The Achievement Gap Is Difficult For Children

The Achievement Gap is a term that represents the difference of academic success in certain groups of students such as race, gender, and

The “gap” as referred to in the title, is the distribution of the scores on achievement tests that differ between black and white students in the United States. The purpose of this study was to record the degree of the gap in achievement scores, decide how much of the racial gap is due to social-class, how the gap differed in the 30-year period, and how that which is credited to the social-class has changed over the years.

Ravitch?s discussion on ?achievement gaps? points out that African American students academic scores have progressed remarkably since 1990 to 2011. She also states that the Hispanic and Asian have progressed as well. Achievement gaps will continue to be an issue, as long as there are different races, ethnic groups, the poor and the wealthy. The more disadvantaged one is, is going to lack in education and prosperity. To solve an issue like the achievement gap, we need to take action and begin at the root. These children are suffering because lack of proper education in the school system, which stems from the poverty in the segregated neighborhoods. Low income

A widespread issue for Americans, the achievement gap is a significant inequality that young minorities face. Directly correlated with the societal injustices of poverty and racism, often resulting in limited opportunities and socioeconomic stagnation, the achievement gap encompasses the disparity in education performance of students by race and income. As the basic values of a democratic government include justice and liberty, it is imperative that a democracy and democratic citizens provide equal opportunity for all, especially in the realm of education.

The achievement gap, as most educators know it, isn’t just something seen or experienced at a district level. This is something with national implications, which will be felt for generations to come if it is not addressed now. Yet many people ask “so what? Why do anything about it?” According to a report from The Center for American Progress, longstanding racial and ethnic gaps in education and other areas are growing in part due to income and wealth inequality. This suggests that decisions made today, will directly impact America’s economy tomorrow.

Another reality that Diane Ravitch sheds light on is the misconstrued theories about the achievement gap. Reformers often say that African American and Hispanic students have not made progress for decades (Ravitch, p.55). However, after looking at the data from NAEP, it is evident that this assertion by the reformers just simply is not true. Rather, these students have shown dramatic increases in math. Many do not recognize this though because white achievement has also improved which keeps the gap at large. (Ravitch, p.56) Throughout different grades, African Americans and Hispanics have shown remarkable progress in mathematics. There has been improvement in reading as well, just not as dramatic as the progress shown in math. Ravitch states, “Today’s reformers often imply that schools alone can close the achievement gaps among different groups. The like to point to exemplary charter schools with high test scores to prove their point” (Ravitch, p.59). While the belief that a charter school could bridge the achievement gap and overcome the disadvantages of poverty, it simply is not a realistically feasible concept. Thomas B. Timar of the University of California states, “Yet the gap is the symptom of larger social, economic and political problems that go far beyond the reach of the school… While schools are part of the solution, they alone cannot solve the problem of educational disparities” (Ravitch, p.60). Timar calls society to take action by

The article, “Why Does the Gap Persist?” by Paul E. Barton is an attempt to try and make sense of why our minority students continue to struggle. Barton brings up the point that research has shown that equal access to education has not equated to equal achievement. Mr. Barton points out fourteen factors that affect student achievement. A summary of some of these points will follow.

The Achievement Gap in America has separated and divided America's youth into more or less, two different cultures of socioeconomic placement. The first being the predominantly Caucasian students at American elementary schools, high schools, and colleges that excel greatly in their education. Most of the time earning them middle to upper class jobs in the economy, the aforementioned group contrasts significantly with its opposite culture of American youth. The second culture, the population that is mostly made up of the minority races, takes it's place in the American education system as the population of students who are less interested in getting a decent education and taking

Teachers can’t bring change in the achievement gap by becoming better educators. The teachers are not the only people in the students’ lives that can help the students achieve better grades. The blame for the achievement gap should be shared with the adults in the students’ lives and the community (McKinstry). The youth that are falling behind academically are usually fighting one or more of this barriers: retention in grade level, poor attendance, behavioral problems, low socioeconomic status, low achievement, substance abuse, or teenage pregnancy

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.

An equal and high quality education for all students in the United States is crucial to its economic progression. Access to a proper education leads to the acquirement of jobs and opportunities which overall will support the development of a society. Unfortunately, there is a large disparity between ethnic groups, regarding their ability to equally succeed and obtain the same opportunities as their counterparts. This is otherwise known as the attainment gap, which more specifically, refers to the distinct academic achievement differences between groups of students; often times between minority groups and their White peers. This is

Each year in the United States four million eager young children walk into a kindergarten classroom with big hopes and dreams of success both academically and socially (U.S. DOE, 2015). But the stark reality facing many of these children is that they are several steps behind their classmates on the journey to success. Even as early as the first grade, 30% - 50% of the black-white achievement gap is already present. (Mead, 2012). Similar size gaps also exist when considering socio-economic levels. “Before even entering kindergarten, the average cognitive score of children in the highest SES group are 60% above the scores of the lowest SES group” (Mead, 2012). These children are beginning their journey without the reading, math and social–emotional skills necessary for their success. The “average math achievement is 21% lower for black than for whites, and 19% lower for Hispanics” (Mead, 2012). These gaps are looming large in the lives of young children.

There has been a pattern of minorities and those who come from low-income families testing lower than their white, higher-class counterparts. This pattern of disparity is called the achievement gap and it is one of the main focuses of education reform in the United States today. There have been many reforms that have been pushed to help close this gap, but it still remains substantially wide. Researchers have discovered different factors that may be causing the gap as well as offering solutions to the issue at hand.

The perspective that Schrader has on this subject is we shouldn’t give up on our children and we need to work together to close the achievement gap. She writes about even with the READ Act, the gap between wealthy students and poverty students, minorities and white students, isn’t shrinking. When the READ Act was created in 2012 the focus was only on the school and teachers to make this gap shrink. Schrader talks about how community leaders from all across the nation will come to Denver to discuss what others are doing to help this. She also explains how there is a new campaign called Grade-Level Reading that has roots in Colorado and how it will be focusing on helping at home with the early years, absenteeism, and to help with summer regression. Schrader sees trying to close the achievement gap by trying any approach necessary. “Isn’t closing the achievement gap at least as worthy a cause? And for kids we all love “to the moon and back,” a more important final outcome?”

The achievement gap is unfortunately the disparity in academic performance of groups of students. The achievement gap has affected students for many years from grades, standardized tests, course selection, and dropout rates. Researchers studied and assessed the measures that exist in academic performance to validate this term we know as the “Achievement Gap”. Why are we still talking about the achievement gap in the 21st century? Researchers and public policy officials are examining the dimensions of the achievement gap in America’s school. As a Wisconsin native, this I get angry because we have the widest achievement gap in the nation. Unfortunately, the lack of addressing the “real problem” will continue to impose heavy and often tragic consequences of colored students more specifically sustaining low socioeconomic classes living in higher poverty areas. Ignoring the systemic issue that affect student academic achievement will only continue to increase the school-to-prison pipeline.