Ashley Gordon Exploratory Essay I discovered a connection between three articles: No Child Left behind Act of 2001 by Linda

Adler-Kasser, My 54-Year Love Affair with the SAT by Stanley Kaplan and Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon. The three articles provide an insight into the achievement gap of children and what is being done to prevent that gap. Children are always being judged based on test scores and social class, but are those things really important in education? Are these judgments helping to widen the achievement gaps even more? Kaplan doesnt directly talk about the achievement gap in his article. Kaplan instead makes the argument indirectly that the SAT is an unbiased test that anyone could take and that it was a good judgment for college acceptance. However, is the test truly unbiased based on his opinion? What makes him qualified to make that decision? Adler-Kassner discusses in her article how Title I and the No Child Left Behind Act were created to help close the achievement gap within low-income areas. Anyon discovers how the achievement gap is being widen based on social class. Anyon discusses how she saw the difference in teaching methods depending on what social class students are placed in. So the question is what can truly be done to close the achievement gap within school with so many obstacles in the way? In Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work, Anyon shows why so many of the students are left behind. Through her experiment, Anyon shows that children in the working class do not get as many opportunities as children in the upper class would in the same grade. The students are not challenged in their work in the working class. It is all about learning a skill. Work is often evaluated not according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps (Anyon 2009). Meanwhile, in the executive elite school

children are challenged and asked to truly think through their work intellectually. In the executive elite school, work is developing ones analytical intellectual powers. Children are continually asked to reason through a problem, to produce intellectual products that are both logically sound and of top academic quality (Anyon 2009). The articles argue the value of education based on social class, and that is exactly what Anyon argues is the problem with education. While students with all the money and power go for the best quality education, we have the lower income families not experiencing the best possible education and thats why the No Child Left Behind Act was implemented. Bush wanted to make sure that each child got a chance at a sound and fair education (Adler-Kasser). However, Kaplan argues that the SAT is the best way for students to get ahead and truly test their readiness for college. The SAT provided a more level playing fieldand I liked It (Kaplan 2006). On the other hand, what really can determine a persons readiness? Could the test be a reason that so many are left behind within the education system? How can Kaplan truly be sure that the SAT doesnt have a bias to the executive elite that Anyon refers to because those are the ones who society feels should get ahead? Who truly can measure the quality of education that a child really needs to be equal with everyone around them? Kaplan states that the College Board was promoting the SAT to students, parents and teachers as a well-honed research product designed to measure students academic ability regardless of where in the nation they attended high school (Kaplan 2006). Does this actually show that the College Board was trying to close the gap or are they finding a way to make money? Adler-Kasser discusses how schools got rewarded for closing the achievement gap. Schools that meet or exceed AYP objectives or close achievement gaps will be eligible for State Academic Achievement Awards (Adler-Kassner 2006). So does College Board adding the SAT

help with this achievement gap? Kaplan makes it seem that way, but does it really look like that when you look at the percentage of low income students who take the SAT and their acceptance into college based on their SAT score? As the achievement gap is discussed, does this truly include the middle class? Or is the spectrum just between low income and high income families with no in between? Anyon discusses the middle class classroom and the importance in that classroom. In the middle-class school, work is getting the right answer. If one accumulates enough right answers one gets a good grade. (Anyon 2009). Anyon argues that the middle-class is looking for the right answers to get by and doesnt need creativity. Work tasks do not usually request creativity (Anyon 2009). However, does this make the middle class a means of low importance? In AdlerKassners article she defines Title I as Title I provides school-wide funding at schools where 40% of the students are identified as coming from low income families or funding for specific students identified as coming from low-income where fewer than 40% are not low-income (Adler-Kassner 2006). Low income seems to stand out the most when it comes to children being left behind, but Anyon argues that middle class students also have a learning barrier and arent getting the best quality education as well because of what they are learning compared to the executive elite Therefore, is every child being represented or is there more work to do? Anyon discusses four different social classes and their learning differences. On the other hand Kaplan argues that there is a test that doesnt give a biased outcome based on these learning differences and is equal for everyone. But is the SAT actually socially bias but no one knows it? Does Anyon make a good point that opportunities change based on social level in society? However, are test really the best way to evaluate whether a child is being left behind academically? Does this truly go on within our society or are test part of the reason why children

cannot get ahead in the first place? Kaplan explains how he developed a class to help students prepare for the SAT. The class was four-hour weekly program for sixteen weeks. Kaplan explains that parents were happy to pay the $128 charge to take the class compared to the price of college tuition (Kaplan). Kaplan shows that he developed a resource to help students succeed but does that really include everyone? What happens to the low-income students who cannot afford this class? Do they just not do well when the resources are too much for them to afford? Does this effect if they can move on with their education? Does this show that the SAT widens the gap rather than helps close it like Kaplan argues? Are test the true enemy and what can really be done to help those who truly need the help that they cannot afford it?

Works Cited Anyon, Jean. "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon." Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon. N.p., 2009. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. "My 54-Year Love Affair with the SAT." Considering Literacy: Reading and Writing the Educational Experience. Ed. Linda Adler-Kassner. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. 265-72. Print. "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." Considering Literacy: Reading and Writing the Educational Experience. Ed. Linda Adler-Kassner. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. 308-12. Print.