Multiculturalism and Minority Groups
Multiculturalism is the perspective that different cultures, races, and ethnic groups, especially the minority groups, require a special recognition among the majority and main groups. The particular attention of the groups may include different forms like protection right under the different cultural laws or even having an opportunity to contribute to the law as a culture. Multiculturalism is like a way of reimbursing the minority group from past execution, different forms of discrimination and tyranny. In today’s world, the different democracies have diversified its members by giving the minority group a portion for representation. The diverse representation gives rise to a variety of ideas, cultural standpoints, and perspectives. The multiculturalism helps every group is well represented under every law and giving the respect they deserve.
Traditional Liberalism and Multiculturalism
Traditional liberalism has been challenged over the years since it just represented the dominant groups. However, the multiculturalism is a step forward that every country has embraced to ensure that any group no matter the size is offered the freedom and respect they deserve. In liberal democracies, each citizen has the mandate to be treated equally regarding social, cultural, and economic positions. Some theorist also argues out that some distinct group should be given more consideration to protect and support their cultures.
Multiculturalism in Education
Multiculturalism also applies to education. It is an evident challenge in the education sector where students from diverse communities fail to be offered the same opportunity as the major groups. There is development in the education sector where students from minority groups are offered an opportunity to advance their education. The contribution to a special curriculum where minority groups were previously ignored is being revised. The US government provides support to the growth of African American History Month and The National Hispanic Heritage. The focus of the essay is to indicate how intelligence testing and the low performance on standardized tests of linguistically diverse students of African American or Hispanic American origin affects students.
Under-representation in Intelligence Testing
The low performance linguistically diverse students of minority groups have stirred a lot of concern. There are debates on their under-representation in intelligence testing. The weak performance and intelligence depend on standardized testing to determine educational placement for the students. Low performance in tests indicates that a student requires to be evaluated for learning disabilities, stunted mental growth, and many others. The low scores are therefore a cause of minority groups from being identified as gifted or receiving special education. Research indicated the groups are represented minimally in gifted education and represented more in special education.
Affected Performance: Cultural Deficiency or Misunderstanding?
There are two arguments regarding the intelligence test of the small groups. In one instance, theorists’ debate that the low performance of the learners can be influenced by cultural deficiency where the students from the minority groups view themselves as inferior compared to dominant groups. It rather unfortunate that the inferiority mindset still lingers among the students even in the present days. The diverse students are also not mostly referred to gifted school because their teachers have a deficit attitude about them (Harmon, 2002). The teachers are primarily concerned with what the students are unable to perform and brush off the hidden capabilities they may have. On the other hand, other theorist debate that students are diverse regarding culture but that should not give people an opportunity to view the students are deficient (Boykin, 1986). The arguments point out that performance may be significantly affected by culture but their no cross- relationship of inferiority and underperformance.
Cultural Bias in Standardized Testing
The use of standardized tests to help to test diverse groups is a debate that has continued to give rise to mixed thoughts among different researchers. The importance of the standardized tests across the curricula is to eliminate any instances of biases. Various test makers have tried their best to develop a test that does not favor one culture and disadvantage another (Johnsen, 2004). The cultural-loaded tests are not equitable to all students, and it may contribute to low performance among students of another culture. Validity and reliability must be therefore considered when setting any test to ensure that any students can manage to do the test (American Educational Research Association, 1999).
Creating Culture-Sensitive Tests
Culture is a great contributor to success, and tests that are created with biases may favor one culture. Different cultures have different methodologies and ideologies of approaching an issue. Culturally defined tests may not be a good idea of testing intelligence and be the result of the low performance of other races and ethnic groups not favored by the test. The tests should be fixed in a way that any student from any racial group can relate and perform adequately. The sole purpose of intelligence tests is to identify the different individual who may require to be referred to special education or the gifted school. However, the test creators have taken the tests as a way of identifying weakness among the minority groups.
Under-representation and Misrepresentation in Education
The diverse students are also not adequately represented in the gifted programs. The challenges that exist in representation start from the low performance of the different students in the traditional intelligence trials. Therefore, the percentage of advanced students proceeding to the next academic level is too small to be well represented. The tests have continually acted as a doorway to advance to the next level. The test developers are advised to ensure that the tests created are culture-sensitive. The test developers must continuously work on improving the tests by researching the elements that may affect the performance of the students. The validity and reliability of the test must be upheld ensuring that any test created can be administered to any person from both the dominant groups and the minority groups.
Challenges of Under-representation
The placement of students in special education may be of disservice if the students who are referred do not need it. The under-representation of the minority groups may deny students who require the specialized training to lack the opportunity. The efforts of creating a particular education forum that favors the minority groups have remained futile. Disproportional representation of the various groups like the African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and American Natives is evident in most schools where the number of the minority group in a school is dramatically small. Studies show that there is over-representation of the minority groups in individual education sectors like the mentally stunted areas. The gifted education sectors are also minimally represented.
Impact of Under-representation
The under-representation of the minority groups has its challenges where the self-esteem, self-reflection, and self-realization of the diverse students are significantly affected. When the divers with special needs or talents fail to perform in the intelligence tests, they may also fail to be referred to special or gifted education (Gentry, 2009). Studies show that students with gifts or special needs can perform much better in environments that best suit their needs like the special education. The general knowledge does not do the student any good since the schools are not well equipped with equipment meant to assist unique or gifted students.
Over-representation and Misrepresentation
Concerning over-representation, the African American is adequately represented in the mental disability sectors while the American natives in the learning disability class. The prevalence rises when the number of minority groups increases in the states or schools. African American with a disability is, however, probably failed to be represented in a general environment (Gentry, 2009). Some factors that lead to misrepresentation apart from test biases may include small changes in the general setting, socio-demographic issues, decision-making procedures, and ethnic groups (Skiba et al., 2008). The student's misrepresentation is evident even when disciplinary action is taken where studies show that African- American Students have intensely punished that the other students. The education sector has a tendency of over-representing the cultures of the white race.
Conclusion
In conclusion, multiculturalism is slowly taking roots in the education sectors. However, many education policies and strategies need to be changed for the minority groups to share the same privileges as the dominant groups (Gentry, 2009). The standardized tests used to test the intelligence level and the performance of the students should continually be revised to ensure that they are not culturally loaded or biased. The representation of the minority groups in both individual and gifted education should also include a point of interest where the education sectors should give equal chances to the students in all settings.
References
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education. (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: Authors.
Boykin, A. W. (1986). The triple quandary and the schooling of Afro-American children. In U. Neisser (Ed.). The school achievement of minority children (pp. 57-91). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gentry, R. (2009). Disproportionate Representation of Minorities in Special Education--How Bad? Online Submission.
Harmon, D. (2002). They will not teach me: The voices of gifted African American inner-city students. Roeper Review, 24, 68-75.
Johnsen, S. K. (2004). Identifying gifted students: A practical guide. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Skiba, R.J., Simmons, A.B., Ritter, S., Gibb, A.C., Rausch, M.K., Cuadrado, J., "Chung, C. (2008). Achieving equity in special education: History, status, and current challenges. Exceptional Children, 74(3), 264-288.
