A Level Playing Field? High School Resources and Academic Success

Instructor:  Javier Martin Ortiz, Department of Chicana/o Studies, College of Letters & Science

Description: This seminar will be based on one of the more controversial arguments in the modern debate surrounding affirmative action policy.  Namely, the argument is typically put forth that each student’s academic skills should be assessed from a “level playing field”, which is to say that there should be no preference given to any student on any given criteria.  What this argument overlooks, however, is the notion of the objective “playing field” and whether it actually exists when there are glaring disparities in the educational resources available to different students from different areas?

This course will introduce students to the history of affirmative action policy, and familiarize them with the historical background leading to the implementation of the program at the university level. The course will then assess the backlash against affirmative action as well as the legal challenges posed in the American court system.  Students will discuss various readings surrounding the affirmative action debate, including works on the lack of educational resources in urban and rural areas.  Student will be expected to work in groups to research demographic and financial data with respect to two local high schools, and to present their findings with oral presentations and detailed reports during discussion.

Format: The seminar will meet for two hours each week for ten weeks.  Each student will be expected to discuss course material from the assigned texts and readings each week, as well as perform on-site research at each of the learning institutions.  Students will organize and present their findings to reflect and incorporate class assignments and they will compose a research paper of 400-500 words, as well as a reflection piece on the project.  It will be the ultimate goal of the course to produce a comprehensive comparative analysis of the two institutions and assess their respective academic resources.  Grading: Students will be given a letter grade on the quality of their participation -- their ability to discuss the works and the substance of their comments and their oral readings (25%), the quality of their oral presentations (25%), and the quality of their research papers (50%).

About the Instructor: Javier Martín Ortiz, J.D., is a first-year Lecturer at UC Davis in the Chicano Studies program, where he teaches the Introduction to Chicano Studies and Transnational Migration courses.  His interests include the development of critical thinking abilities, enhancing controversial discourse in the world of academe, and the production of collegiate writings based on critical race theory.  His research interests include the areas of education policy and education law, and he also spends considerable time researching matters associated with undocumented immigrant communities.  He is a Mentor to the Raza Pre-Law Student Association at UC Davis, and volunteers his time as a legal analyst with the Naturalization Workshop Project for California Rural Legal Assistance.