After listening to the conversations of a few teachers and students, I came to the conclusion that there were doubts on whether or not classes were equally diverse; meaning that lower level courses tended to be more diverse than Advanced Placement and honors classes. My hypothesis was that the more rigorous the course, the less the racial ratio would be while the less rigorous courses would be more integrated. This was derived from personal experience in my own advanced and regular school courses. Once I observed multiple classes at multiple academic levels for each subject, I quickly found that this was true but there was a catch: it depends on the subject.

Ethnic diversity can be a controversial topic in the education system. Prejudice is human nature but trying to repress conversation concerning this topic can lead to issues at home, at school, and anywhere you are. Sometimes you see it in schools, who try to be as diverse as possible, but even home and social life can affect the classes a certain person takes, for example, academic pressure and financial issues.

Stereotypes and conformity tend to be the most effective forms of peer pressure found today. One person will join something because they feel obligated to, not because that is their strong point. This is where the academic pressure comes from, a better chance for a better generation. Academic pressure can go the other way around too. Parents may be harsh enough to make their kids take the less rigorous classes because they want to take “the safe route”.

Multiple things can contribute to the ethnic diversity in classrooms and schools that create this divisive topic of interest.

I found, while observing, that lower history courses (14 Caucasian: 22 POC) were more diverse than Advanced Placement courses (20:10), but, at the same time, the lower level math classes (21:14) were less diverse than the honors or higher-level math classes (17:30), as were the science classes. This is where my hypothesis went wrong it does not depend on the level it depends on the subject. What was definitely interesting was that the language arts classes did not matter the level of difficulty, each class was diverse and there was no dominantly expressed race.