Investigating the Situation of Educational Equity in the Public Schools in Tehran
Publisher: name: The University Of Kurdistan
Year: 2021

description: The issue of equity has always been the main discourse and the most vital factor\nof social institutions. Given education and schools are part of social\ninstitutions, the issue of equity is a key point in these environments. Thus, the\npresent study investigated the situation of educational equity in public\nschools in Tehran.\nOur research was practical in terms of purpose, and it was exploratory mixed\nresearch (qualitative-quantitative) in terms of method. In the first step,\nresearchers tended to extract the dimensions of educational equity. So, 18\nexperienced teachers (with experience higher than 20 years) as experts\n(individuals who were more aware of the issue of study) were interviewed by\nnon-probabilistic and purposeful sampling method and also, considering\ntheoretical saturation in the data. For the analyzing interviews, we used the\nthematic analysis method. For checking the validity of the findings of the\nqualitative section we used two methods member checking and peer\nchecking. As well, the reliability of the findings of the qualitative section was\ncalculated by the retest method and according to Holst's formula, the\nreliability coefficientwas0.9. In the second step (quantitative section), after\nperforming the qualitative step, researchers tried to design a quantitative tool\n(questionnaire) based on the conceptual model extracting from the qualitative\nstep and then distribute it among high school students in Tehran (tenth,\neleventh and twelfth grades). Therefore, the most appropriate method in the\nquantitative step was the descriptive survey research method; Because the\nresearchers tended to examine the views and opinions of high school students\nabout each of the dimensions of educational equity. Considering the large size of the research population in the quantitative section (320,000 students),\nTehran city was categorized into five clusters (North, South, East, West, and\nCenter). The researchers selected the students from different clusters using\nKrejcie and Morgan table. A total of 400 students was selected from five\nclusters. For evaluating the validity of the model obtained from the\nqualitative section, we used the structure validity by Confirmatory Factor\nAnalysis (CFA) in AMOS software version 24. Also, Cronbach's alpha\ncoefficient was used to measure reliability, which (0.91) was\nobtained.Furthermore, to analyses the research questions we used, Onesample t-test, and the dependent t-test in SPSS software version 22.\nThe findings our study showed that, from the teachers' point of view, despite the\nfact that the condition of physical facilities was better than educational\nfacilities and educational aids in public schools in Tehran, but this did not\nmean the favorable condition of public schools in terms of physical\nfacilities. Also, from the students' point of view, the current situation of\nphysical facilities and educational aids in public schools in Tehran has been\nlower than average. So, there was no difference in terms of physical facilities\nand educational aids between the northern, southern, eastern, western, and\ncentral regions of Tehran. Furthermore, the situation of all regions in terms of\nthe two components mentioned is lower than expected. In other words, public\nschools have not a favorable situation from the different dimensions of\nlearning space management, including; having light and lighting sources,\nheating, and cooling appliances, yard, bathroom, number of tables and chairs,\nfit of classroom space, and the number of students. In fact, it can be said as\nmuch as teacher education is important, it is expected that educating\nspecialists in the field of educational space management also is considered.\nAlthough experts of educational equity and educational administration have\nmentioned the close relationship between the administration and educational\nequity, the results of the present study are convincing evidence of the\ninability of management to implement educational equity. The factors such\nas; centralized management and lack of logistic thinking in the educational\nadministrators are the most important reasons for the lack of educational\nequity in the education system. Despite the fact that it was expected from the\nperspective of the study participants, the favorable situation is above average,\nBut the findings showed that there is a big gap between the current and the\nfavorable situation. The difference between teachers 'and students' views on\nthe unfavorable situation of physical and educational facilities can be due to\nthe nature of their role and position in the education system, the type of view,\nand the priority of each component from the perspective of the participants\nand their demographic characteristics. Because physical facilities such as\nbenches and chairs are most important for students, and perhaps from their\npoint of view, these facilities can help to learn better and feel comfortable in the classroom. While teachers, given their educational role in the classroom,\nhave more attention to educational facilities.\nConsidering the approaches of educational equity mentioned in the theoretical\nfoundations and the results obtained from the present study, it is important\nthat schools and educational institutions try to manage the educational\nfacilities, educational aids, and physical also, allocation of costs be based on\nindividual talents and characteristics. In other words, the efforts of\neducational administrators must be made in the direction of moving towards\na realistic approach to educational equity. If this situation happens, we can\nexpect the implementation of educational equity in a favorable way in\nsociety. Finally, based on the research findings, some suggestions are\npresented as follows;\n Considering the differences between the regions of Tehran in terms of\nwelfare facilities in the field of education, it is recommended that with\ninstill of logistics thinking in the educational administrators, schools in\ndeprived areas of Tehran be paid more attention to the budget,\ndistribution of human, material and physical resources.\n Run of school-based management policy should be implemented as one\nof the ways to remove educational inequity. Because each school\nplanning and managing its resources, according to the needs\nthemselves.\n Educating specialists of educational space management in the education\nsystem is necessary to help the public schools for using standard and\nquality facilities and equipment. Therefore, establishing centers for\neducating specialists and designers of learning spaces is recommended.\n It is important that public school administrators try to hold synergistic\nmeetings with charities and other organizations to equip public schools.