over other inferior cultures and diverse communities. As a result, this limits the accurate representation of the authentic experiences of ethnic minorities and creates a global history that is primarily influenced by the efforts of the “West.” Therefore, it is important for public institutions to change their curriculum and allow for the inclusion of diverse cultures in students education.

This reveals why it is important for white students to become allies and unite with students of color. Since white students have a higher level of social and educational capital than students of color, it is more likely that their concerns will be heard by predominantly Anglo American institutions. By forming coalitions with students of color, there is a higher chance that the direct needs or students of color will be acknowledged and there will be attempts to improve the inequality they experience. Having these coalitions on school campuses is essential to ensure that voice of every student is heard and considered in education policy.

This reveals how social movements can have a significant impact on education. I remember in my high school, there were many teachers that were arguing for the requirement of students to enroll in one course about ethnic studies in order to graduate. In my senior year of high school, I enrolled in Chicano Studies class and this was the first time I read a history textbook that was not told from an American perspective. I think it is important for public schools to incorporate this course requirement because history and literature courses often focus on readings told from an American perspective. Having exposure to a course that addresses the history and impact of other diverse ethnic groups is essential for students to develop a better understanding of the diverse global environment outside of school.

This is especially true for students when they are searching for jobs once they complete high school. Schools are expected to prepare students to succeed in standardized tests, extracurricular activities, and their overall contribution as a citizen. Diversity in the workplace has historically been an issue and part of it is due to the fact that schools do not educate students to acknowledge and respond to the unique experiences of ethnic groups. This also explains why it is common for job interviews to incorporate training that requires employees to become aware of how to respond to someone with different beliefs or values because of their ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, it is necessary for schools to expose students to diverse ethnic cultures and stories to improve their likelihood of succeeding in a ethnically diverse environment.

I think this an important point that schools must realize. If schools want to prepare students to become active citizens of their community, they must acknowledge the importance of exposing students to diverse histories, languages, and cultures. Students will face more challenges when exposed to a culturally diverse workplace of social setting if they do not develop a sense of cultural awareness early on in their education. When schools suppress the cultures and history of other ethnic groups, students develop a limited perspective of diversity in larger settings. Therefore it is necessary for students to become culturally aware of the unique experiences of others in the classroom to ultimately improve their understanding of the diverse cultures of the world.

This reminds me of a previous reading regarding how first-generation students are more likely to place a larger emphasis on their education than second-generation students. I think that this statement can be valid to a certain extent because first-generation students may have more support from their family to succeed in their education because they are sacrificing many factors to ensure that their children have an opportunity to succeed. However, this is also extremely dependent on individual circumstances of each student. Students that are second-generation may have an advantage in their academic opportunities because they have become familiarized with American language and culture. As a result, this may lead to second-generation students having a higher likelihood of succeeding in the social capital aspect of their education. However, first-generation students may face additional challenges when transitioning from a different ethnic environment and culture.

This is an important point that is often ignored in classrooms. I think that textbooks continue to play an important role in the education, especially in history and literature classes. Although schools are attempting to create a cultural and ethnic diverse environment in the classroom, they continue to use textbooks that have repress the inclusiveness of other ethnic groups. As a result, schools are reinforcing the need for assimilation to American culture in classrooms with diverse students. Until new textbooks are written in a way that acknowledges the authentic history and stories of other ethnic groups that played an important part in history, it will be difficult to create a classroom where students of color do not feel alienated.

This is an issue that is still relevant today. I personally think that standardized tests are not an accurate method to measure a student’s academic growth or their ability to succeed in the classroom. Since these standardized tests are narrowed to focus on the ability of students to complete questions in subjects of reading, writing, and math, it limits students from portraying strengths they have outside of these subjects. From my personal experience, I often performed well on tests that I was assigned in my science and history courses but struggled in math. This also resulted from the fact that I did not have sufficient resources offered by school to study for standardized tests. I think that standardized tests should focus on creating a more diverse way to measure a student’s growth rather than focusing on the test data that is limited to certain school subjects.

