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Encyclopedia > Achievement gap

An achievement gap refers to the observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. While most of the data presented in this article comes from the United States, similar or different gaps exist for these, and other groups in other nations. For example, students of African origin and Roma children often score lower than other groups in Europe, and some south Asian populations score lower than average in other nations. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... For other uses, see Race (disambiguation). ... This article or section should be merged with ethnic group Ethnicity is the cultural characteristics that connect a particular group or groups of people to each other. ... Socioeconomics or Socio-economics is the study of the relationship between economic activity and social life. ...

Contents

Low income / minority

William T. Dickens and James R. Flynn write that blacks have gained 5 or 6 IQ points on non-Hispanic whites between 1972 and 2002. This graph shows the gains for various tests.[1]
Min-Hsiung Huang and Robert M. Hauser found that, controlling for social background, the Black-White test score gap narrowed significantly over the period from 1974 to 1998. For Whites, however, improvement in social background across time does not raise test scores correspondingly. [2]

It most often describes the issue of low-income/minority education in the United States; that is, that Blacks and Latinos and students from poor families perform worse in school than their well-off White and Asian peers. SAT scores broken down by family income show when students have similar family incomes, Black and Latino students still score lower than Whites, and Whites score lower than Asians with similar incomes.[3] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... // The term Latino is a linguistic identity that refers to an individual that has significant ancestry from a nation-state where a Latin derived language is spoken or is the offical language of the government. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... An Asian American is a person of Asian ancestry or origin who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ...


Eric A. Hanushek and Steven G. Rivkin wrote in their 2006 book that unequal distributions of inexperienced teachers and of racial concentrations in schools can explain all of the increased achievement gap between grades 3 and 8.[4]


The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized test scores, grade point average, dropout rates, and college-enrollment and -completion rates. Explanations for the phenomenon -- and levels of concern over its existence -- vary widely, and are the source of much controversy, especially since the effort to "close the achievement gap" has become some of the more politically prominent education reform issues. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A grade in education can mean either a teachers evaluation of a students work or a students level of educational progress, usually one grade per year (often denoted by an ordinal number, such as the 3rd Grade or the 12th Grade). This article is about evaluation of... Dropout may refer to: // A student who quits school before graduation. ... Education reform is a plan or movement which attempts to bring about a systematic change in educational theory or practice across a community or society. ...


High performing minority learning

Exceptions to the achievement gap exist. Schools that are majority black, even poor, can perform well above national norms, with Whitney Young High School and Davidson Magnet School in Augusta, Georgia being prominent examples. Another school with remarkable gains for students of color is Amistad Academy in New Haven,Connecticut. All of the aforementioned schools generally offer more rigorous, traditional modes of instruction, including Direct Instruction. Direction Instruction was found to be the single most effective pedagogical method for raising the skill levels of inner-city students (Project Follow Through). [1] High performing Black schools are not unique to the twentieth century. In Washington, DC in the late 19th century, a predominantly low income Black school performed higher than three White schools in yearly testing. This trend continued until the mid 20th century, and during that time the M Street School exceeded national norms on standardized tests. [2] Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, (commonly known as Whitney Young), is a Chicago public school that opened its doors to students on September 3, 1975 as the citys first public magnet high school. ... John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School is a public magnet school for the fine and performing arts in Augusta, Georgia, which draws students from grades six through twelve from all parts of the Richmond County Board of Education School district. ... Nickname: Motto: We feel Good Location of the consolidated areas of Augusta and Richmond County in the state of Georgia. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...


Social researchers Carl L. Bankston III and Stephen J. Caldas have argued that the achievement gap, rather than overt racism, is the main source of continuing school segregation in the United States. In their books, A Troubled Dream: The Promise and Failure of School Desegregation in Louisiana [3] (2002) and Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation [4] (2005), they maintain that students benefit academically from going to school with relatively high-achieving schoolmates and are academically disadvantaged when they have relatively low-achieving schoolmates. Therefore, a racial gap in achievement means that even parents without racial prejudices tend to avoid sending their children to schools with large percentages of minority students.


