Achievement Gap In Education

The achievement gap is defined as the disparity between the performance groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, ability and socio-economic status. The achievement gap can be observed through a variety of measures including standardized test scores, grade point averages, drop out rates, college enrollment and completion rates. The Black-White achievement gap is a critical issue in modern society’s education system. Although data surrounding the issue clearly indicates that the racial performance gap exists in areas of standardized tests, graduation rates, dropout rates, and enrollment in continuing education, the causative reasons for the gap are ambiguous—therefore presenting a significant challenge in

The data is compared to those students come from affluent socioeconomic status and backgrounds. The data is sourced from several diverse locations in order to give the broadest view of the disparities that exist. Howard (2010) compares data in reading, mathematics, SAT results and disciplinary rates. This data is a formidable beginning to the content of the book because it provides context for the reader to better understand the achievement gap.

This paper includes a reference list of literature relating to the impact socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity has on academic achievement and what can be done to combat the achievement gap. In general, the literature seems to indicate that socioeconomic status has a greater impact then race or ethnicity on achievement. However, these constructs are often intertwined. The greatest source for combatting the achievement gap are teachers high in self-efficacy, strong and well directed principal leadership, having a positive and accepting racial climate, smaller class sizes, less harsh discipline with more support

After reviewing the Government laws and policies that have been in placed and replaced in history and more currently to contribute and correct the issue. The most important question of all remains. Why does the Achievement Gap still exist? According to former Secretary of Education John King (2016) “Black and Hispanic students continue to lag behind their White peers in achievement and graduation rates.”After so many attempts made by the Government to close the Gap and create equality, clearly there is something that is not being addressed across American Public Schools. Frederica Wilson (2013) former state senate member stated in the Brown vs Board Documentary There is such a difference in going to one school in one community and going to another in another community. Why don't we tackle that problem instead of testing the students predicting they will fail, watching them fail and denying them a good life?”The question now that remains how exactly are the schools different in different communities?

How should society handle the perceived differences between races when it comes to education? The goal of both researchers is to narrow the academic gap between white and black students. Both authors attribute the gap between the academic scores of black and white students from opposite sides of racial identity. As Dr. Beverly Daniels Tatum, President of Spelman College and clinical psychologist has written an article entitled “Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Her approach is from the perspective of the student and how they perceive their role and upper limits while maintaining their place in their peer group's expectations of their race. Dr. Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University, has written an article entitled "The Facts about the Achievement Gap.” Her approach is from the perspective of how schools and society implicitly or explicitly cast students into achievement tracks based on their race. Both approach the same idea about racial identity, but they have different solutions, such as peer groups, the school board, and who is right about the solution.

What is one of the most controversial subjects in America? How about the fact that we have students in school who don’t get the same opportunities as others? In Diane Ravitch’s “The Facts about the Achievement Gap”, she discusses the issues about the achievement gap. While many people who have looked at the gap as a race issue it should be looked at as an economic issue. She also points out that while the schools have been working to close it over the past few decades they have failed to do so.

The pressures of racism on today’s society are being perpetuated by socioeconomic shaming against less fortunate black schoolchildren to look to the future of becoming less successful than the more financially stable white schoolchild sitting in the next classroom. The most unfortunate part about the white-black achievement gap is that there is no easy solution to solving it. One large proponent of the achievement gap between all schoolchildren is the factor of wealth and affluence in their homes. The racial achievement gap compared to the wealth achievement gap is quite staggering. Diane Ravitch states that “in contrast to the racial achievement gap, which has narrowed, the income achievement gap is growing…[and is] nearly twice as large

The “achievement gap” in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. The achievement gap is shown in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, among other success measures. It’s most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between African-American and latino students, towards the lower end of the performance scale, compared to their white peers, and the similar academic differences between students from low-income families and those who are privileged. In the past decade, scholars and policy makers began focusing their attention on other achievement gaps, such as those based on sex, English language and learning disabilities.

Education is always indispensable, and every development comes from education. For example, the progression of manufacturing or devising the robot, phone and computer all establish in education. Without education, people could not have an advantageous life. In other words, the developments, convenient substances and achievements are from education. However, the society has been converting into complicated, and some inequalities and issues from education relate to income and the situation of families and communities which will beget achievement gap. For instance, The Facts about the Achievement Gap written by Diane Ravitch, mentions: “The children at the wrong end of the gap are likelier to attend schools in overcrowded classrooms with inadequate

The achievement gap that exists in my school is a socioeconomic one (J. Perkins, personal communication, October 24, 2016). Data for Woodville High School shows an achievement gap for low-income students (J. Perkins, personal communication, October 24, 2016). Additionally, this achievement gap is wider for low-income, first-generation students. ACT Aspire Reading data shows that only 25% of students at the poverty level met or exceeded the content standards. ACT Aspire Math data shows that only 21% of students at the poverty level met or exceeded content standards. The total minority population of the school is 6%, and the largest minority group is Native American (Cherokee). Based on the available data, the target population to combat the achievement gap is the high poverty students. 64% of the school’s total student population is considered economically disadvantaged (Woodville High School). These students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The latest data show that there is a 20.4% gap between economically disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students in math and reading (Woodville High School).

A key goal of education is to make sure that every student has a chance to excel, both in school and in life. Increasingly, children’s success in school determines their success as adults, determining whether and where they go to college, what professions that they enter, and how much they are paid. Some ethnic and racial groups have not fared well, historically and presently, in the U.S. educational system. It is widely documented that African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and several Asian American subgroups underperformed relative to their White American counterparts (e.g., Aud et al., 2010; Hollins, King & Hayman, 1994; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; King, 2005; National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2011; National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2010).

The achievement gap is unfortunately a commonality in America citizens’ language. The achievement gap has affected students for many years. Research has demonstrated the controversies that exist on the causes of the gap, but still we are talking about it in the 21st century. Researchers and public policy officials are examining the dimensions of the achievement gap in America’s school. Unfortunately, the lack of addressing the “real problem” will continue to impose heavy and often tragic consequences of colored students more specifically lower earnings, poverty, and higher rates of incarceration.

African American students in an affluent, suburban district have not successfully closed the achievement gap. These students’ are generally lower performing that whites and Asians and sometimes lower than Hispanic and/or socio-economically disadvantaged. According to Sohn (2012) the phenomenon of the black white achievement gap has returned. Slaven and Madden (2006) assert “The gap in academic achievement between African American (as well as Latino) children and their White peers is arguably the most important of all educational problems in the U.S.” (p. 389). This leads to continued disparity in educational goals and mastery and ultimately adulthood successes.

According to Sanford Graduate School of Education research, almost every school district enrolling large numbers of low-income studies has an average academic performance significantly below the national-grade level average. Achievement gaps are larger in districts where black and Hispanic students attend higher poverty schools than their white peers. The size of the gaps has little or no association with average class size. The most and least socioeconomically advantaged districts have average performance levels more than four grade levels apart. According to Reardon and colleagues, one-sixth of all students attend public school in school districts where average test scores are more than a grade level below the national average. Also, one-sixth

It is an “inherent right of every child in America” (Heafner & Fitchett, 2015, p. 245) to have equitable opportunities to learn, yet this right is being denied to numerous students due to the concept of the opportunity gap. Reflecting on my elementary school days, I witnessed and experienced what I now understand as the opportunity gap in action. The opportunity gap concept is a systematic imbalance of educational opportunities for students that are less fortunate regarding educational resources and programs or communities, which ultimately affects student academic achievement and may explain achievement gaps (). I believe I got the long end of the stick, having received a quality education that pushed me intellectually and socially. However,