Assimilation is an critical issue in the education of students of color. Although schools claim to promote diversity and equality in the classroom, teachers are instructed to present learning material in a way that represses the diversity in culture, language, and stories from the perspective of other ethnic groups. This is especially true for history classes because textbooks tend to glorify American culture and often portray other ethnic groups as being inferior or include false interpretations targeted towards a specific ethnic group. As a result, this creates a strong sense of nationalism in the classroom that excludes the importance of acknowledging other diverse ethnic histories and culture.

This is an effective way for schools to improve the academic success for students of color beyond their secondary education. If students have more exposure to diverse reading, writing, and math skills that can be applicable on a global scale, students will have a better chance of succeeding in diverse work environments. This would also result in an increase in equal opportunity in the workplace because students would already have exposure to applying their knowledge to varying cultures and global issues.

This statement is especially true for immigrant students. It is evident that in public schools there are tensions with the inclusion of diverse cultures, languages, and history and students of color feel pressured to suppress their ethnic identity in order to assimilate with their learning environment in American culture. As a result, students feel that it is necessary to suppress their ethnic identity throughout their education to avoid becoming targeted by their peers and teachers. This contributes the alienation that students of color experience in order to have an opportunity of moving up in socioeconomic mobility.

I think this is a critical issue that impacts students of color early on in their education. When students of color, especially in they are bilingual, are expected to fully assimilate into English culture and literature in their education, this results in them having less opportunities to express their native language and identity. This creates conflicts especially for younger students of color because they are expected to become proficient at speaking, reading, and writing in English at a young age. This results in them placing a higher priority on English culture while repressing their native culture.

I think this is an important issue that is very evident today in high school classes. I remember in high school when I was taking a world history class, most of the assigned readings were told from an American perspective rather than hearing the voices of others cultures. This ultimates secluded the importance and history of the diverse cultures and communities that had a significant impact throughout certain historical movements. I think if history classes were more inclusive of diverse cultures and the authentic experiences of communities of color, students would engage more in their education because they can personally relate to some of these historical issues.

This reminds me of a previous reading that emphasized the importance of teachers becoming aware of the cultural diversity in the classroom. Often times, teachers have traditionally made assumptions based on a student’s racial identity which categorizes students into certain stereotypes and impacts their ability to academically succeed. If teachers became more familiarized with the cultural practices of their students, they could find better solutions that are personalized to each individual student. This would ultimately improve the interactions that students have with their teachers during instruction and help them identify certain limitations that impact their ability to engage with their education.

A nation's welfare state is revealed rather through the responses of legislators, employers, and others that attempt to respond to economic, medical, and social crises. This focuses on the disparities within a community rather than the common approach of the whole nation

This idea of "social promotion" in schools being based on a student's merit on standardized tests and challenging courses is evident among low-income schools. Personally, I felt that I could only be accepted into competitive schools based on these statistics rather than my personal interests or hobbies in certain fields of studies.

This idea supports how separating students based on their socioeconomic background in order to improve the educational access for lower-income students creates a division among the quality of education in public and private schools. This is contradicting to purpose of improving the education access to poor students because it creates a sense of inferiority among the type of education they receive.

There is a distinct contrast between the definition of equality in the welfare state of the U.S. and Europe. The United States is more focused on the equality aspect of welfare in terms of every individual having the opportunity to achieve the American dream; Europeans defined equality aspect of welfare in terms of gaps within healthcare and employment.

This represents one of the common views of education. This view consists that one of the main purpose of education is to fix the previous historical and social issues that revolve around the issues of gaps between low-income students and students of privileged socioeconomic status.

This a repetition of the idea that disparities between students of different socioeconomic statuses result from the distribution of financing in public education. Poorer neighborhoods are more likely to have less access to nutrition and health choices in their schools because they are less funded by property taxes.

