Deck 13: Diversity and Equity Today: Meeting the Challenge

Question 1

Think about gender, race, ethnicity, and social class in considering the issue of educational and social equity as it concerns different groups of students. In very real ways, cultural deficit theory and cultural subordination theory are embedded in our social institutions and perspectives. What does that mean? What are the key differences between cultural deficit theory and cultural subordination theory? What is the significance of each theory for consequent teaching practices and school policy? Can the explanatory value of these theories lead to anything constructive in contemporary classrooms? Given what we know, how can we as educators work to meet the challenges of social diversity and equity in contemporary schools?

Answer 1

No answer

Question 2

Discuss your own understandings of the various types of bilingual education in practice today. Which of these approaches seems most meaningful to you, and why? How does your own personal experience with or feeling about bilingual education enter into your analysis?

Answer 2

No answer

Question 3

The authors contend that individuals succeed or fail in our society not simply because of their native abilities and applied efforts, but importantly on the basis of their membership in one or more ethnic, gender, or economic groups. If this is true, what are the implications for teaching, learning, and schooling? Support your position with evidence and reasoned argument.

Answer 3

No answer

Question 4

Linguistic deficit theory locates the source of inequality in society and school performance in the

A) income level of the individual.
B) individual.
C) power differences between different social groups.
D) individual's home culture.

Question 5

Compensatory education programs are most associated with

A) classical liberalism.
B) the cultural literacy perspective.
C) cultural deficit theory.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 6

Resistance theory might explain why compared to children from dominant culture group, most of the children not from the dominant culture

A) typically resist all efforts to motivate them academically.
B) are very resistant to dropping out of school, despite failing in much of their coursework.
C) face resistance from the teachers when they seek extra help.
D) often appear unmotivated in school and eventually drop out.

Question 7

When a child is having trouble in school, one way to look for possible sources of the trouble is to identify areas of "fit" or "mismatch" between the school culture and the child's culture. This approach is consistent with

A) critical theory.
B) cultural deficit theory.
C) equity theory.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 8

Ability grouping has been criticized because it

A) is democratic and not beneficial to the capitalistic society.
B) does not reflect the social class structure of the larger society.
C) tends to restrict the entry of many students into opportunities for stimulating higher-order thinking.
D) places individuals with similar ability together, creating a cooperative setting rather than a competitive one.

Question 9

Genetic inferiority theory is an explanation for differences in group learning that

A) asserts the inferiority of genetic explanations of group learning differences.
B) locates the source of these differences in inherited intelligence.
C) has never really been taken seriously by educational leaders.
D) no longer has any advocates within the scientific community.

Question 10

Resistance theory may be helpful in explaining a tendency among

A) girls to perform below their skill levels in school.
B) African American students to reject school norms.
C) working-class White students to reject school norms.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 11

In the historical and socioeconomic political context, which of the following statements is true of American policies?

A) They provide equitable access to opportunity.
B) They specifically address and decrease implicit biases.
C) They allow for equitable structural arrangements across schools.
D) They disproportionately benefit White people.

Question 12

Which of the following factors is most likely to work against the success of low-income and minority students?

A) Heterogeneous settings in schools
B) Customized learning methods
C) Ability grouping and tracking
D) Cooperative settings in schools

Question 13

Evidence presented in this chapter to support the claim that schools help subordinate certain groups on the basis of race, ethnicity, class, and gender includes

A) the schools' devaluation of Black English Vernacular and of those who speak it.
B) correlations between SAT scores and family income.
C) examples of programs that succeed academically with students who would typically be expected to perform poorly.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 14

Jane Elliott's Discrimination Day experiment was a good example of

A) the social construction of inferiority and superiority.
B) how social construction of differences among people can be hurtful.
C) how easily group membership can lead people to discriminatory behavior.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 15

An example of cultural deficit theory implicit in daily discourse is the claim that

A) poor children of some minority groups do not succeed in school since their families do not support academic success.
B) poor and minority children often have low IQs.
C) schools have failed to respond to the cultural backgrounds of children from some minority groups.
D) the interaction between school culture and children's home culture is not supporting school success for some children.

Question 16

The results of Jane Elliott's Discrimination Day experiment are best explained by

A) genetic inferiority theory.
B) cultural deficit theory.
C) cultural subordination theory.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 17

Which of the following is a similarity between genetic inferiority theory and cultural deficit theory?

A) Both attribute low performance to an individual's cultural inheritance.
B) Both reflect a culturally pluralistic perspective.
C) Both endorse an upper-class, nonscientific worldview.
D) Both assume that individuals are responsible for their own destinies.

Question 18

Which of the following statements is not consistent with the belief that IQ scores measure a general capacity to learn?

