THE RACE TO LEARN: Exploring the Historical Role of Race in Education

January 17, 2003

THE RACE TO LEARN
Exploring the Historical Role of Race in Education

Grades: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: American History, Civics, Language Arts, Social Studies

Related New York Times Article
"President Faults Race Preferences as Admission Tool, By NEIL A. LEWIS", January 17, 2003

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students will learn about the history of education and race in the United States. By researching Supreme Court cases dealing with race and education, students will examine the ways in which institutions, federal and state governments, and the legislative branch have reflected changing social and cultural norms.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:
45 minutes - 1 hour

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

Write a journal stating their opinion on affirmative action in University admissions.
Learn about President Bush's stand on affirmative action by reading and discussing the article "President Faults Race Preferences as Admission Tool."
Research a Supreme Court case dealing with race and education.
Write an essay on the relationship between diversity and the role of higher education.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

student journals
pens/pencils
paper
classroom board
copies of the article "President Faults Race Preferences as Admission Tool" (one per student)
computers with Internet access (one per group)
poster board
markers

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

WARM-UP/DO NOW: Students respond to the following prompt in their journals (written on the board prior to class): "You are on the admissions board of a University. The board is debating whether or not race should play a role in admitting students. Write a paragraph defending your position on this issue. Make sure to consider the best interests of the University, including community diversity, student success rate, and the maintenance of the school's academic standards." After giving students time to write, have some students share their writing with the class.
As a class, read the article "President Faults Race Preferences as Admission Tool", focusing on the following questions:
1. What opinion did President Bush express regarding the University of Michigan's admissions policies?
2. How did most conservatives react to Bush's statement?
3. According to Democrat Senator John Kerry, what does Bush's statement reflect?
4. What did four moderate Republicans urge of Bush and why?
5. Who is Linda Chavez and what is her opinion regarding admissions preferences for minority students?
6. What was Lee C. Bollinger's response to President Bush's statement?
Divide the class into groups, assigning each group a Supreme Court case dealing with race and education. Examples include "Brown vs. Board of Education," "Sweat vs. Painter," "Green vs. County School Board of New Kent County," "Milliken vs. Bradley," and the 1978 "Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke" decision involving affirmative action. For historical context, you may also assign one group to research the notion of "separate but equal," coined in the 1896 "Plessy vs. Ferguson" case. A good timeline of cases can be found at (http://www.valentinemuseum.com/busing/busingTimeline.html) Each group researches its case and creates a poster with answers to the following questions:
- What event(s) led up to this case?
- What was the legal precedent regarding this issue?
- How did the Supreme Court find in the case? Was this in keeping with the precedent, or did it set a new precedent?
- How did this case affect the people involved, and the United States as a whole?
Groups should use pictures, quotes, and other artifacts found in research, as well as students' own written analysis, to create their poster. Once all posters are assembled, they may be displayed on the classroom wall in chronological order, creating a timeline of race and education in the United States.
WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: At home, students respond to the following questions in a short essay: What do you feel is the purpose of higher education? What roles do academic achievement and racial diversity play in this purpose?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Do you ever feel privileged or discriminated against because of your race, ethnicity, gender, economic class, or religion? Are there times when this type of privilege or discrimination is justified, in your opinion?
How would you feel if you found out that you were not admitted to a college in favor of a student with lower academic achievement than you? How would you feel if you were admitted despite having scores that were lower than the standard scores for admittance to a school, simply because of your race?
What factors other than academic achievement, might be involved in a college's decision to admit a student? Should these factors be taken into account?
Have you ever noticed academic discrimination in your school? Do some teachers tend to favor one type of student over others? Explain.
What do you think about the "unwritten" tradition in college admissions that gives extra consideration to students whose families donate funds to the institution? What about extra consideration to prospective students whose parents or other family members are graduates of the institution?
Do you think that there is "a compelling state interest in a diverse student body [that justifies] preferences for minority students"?

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated on completion of journal, participation in class discussion, participation in group research, completion of group poster, and completion of homework essay.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Learn more about the two cases referred to in the article: Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. Write a summary of each case, as well as the decision you would give if you were a judge on each (your decision may be different in each case).
Conduct an experiment on segregation in your school. Observe classmates in different contexts (class, extracurricular activities, social events, etc) for one week and keep a log of the ways in which your peers segregate themselves (by race, dress, socioeconomic class, academic achievement, etc.). Write a report on your findings. Also include an analysis of the possible reasons behind why people tend to segregate themselves, and the benefits and drawbacks to this practice.
Read Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Write a journal reflecting on King's vision and whether or not it seems to have been fulfilled. If so, how was this achieved? If not, what is still keeping this dream from being a reality?
Create a glossary of terms for college seniors associated with University admissions. Start with terms from the article, such as quota, race-blind, minority, and affirmative action. Also consider other related terms, such as need-blind, and need-sensitive. Explain the role that each term might play in a student's chances for acceptance to a particular school.
Stage a debate regarding which factor, race or gender, should be considered more important in admission to Universities (i.e., should women or minorities be given a higher priority in University admissions?). Make sure to define your terms and provide historical background to support your position. Also use statistics regarding the relationship between race and gender and factors that relate to academic success.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Fine Arts- Imagine that you are one of the lawyers in the case you researched in class. Write a closing argument for this side and perform it for your class. Make sure to provide enough information in your closing argument to inform the class about the case. Use emotional appeals and other persuasive techniques to gain sympathy for your position.

Global History- Learn about how racial, ethnic, or religious conflicts are played out in education systems of another country, such as Serbia (Serbs and Croatians), Israel and the Occupied Territories (Jews and Arabs), or Northern Ireland (Catholic and Protestant). Write a short essay on the historical background of this conflict and solutions that have been attempted. Then offer your own possible solution, taking into account the sensitivity of the issues involved.

Mathematics- Compare the racial make-up of five different types of Universities' applicant pools (private, public, religious, etc.) to the racial make-up of their incoming classes. By how many percentage points do these numbers differ? Hypothesize factors that might account for this discrepancy, such as racial discrimination (if the percentage of applicants of a particular race is far above the admitted students of this race), a quota system, or scholarships for races with higher than normal representation. Also keep in mind the breakdown of individual races (do not simply consider "minorities" as one group), in-state/out-of-state quotas, and other related factors. Then research the University's admissions policies to discover whether or not your hypotheses were accurate. Write up your findings in a lab report.

Media Studies- Watch two films (one drama and one comedy) in which a person masquerades as a different race, gender, etc. and observe how these issues are treated in popular culture. Some dramas might include "Gentleman's Agreement" "Shakespeare in Love," and "Black Like Me"; comedies might include "Soul Man," "Tootsie," or "The Hot Chick." Consider the similarities and differences regarding how each type of movie deals with the psychological issues related to "passing." Which do you think dealt with these issues more accurately? Which was more compelling for you and why? Why do you think this is a popular subject for films?