This a common example of the different level of access poor students have for connections to people of higher job titles in comparison to students with connections that are in a sense "inherited." Many poor students are the first of their families to attend college and do not have a pre established system of connections with professionals outside of school in the way that other students do. This puts low-income students at an disadvantage in terms of having resources for job offers that are mostly found through their connections with professionals in their field.

I believe that this labeling of students into certain groups based on teachers' expectations of their academic performance is an issue that continues to be evident in many primary education classes. I remember in second grade, I was placed to work with a student that only spoke Spanish because my teacher knew that I was fluent in Spanish. I was expected to translate their homework and classroom activities while trying to learn at the same time. I realized later on that this made me question my ability to perform well in school when I was constantly surrounded by white children.

This is an important aspect to consider in the terms of how poor children are put an disadvantage among other students because of many underlying health and financial disparities. Low-income communities have been historically challenged in receiving the same access of healthcare and basic necessities which in turn threatens their academic performance in school. It is unfortunate that students of low-income communities experience many disadvantages before they are born because this places their academic and general health at a risk because of the communities they grow up in.

This a large stereotype of minority and poor students. Many, including the education system itself, blame poor students for having lower academic performance and success outside of the classroom simply because of their economic and ethnic background. This unfortunately continues to be a stereotype that is held among immigrant students. In reality, it has been historically shown that poor children have less opportunities of resources outside of the classroom. They are not guaranteed the "equal" education that is a misperception of the purpose of a public education.

It is evident that this equity gap in public education continues to be an issue in today, especially for lower-income communities. Many viewed public education as a temporary resolution to this equity gap, however it in return overlooked the direct concerns of poor students' accessibility to a high quality education.

This a great example of educational reform for black and Latino communities. This shows how these communities were able to develop an influential voice in education policy by demanding inclusion of other minority groups and their cultures being represented in classrooms. This marks the beginning of black and Latino communities demanding social justice being implemented in the classroom of highly populated cities.

I think this idea of low-income schools populated by immigrants and even in today, including foreign exchange students, represents an ongoing issue in terms of equal representation in education policy. Many issues in low-income schools are commonly overlooked by the needs and concerns of higher funded schools. It seems that larger public schools and private schools have more influence in demanding change within their classrooms.

I think it is very interesting how black communities were able to maintain hope and seek to transform their communities despite the racial segregation they experienced in school. Their resilience to support and educate their own communities as a response of the failure of public educations to do this reveals how public schools in the U.S. tried to remove the inclusion and presence of black students in common places.

This reemphasizes the idea that students from minority backgrounds, black students in this case, experienced many preventions in being able to advance in the socioeconomic latter in the early 20th-century. This resulted from the history of previous conflicts regarding race, culture, and class. This racism that minority groups initially faced in the workforce is also evident today.

This rate of white children in comparison to the ratio of students from minority groups in public school is partially true today. Although the rates of minority groups in public education have increased over time, there is still a distinguishable observation not as many minority groups studying STEM fields in college than white students for example.

This is an interesting point that contrasts the view of literacy in 1800s to the present. Slaveowners viewed blacked communities as being a threat to the institution if they were literate. In comparison to today, if a person is illiterate they are perceived as failing one aspect of the American dream. Literacy is now perceived as a fundamental aspect in obtaining the American dream that the majority of Americans idealize.

These issues of race, nationality, gender, and disability evident in the early 19th century continue to be evident in today's issues of access to education. There is a continuous debate about increasing the inclusiveness of other cultures that have repressed throughout history in history courses. In addition, current gender movements also support the idea that U.S. public education should create a learning environment that acknowledges these social changes.

Localism is a common theme that is repeated in the discussion of history of public education. This idea of localism is also associated with the conflicts that arise in education policy for public schools as a result of specific demographics (e.g. race, wealth, and ideologies).