Graduation Speech : 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

A school setting provides opportunities where issues of social justice, oppression, and discrimination can be addressed. According to Bemak and Chung (2009), students of color and economically disadvantaged students are likely to have low academic achievement, in comparison to their White middle class counterparts. These disparities in academic

Introduction In the United States, there is an achievement gap between middle and upper class students and low-income students. Children who are from middle to upper class families are outperforming students living in poverty on standardized tests. Although, all children are learning the same information, but the experiences they endure outside of school has an impact the learning process. Poverty has a direct correlation in the quality of education certain children receive, and then it impacts test scores.

I teach first grade at Lowe Elementary School; my class is made up of twenty-four very diverse seven year-olds; they come from all over the city of Louisville, from a variety of socio-economic situations. Each student brings a unique personality to our classroom community, and they all work hard to become “smarter and smarter” and to “go to college”. Thirteen students are boys and eleven are girls. Of these twenty-four students, three of them are English Language Learners. Additionally, eight students receive tier two interventions and two receive tier three interventions in reading. In math, five students are tier two and four are tier three. I also teach one student who receives ECE services for a developmental delay. Within my class there is a wide achievement gap.

It is not hard to understand then how disadvantaged children may not aspire to complete school or attend University due to the unfamiliarity of the concept and lower family expectations. Economic disparity plays a large role in school outcomes wherein greater affluence can provide families with a wider range of education choices and activities to enhance curriculum understandings. In the scenario it is noted that Dexter’s parents want him to do well in school however they are constrained by economic realities. Poor families have less choice in their lifestyle and education selections which can impact on outcomes. Decreased access to resources such as books, educational materials, high quality early education and learning opportunities diminish their ability to start school on an equal footing with more affluent children. As well the poorest families struggle to find good schooling opportunities and have to accept what is offered to them (Ewing, 2013, p. 84). These factors are not so easily addressed at the school level and will require serious changes at the State and Federal levels to negate the influence of

A majority of the students in Middle Tennessee Public Schools come from a low- income family household. The school in which I work, Clearview Middle School is not only low- income, but is also a “priority” school. Priority schools are in the bottom five percent in being in the category of lowest- performing in the school district. The population of students at Clearview Middle School are majority African- American, but the cultures among the school are rich and diverse. Many students at Clearview Middle School have high potential of achieving great academic success, but fall short due consistent classroom disruptions throughout the day.

In a study conducted Rosenthal and Jacobson they examined the exceptions of teachers from their students and self-fulling prophecy. They believe the central problem of so many kids failing school is because of kids with disadvantages. They are lower class children who live in poverty and being taught by middle class teachers. They are the Mexican American, Puerto Ricans and African Americans. These teachers are white females who are middle class and teaching the “disadvantage” which leads to the teacher expectations for them to fail. (Apa)

Rendon (1994) points out “students from underrepresented backgrounds often experience isolation, a lack of self-efficacy, and a lack of a sense of belonging in college contexts”(p. 48). Furthermore, one needs to take it one step back and realize that most students of color are much more likely to attend schools where most of their peers are poor or low-income. Therefore, socio economic status (SES) determines the education a person receives throughout K-12. Walpole (2004) also describes how “low SES parents are more likely to define success as a secure full-time job after graduating from high school. College attendance is not an expectation and often means enrolling in a community college or technical school when it does occur” (p. 47). When a student reaches the

The low SES result to inequalities in the accessibility of better education. Further, the environment where the minorities are raised also affects their socioeconomic status. The emphasis on education among the low socioeconomic status families tends to be lower than high socioeconomic status families (Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010).

Children who live in poor urban neighborhoods are disproportionately likely to be members of racial and ethnic minority groups and are at greater risk for school failure

Throughout my classes at DePaul’s College of Education, I have wondered how and why socioeconomic factors have such a profound effect on children's school readiness, development, and future of learning. With the addition of clinical experiences in various schools and grades, a passion and focus area of mine has been multicultural perspectives, often volunteering at schools where students and their families live below the poverty line. I have personally witnessed that the lack of family income makes it difficult or impossible for children to learn and develop at the same capacity as their higher socioeconomic counterparts. It is under these conditions that roadblocks can occur, making academic performance difficult for at-risk students.

In the education sector, the achievement gap delineates the observed disparity in school performance among student groups. This gap is manifested in measures such as test scores, grades, college completion and dropout rates, and selection of courses. Within the U.S. context, the achievement gap has often been used to refer to the worrying performance disparities between Latinos and African-Americans on one hand and their non-Hispanic white counterparts on the other. The gap also describes academic differences between students hailing from socioeconomically disadvantaged and those who are better off. Throughout history, Hispanic and African-American students have persistently lagged behind whites in academic matters, triggering heated policy discussions.

The achievement gap is a term that has evolved over the past decades to describe

Many factors affect the success of a school system. The economic background and social class of the community and individual students is one of the largest factors to consider when attempting to structure a successful education plan. Social class is defined by the online Oxford Dictionary as “a division of a society based on social and economic status.” This division can often effect more than a child’s home life. We know that social class and success in school are often positively correlated to one another. This correlation is a major downfall in America’s education system because it allows for children who come from families in poverty to fall behind and be less successful than children of higher

Everyone knows about the various stereotypes and social stigmas that come with socioeconomic status whether they will choose to admit it or not. Society has come to assume that a child who comes from a family of low socioeconomic status, that they will not do as well as a child who comes from a family of a greater socioeconomic status. Unfortunately these assumptions are so ingrained in our brains that we start to follow the self-fulfilling prophecy. When a child from a noticeably low socioeconomic status walks into a classroom, it is not uncommon for the teacher to automatically assume that the child will not perform well in class, and in turn either grades the child more harshly or does not give the child as much attention as the