American Children under the Age of 18
| American Children under the Age of 18 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of Children Under Age 18 (total number 74.1 million) | Ethnicity: Percent of First- and Second- Generation Immigrant Children (total number 17.3 million) | Percent of Children Living in Poverty (total percent of population 22%) | Percent of Children Living with Two Married Parents | ||||||
| White | 56 | 17.5 | 13 | 71 | |||||
| Black | 15 | 8.6 | 38 | 33 | |||||
| Hispanic | 22 | 51.0 | 32 | 60 | |||||
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 4 | 22.6 | 14 | 85 | |||||
| American or Alaskan Native American | Less than 1 | Less than 1 | 35 | No data | |||||
| All other races | 4 | No data | No data | No data | |||||
| Note: The next U.S. Census will occur in 2020. Visit the following website for more information: https://www.census.gov/2020census. | |||||||||
| Source: U.S. 2010 Census Data. | |||||||||
What do these statistics have to do with your role as a curriculum decision maker? Critics have claimed that many curriculum materials, learning standards, and assessment materials (especially standardized tests) are representative of ethnocentrism (Hull, Goldhaber & Capone, 2002; Manning & Baruth, 2000). This means they are written and designed from a white American mainstream cultural perspective that doesn’t represent the population or actual lives of many people. Curriculum developers and government recognize the need to represent all children accurately. The latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) identified three priorities:
- Rigorous and fair accountability
- Meeting diverse learner needs
- Greater equity to provide equal opportunities for student success (U.S. Department of Education, 2010)
The ESEA emphasizes the need to improve education to be more inclusive of children with disabilities, second language learners, migrant and homeless children, native and rural populations, and those who are neglected or delinquent.