Standards based education reform

Largely refuting the findings of differential performance between groups with different income and education characteristics are the beliefs of the standards based education reform movement adopted by most education agencies in the United States by the 21st century. By studying other nations with a national education policy, setting clear, attainable world class standards of performance, using standards based assessment with the incentive of a high school graduation examination, and other student-centered reforms such as whole language, block scheduling, multiculturalism, desegregation, affirmative action, standards-based mathematics and inquiry-based science, it is believed that all students of all races and incomes will succeed. None of these aforementioned reforms have raised student achievement. The No Child Left Behind federal legislation indeed requires as a final goal that all students of all groups will perform at grade level in all tests, and show continual improvement from year to year, or face sanctions, though some have noted that schools with the highest number of poor and minorities generally face the greatest challenges to meet these goals. Advocates of a rigorous, traditional education point out that the institutions which produce outstanding minority achievement are not based on student-based, constructivist reforms, or curricula focused on racial equity as an explicit goal. Outcomes Based Education, also known as OBE, is a form of educational reform which is currently being introduced in Western Australia and South Africa. ... World class standards refers to the level of achievement, mainly in math and science, attained by students in the four countries that make up the East Asian Tigers; South Korea, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan, as well as in Europe. ... A standards based test is one based on the outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy. ... According to a 2006 study by the Center on Education Policy, two-thirds of the 15 million public high school students in the United States of America were required to pass a graduation examination to get a diploma of completion of studies. ... Whole language describes a literacy instructional philosophy which emphasizes that children should focus on meaning and moderates skill instruction. ... Block scheduling is a type of academic scheduling in which each student has fewer classes per day for a longer period of time; academic days alternate, with students having half of their classes on one day and the other half on the other. ... Multiculturalism is the idea that modern societies should embrace and include distinct cultural groups with equal social status. ... Desegregation is the process of ending racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. ... Affirmative Action refers to policies intended to promote access to education or employment aimed at a historically socio-politically non-dominant group (typically, minorities or women). ... Principles and Standards for School Mathematics is a document produced in 1989 by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [5] (NCTM) to set forth a national vision for precollege mathematics education in the US and Canada. ... Inquiry-based science is a method of teaching science where students learn science by using similar methods, attitudes and skills as scientists do when they are conducting scientific research. ... Signing ceremony at Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio. ... Traditional education is usually the absence or target of destruction by Education reform. ...


In contrast to norm-referenced tests such as IQ tests and the SAT and ACT which are widely condemned, or in the case of IQ tests made illegal for limiting opportunities for minorities, standards based assessment are lauded for being set based on clearly defined criterion-referenced tests which in theory can be passed by all students, and be constructed free from cultural bias. A test is said to be norm-referenced when the translated score tells where the person stands in some population of persons who have taken the test. ... ... The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. ... The ACT® test is a standardized achievement examination for college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. ... A standards based test is one based on the outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy. ... A test is said to be criterion-referenced when provision is made for translating the test score into a statement about the behavior to be expected of a person with that score. ...


However, by 2006, the success of this approach was in question in states such as Washington when fully half of all students promise set in 1993 education reform legislation that most or all students would pass the standards when they were made a mandatory graduation requirement. Still, officials such as Superintendent Terry Bergeson persist in their belief that minority students are just as capable as higher scoring groups and only need additional help. Other states such as Massachusetts MCAS demonstrated high graduation rates for all races, however groups such as Fairtest point out many minority students simply dropped out, while underperforming minorities would still lag whites and Asians. Teresa Terry Bergeson is an American politician currently acting as the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Washington state. ... The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System is a standardized test adminstered by the Massachusetts Department of Education based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. ... The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, also known as FairTest, works to end the misuses and flaws of standardized testing and to ensure that evaluation of students, teachers and schools is fair, open valid and educationally beneficial. ...


