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Achievement Gap - Education Week

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Published:August3,2004

AchievementGap
Updated:July7,2011

Theachievementgapineducationreferstothedisparityinacademicperformancebetweengroupsofstudents.Theachievementgap
showsupingrades,standardizedtestscores,courseselection,dropoutrates,andcollegecompletionrates,amongothersuccess
measures.ItismostoftenusedtodescribethetroublingperformancegapsbetweenAfricanAmericanandHispanicstudents,atthelower
endoftheperformancescale,andtheirnonHispanicwhitepeers,andthesimilaracademicdisparitybetweenstudentsfromlowincome
familiesandthosewhoarebetteroff.Inthepastdecade,though,scholarsandpolicymakershavebeguntofocusincreasingattentionon
otherachievementgaps,suchasthosebasedonsex,Englishlanguageproficiencyandlearningdisabilities.
WiththepassageoftheNoChildLeftBehindActof2001,closingachievementgapsamongthesevariousstudentgroupsbecamea
focusoffederaleducationaccountability,andschoolsanddistrictswererequiredtodisaggregatestudenttestscoresandother
performancedatabystudentcharacteristicstoenablebettercomparisonsbetweengroups.Thiscreatedbothtogreaterawarenessof
racialdisparitiesandtorisingconcernaboutotherkindsofachievementgaps.Theattentionledtomoretargetedinterventionsfor
differentgroupsofstudents,buthadnotclosedmostachievementgapstoanappreciabledegreeadecadeofthelawpassed.
WhileNationalAssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP)resultsshowthat,overtime,
blackandHispanicstudentshavemadegreatstridesinimprovingperformanceinreading
andmathematics,abreachstillseparatedthemfromtheirwhitepeers.Forexample,special
analysesbytheNationalCenterforEducationStatisticsin2009and2011showedthatblack
andHispanicstudentstrailedtheirwhitepeersbyanaverageofmorethan20testscore
pointsontheNAEPmathandreadingassessmentsat4thand8thgrades,adifferenceof
abouttwogradelevels.Thesegapspersistedeventhoughthescoredifferentialsbetween
blackandwhitestudentsnarrowedbetween1992and2007in4thgrademathandreading
and8thgrademath(NCES,2009,2011).
Studentshighschoolcoursetakingpatternsprovideaslightlymorepositiveprogresspicture.DatafromtheU.S.Departmentof
Educationshowthatstudentsacrosstheboardgreatlyincreasedtheaveragenumberofcoursecreditstheyearnedbygraduationby
2009.Blackstudentswentfromtakingtheleastcredithoursin1990,23.5,tothemostofanystudentgroupin2009,27.4.Hispanic
studentsincreasedtheiraveragecreditsfrom24to26.5whitestudentsfrom23.7to27.3andAsianAmericanandPacificIslander
studentsfrom24.2to27creditsduringthesametimeperiod.Allstudentgroupslikewiseimprovedthenumberofcoreacademiccourses
theytookduringthattime,withblackstudentsovertakingwhitestudentsintheirparticipationincoreacademiccourses.Butallother
studentgroupscontinuetotrailAsianAmericanstudentsincorecoursework.However,bothwhiteandAsianAmericanstudentswereat
leasttwiceaslikelytotakeclassesconsideredacademicallyrigorousinthosesubjectsthanblackandHispanicstudents.Fewerthan10
percentofblackorHispanicstudentsparticipatedinrigorouscoursesin2009(NCES,2009).
Suchdisparitieshavealsobeenevidentingraduationrateandcollegesuccessstatistics.Changesin2008tofederalregulationson
educatingstudentsinpovertyrequiredschooldistrictstobeheldaccountableforthegraduationratesofstudentsindifferentracial,
language,poverty,anddisabilitygroups.AccordingtoEditorialProjectsinEducationResearchCentersannualDiplomasCountreport,
whileeachmajorracialandethnicgrouphadmorestudentsgraduateasoftheclassof2008,massivegapsremainedbetweendifferent
groupsofstudents.While82.7percentofAsianstudentsand78.4percentofwhitestudentsintheclassof2008graduatedontime,that
wasthecaseforonly57.6percentofHispanic,57percentofblackand53.9percentofAmericanIndianstudents.Likewise,only68
percentofmalestudentsgraduatedontimein2008,comparedwith75percentoffemalestudents.Overthelongterm,onlyaboutone
halfofmalestudentsfromminoritybackgroundsgraduateontime(EducationWeek,2011).
UnderPresidentBarackObamasAdministration,theU.S.DepartmentofEducationalsosteppedupattentionongenderandracialgapsin
studentscollegeenrollmentandsuccessrates,towardagoalthattheUnitedStateswillleadtheworldincollegegraduatesby2020.
AccordingtotheAmericanCouncilonEducations24thannualstatusreportonminoritiesinhighereducation,asof2008,38percentof
Americansage2534hadearnedatleastanassociatedegree,whileonly26percentofAfricanAmericansages2537obtainedatwo