A) Intelligence is largely genetically determined.
B) The SAT is a reliable indicator of intellectual abilities.
C) One's socioeconomic status is primarily based on one's talent and effort.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 19

From the material on Black English Vernacular (BEV), one can infer that

A) in principle, speakers of BEV could be White or Latino as well as Black.
B) BEV delays intellectual development in preschoolers because it is not adequately stimulating to cognitive faculties.
C) for the speaker of BEV to become proficient in standard English, it is necessary to extinguish BEV as a speech pattern.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 20

Plato's "myth of the metals"

A) can be interpreted as justification of social inferiority, superiority, and inequality as based on "God-given" attributes.
B) is a tale of how social groups can successfully subordinate other social groups.
C) persists today.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 21

In the context of feminist theory, which of the following was the reason a "gender-free" approach to education failed to equalize educational results?

A) It adversely affected the performance of male students.
B) It created a subtle form of social dominance of male students.
C) It could not overcome the major policies of sex discrimination.
D) It was rejected by female students.

Question 22

The "genetic argument" has been used throughout the 20th century to

A) rationalize the suppression of racial minorities.
B) explain differences between social classes.
C) illustrate inherent differences in intelligence based on ethnicity.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 23

The Jensen and Herrnstein studies of the 1960s were based on what assumption(s)?

A) Intelligence is an inherited trait.
B) Minorities are by nature less intelligent than Whites.
C) Poverty is not derived from unequal school opportunities.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 24

Enid Lee's view of antiracist education shares much in common with

A) cultural deficit theory.
B) critical pedagogy.
C) human relations approaches to multicultural education.
D) E.D. Hirsch's approach to cultural literacy.

Question 25

To be gender sensitive in one's teaching is to

A) recognize that most facets of girls' academic performance are the result of gender differences in school and society.
B) ignore gender differences entirely while ensuring equal treatment for all children.
C) learn to ask when gender may be a relevant factor in trying to understand children's school experiences and performance.
D) recognize that girls and boys are different in many respects, including their academic abilities.

Question 26

Which of these could reasonably be explained by cultural subordination theory?

A) BEV speakers experience less school success than standard English speakers.
B) Cubans have a higher family income level than African Americans and generally also have a higher rate of school success.
C) Certain groups of Korean students who perform well in U.S. schools tend to perform as poorly, relatively, in Japanese schools as African American students perform in U.S. schools.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 27

The "social reconstructionist" approach of some multicultural educators refers to

A) the view that their approach to educating can help change the social structures of inequity.
B) their recognition that all knowledge is socially constructed.
C) their effort to reconstruct a classroom community along democratic lines.
D) the use of social studies as the basis of the entire school curriculum.

Question 28

Anyon's study of social class and curriculum found that

A) schools play a role in maintaining social inequalities.
B) school curricula differ according to the social class of the students.
C) the quality of educational experience improves as social class improves.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 29

If the findings of Anyon's study are valid, it must be concluded that

A) the processes and outcomes of schooling are not the same for all children.
B) schools have the potential to serve as the great equalizer of our society.
C) one cannot move between social classes.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 30

Robert's discussion of models of bilingual education reminds us that the resistance to bilingual education in the United States is based on

A) the need for a single language for national unity and concerns about program costs.
B) careful studies of research data on the effects of bilingual education.
C) a desire to invest more in second language instruction for English speakers.
D) a desire to protect the original language and culture of LEP students.

Question 31

Bilingual education and ESL instruction may be said to relate to the Ebonics debate in what way?

A) All of these are instances of the schools trying to assimilate students into the dominant culture by replacing their original languages with the majority language.
B) These are three entirely different instructional approaches with very little in common among them.
C) Each approach respects the child's existing language or dialect while seeking to assist the child in mastering the language of the dominant culture.
D) Each of these approaches is based on a cultural deficit model of schooling.

Question 32

Lee believes that a teacher who is committed to antiracist education

A) must be committed also to thoroughly replacing existing curricula.
B) will not likely remain in public schools.
C) requires an ongoing process of reeducation away from racist norms and values.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 33

According to critical theorists, which of the following happens/what happens when teachers ignore or overlook cultural differences?

A) students feel more comfortable because they aren't singled out.
B) students end up ill-equipped to function in larger society.
C) they are acting in accordance with NCLB.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 34

An important contribution that feminist theory has made to interpreting the relationship between gender and education is

A) an increased curricular attention to the worth of traditionally feminine values.
B) a significant increase in the percentage of males entering the teaching profession.
C) equalizing the number of women and men in college professorships.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 35

Assimilationist educational approaches

A) seek to preserve and celebrate the distinctive cultural heritage of students.
B) seek to obliterate cultural differences among minority students.
C) regard cultural differences as valuable contributions to the wider culture.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 36

Ron Edmonds's 1979 question "How many effective schools would you have to see to be persuaded of the educability of poor children?" reminds us that analysis of educational failure must focus primarily on

A) the schools themselves.
B) the home life of students.
C) the interaction between the school culture and the students' cultures.
D) All of these answers are correct.