Essay: Equity in Education--Race and Ethnicity
Purpose - You will again practice responding to other people's ideas in your own writing. This essay helps you develop that skill further as you analyze a writer's ideas and evaluate the potential impacts of those ideas. As you craft your own argument, you will work on thesis development, organization, revision, and editing.
Required Readings - Prior to writing your essay, you will read and discuss Lisa Delpit's Multiplication is for White People: Raising Expectations for Other People's Children. You will also read chapter 21 and part of chapter 22 of The West Guide to Writing: Success through the Sequence from Community College to University.
Background - Our theme for this unit in class is "Educational Equity." Throughout her book, Delpit examines the reasons inner-city students of color consistently have lower success rates in education than their white middle and upper class counterparts. Think about how that issue ties to our discussion and your ideas about equity. How does Delpit explain the gap? How does she recommend educational institutions work to close this gap?
Writing Task - Consider the questions above as you write a three- to five-page essay in which you:
IDENTIFY POTENTIAL CAUSES OF THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP, Choose two of Delpit's recommendations, and analyze how they would work to close the achievement gap.
The following steps will help you write an excellent essay:
1. Read Delpit's book closely and carefully. Choose two or three reading strategies, such as Talking to the Text, Taking Notes, Asking Questions, Discussing with a Friend, and Making Connections to help you understand what she says.
2. Do your metacognitive reading logs completely and on time.
3. Meet with your group outside of class at least once to discuss the reading and to plan how to lead the discussion on your assigned day.
4. Record your ideas on the T-Chart.
5. Review your T-Chart and your metacognitive reading logs prior to the Synthesis Quiz.
6. Write (and type, double-spaced) a completed draft of your essay.
7. Revise your essay based on your classmates' feedback and bring the revised draft to class.
8. Edit and polish your draft based on your classmates' feedback and submit your final draft.
Assignment Requirement -
Critical Thinking - As a writer, you should . . .
Use a clear critical voice to respond directly to the essay prompt.
Sum up the paper with a clear thesis statement in the first couple paragraphs (Ch. 11 West Guide).
Support ideas with specific examples, details, information, quotes from two assigned readings (Between the World and Me and one other).
Explain ideas/information fully enough for readers not in our class to follow.
Represent all authors' ideas accurately.
Organization - As a writer, you should . . .
Present ideas in an order that makes sense to readers
Open with an intro that engages readers and conveys overall focus of paper (Ch. 13 West Guide)
Make sure each paragraph has a clear focus
Make sure each paragraph is a reasonable length (usually 1/3- 2/3 of a page)
Use your critical voice to transition between ideas in your essay (Ch. 11 West Guide)
End with a conclusion that completes the discussion (Ch. 14 West Guide)