Does Solving Inequality in Education Mean Embracing ‘Birth Equity’?
ARTICLE PROMO: Early education feature
Shilling some of my work, so it can get a little extra love.
TEASER
BEGINNING AT BIRTH: We like to think of education as beginning in early childhood. But what if it starts earlier? Those who argue that inequality in birthing conditions negatively affects educational outcomes would say that education begins in the womb. It’s a challenge that edtech may be beginning to address.
[*Borrowed from EdSurge’s P-12 newsletter]
FROM THE TEXT:
“Sanaa Sharrieff, a mother based in one of North Carolina’s largest school districts, Guilford County, is certain that where her son was born limited his education…”
THE EDUCATION ‘LIFECYCLE’
This piece inspects “birth equity” through the story of North Carolina mother Sanaa Sharrieff and her 8-year-old son, Kendrick.
Kendrick was diagnosed with autism at the age of 8. That’s later than many of his wealthier, white peers, who were diagnosed around 2 or 3.
If you ask his mother, she says the delayed diagnosis shut him off from educational supports that would have helped him and her.
Advocates of birth equity would agree: They argue that educational outcomes are deeply influenced by the circumstances of a person’s birth, which in turn can be shaped by unwieldy institutions.
Read more about Sanaa, her son and the evolving edtech landscape.
BEAT
Education: early learning.
The role of structural inequities in education isn’t pretty, but it’s a telling place to look if you want to understand how the puzzle fits together—and how they affect real people.
Why This Beat Matters
The U.S. education system has become astonishingly polarized in recent years.
In a sense, though, it shouldn’t be surprising: education determines so much about our lives—income, lifestyle, even lifespan.
Attention has focused on early education, in particular, which has an impact on later outcomes but also influences seemingly unrelated issues like the economy (which is partly why so many businesses have become concerned with childcare access lately).
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