While states like Washington cited a narrowing of some gaps, there was no evidence that standards based reforms had actually eliminated any gaps, or changed their rank ordering in the United States, Australia, or anywhere in the world. Charles Murray, one of the authors of the Bell Curve questioned whether reductions in point gaps represented any change in relative improvement at all. Though in theory all groups can and will pass such tests at high rates, in practice such tests are even more difficult to answer open-response items which require significant reading and writing and problem solving as well as mathematical skills. While minorities might score between the 25th or 50th percentile on a rank order test, failure rates for minorities remained at 2 to 4 times the rate for the highest scoring groups throughout most testing years on test such as the WASL and only 1 in 4 minority sophomores had passed the standard needed to get their diploma in 2006. Charles Murray is the name of several notable people: Charles Murray, the Libertarian and author of The Bell Curve. ... The graph of the probability density function of the normal distribution is sometimes called the bell curve or the bell-shaped curve; see normal distribution. ... The Washington Assessment of Student Learning simply abbreviated as the WASL, is a standards-based assessment (not to be confused with a standardized test) which is one of a number of high school graduation examinations adopted by many states as part of the standards-based education reform movement. ...


National Assessment of Educational Progress

Math

White-Black gap

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White-Hispanic gap

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Reading

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 777 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2000 × 1544 pixel, file size: 51 KB, MIME type: image/png) NAEP reading scores long-term trends age 9: http://nces. ...


White-Black gap

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White-Hispanic gap

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Other gaps

Other gaps remain. Illiteracy was once characteristic of many older African Americans, though now chiefly it is immigrant groups in the United States which have high percentages of persons who cannot read or write English. The high school graduation rate for blacks, compared to when the same rate was achieved for whites, closed by 10 years each decade until the 1980 and 1990 census, when they were essentially equal at a national level. Similarly, the rate of college attendance for African Americans lags that of whites, but is measured at a level similar to whites in the 1970s. It can also be observed that while Asian Americans are the most educated group in the United States, large populations in India and China, especially women, do not receive an education beyond elementary school.


See also

Outcomes Based Education, also known as OBE, is a form of educational reform which is currently being introduced in Western Australia and South Africa. ... Race and intelligence are broad terms with many meanings that are used to describe and measure human beings sometimes accurately, sometimes not. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ohio State Board of Education. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930), is an American economist, political writer, and commentator. ... The E-rate program (officially the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund), authorized in 1996 and implemented in 1997, directly addressed the technology gap between rich and poor schools by allocating money from telecommunications taxes to poor schools without technology resources. ... A generation gap is a popular term used to describe wide differences in cultural norms between members of a younger generation and their elders. ... Economic inequality refers to disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. ... The marriage gap describes observed disparities between those who are married and those who are single. ... Opportunity gap can refer to: in business, a Market opportunity a company or individual is not addressing in politics, a euphemism for a lack of Equal opportunity Business opportunity Market Intelligence Marketing management Marketing plan Product management Strategic planning Achievement gap Digital gap Generation gap Income gap Marriage gap Category...

References

  1. ^ Black Americans reduce the racial IQ gap: Evidence from standardization samples William T. Dickens and James R. Flynn. Oct. 2006
  2. ^ Convergent Trends in Black-White Test-Score Differentials in the U.S.: A Correction of Richard Lynn Min-Hsiung Huang and Robert M. Hauser 2000
  3. ^ College Board, Thomas Sowell
  4. ^ School Quality and the Black-White Achievement Gap Eric A. Hanushek and Steven G. Rivkin 2006

Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930), is an American economist, political writer, and commentator. ...

External links

  • Solutions proven to close the achievement gap

  Results from FactBites:
 
Achievement gap - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (436 words)
An achievement gap refers to the observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized test scores, grade point average, dropout rates, and college-enrollment and -completion rates.
Therefore, a racial gap in achievement means that even parents without racial prejudices tend to avoid sending their children to schools with large percentages of minority students.
Who's Responsible for Closing the Achievement Gap? (1327 words)
Exhibiting a common and shared understanding that we as educators are, in fact, responsible for working to close the achievement gap, the commitment of these participants caused me to reflect upon what it means as an educational leader to accept responsibility for eradicating the gap.
After engaging in deep inquiry, school leaders must next accept responsibility for closing the achievement gap by crafting a set of deliberate action-strategies that focus on the dismantling of inequitable schooling practices and the sustained and school- or systems-wide improvement of instruction.
Rather than instituting single program quick fixes in response to the problem of the achievement gap, she advises school leaders to concentrate, instead, on implementing a coherent and broad range of strategies that are designed to improve "teaching and learning" over time (2001, p.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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