Disparate Impact

I chose to reflect on the concept of Disparate Impact. I chose this subject because this is an issue that I frequently confront on my assessments due to the variety of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and gender backgrounds of my students. As the makeup of my students has evolved, I have taken notice of the differences in scores between the students from different backgrounds. This difference has always caused me some concern but I have had a difficult time confronting it due to the subject matter.
I teach classes in Information Technology. Whenever the word “technology” is involved, I think it is safe in assuming that there will be a disparity among the students in regards to their prior experiences. The students that have the greatest prior
One of the solutions could be to have the incoming students be assessed for prior knowledge and if they do not have the foundation they need they would then be required to take a remedial course to lay that foundation. This is similar to what we already do in our math and reading courses. The main sticking point here is that our legislators do not want additional remedial/non-credit courses. They believe this drives up the student’s educational debt, which of course it does, and that the colleges are using these courses to fill additional seats so that more faculty can be hired, which they do not. I believe they are also concerned that this disparity will also reflect poorly on them due to the deallocation of money in K-12 education. By casting suspicion on higher education, this diverts the public’s attention from what is really going on in St. Paul.
Which brings us back to my original concerns about the disparate impact of the questions in my assessments. In reading the article, it is clear that I have to live with this disparity, as the material is required knowledge. This article leaves me with a sense of peace overall, but at the same time I will continue my attempts at bridging the foundational gaps that create the disparate impact in the first