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Achievement Gap - Education Week

yeardegreeand18percentofHispanics25to34yearolds.Moreover,theU.S.CensusBureaureportsthatasof2010,36percentof
womenages25to29heldabachelorsdegreeorbetterversusonly28percentofmeninthesameagegroup.
Achievementdisparitiesareoftenattributedtosocioeconomicfactors.Accordingto2009datafromtheCensusBureau,ofallchildren
youngerthan18livinginfamilies,15.5millionliveinpoverty,definedasafamilyoffourwithlessthan$21,947peryear.Thisincludes
4.9million,orabout10percent,ofnonHispanicwhitechildren,andoneinthreeblackandHispanicchildren,at4millionand5.6million,
respectively(AnnieE.CaseyFoundation2011).Accordingtoaseminalstudyoflanguagedevelopmentin1995,byage3,childrenin
povertyhavesmallervocabulariesandlowerlanguageskillsthanchildrenfrommiddleincomefamilies.Researchhasalsoshownthat
dropoutratestendtobehigherforchildrenwholiveinpoverty.AccordingtotheU.S.DepartmentofEducations2011Conditionof
Educationreport,about68percentof12thgradersinhighpovertyschoolsgraduatedwithadiplomain2008,comparedwith91percent
of12thgradersinlowpovertyschools(NCES,2011).Arecentstudy

bytheAnnieE.CaseyFoundationfoundthatchildrenwhoboth

liveinpovertyandreadbelowgradelevelby3rdgradearethreetimesaslikelytonotgraduatefromhighschoolasstudentswhohave
neverbeenpoor(Hernandez,2011).
Researchershavetriedtopinpointwhyraceandclassaresuchstrongpredictorsofstudentseducationalattainment.Inthe1990s,the
controversialbook,TheBellCurve,claimedthatgapsinstudentachievementweretheresultofvariationinstudentsgeneticmakeupand
naturalabilityanassertionthathassincebeenwidelydiscredited.Manyexpertshavesinceassertedthatachievementgapsarethe
resultofmoresubtleenvironmentalfactorsandopportunitygapsintheresourcesavailabletopoorversuswealthychildren.Being
raisedinalowincomefamily,forexample,oftenmeanshavingfewereducationalresourcesathome,inadditiontopoorhealthcareand
nutrition.Atthesametime,studieshavealsofoundthatchildreninpovertywhoseparentsprovideengaginglearningenvironmentsat
homedonotstartschoolwiththesameacademicreadinessgapsseenamongpoorchildrengenerally(U.S.DepartmentofEducation,
2000Viadero,2000,Sparks,2011).
Educationandschoolfundingpoliciescanexacerbatetheseopportunitygaps.AnalysesbyTheEducationTrust,aWashingtonbased
researchandadvocacyorganization,andothershavefoundthatstudentsinpovertyandthosewhoaremembersofracialminoritygroups
areoverwhelminglyconcentratedinthelowestachievingschools.Forexample,inCalifornia,blackstudentsaresixtimesmorelikely
thanwhitestudentstoattendoneofthebottomthirdofschoolsinthestate,andLatinoandpoorstudentsarenearlyfourtimesaslikely
aswhitestudentstoattendoneoftheworstperformingthirdofschools(EdTrustWest,2010).Likewise,researchhasshownthatgood
teachingmatters(TheTeachingCommission,2004Hanushek,Kain&Rivkin,1998),andthatpoorandminoritystudentstendtohave
lessaccesstothemosteffective,experiencedteacherswithknowledgeintheircontentfield.Onestudyof46industrializedcountries
foundtheUnitedStatesranked42ndinprovidingequitabledistributionofteacherstodifferentgroupsofstudents:Forexample,while68
percentofupperincome8thgradersintheU.S.studysamplehadmathteachersdeemedtobeofhighquality,thatwastrueforonly53
percentoflowincomestudents(Braeden,2008).
Someresearchersarealsoexploringmoresubtlefactorsthatcancontributetoachievementgapssuchaspeerpressure,studenttracking,
negativestereotyping,andtestbias.Researchalsohasshownthatstudentsfromadisadvantagedgroupcanperformbelowtheirnormal
abilitywhenconfrontedwithnegativestereotypesabouttheirgroup.Forexample,in2009theInstituteforResearchonEducationPolicy
andPracticeatStanfordUniversityfoundthatspecificstudentgroupsunderperformedinstereotypicalwaysonstateexitexams
girlsperformedworseonmath,forexample,orstudentsfromAsianAmericanbackgroundsscoredloweronreadingsuggestingthatthe
highstakesnatureofthetestscouldcontributetostudentsperformanceanxiety(Viadero,2009).
Inprinciple,thepublichasbeenbehindclosingtheachievementgap,andschoolshaveemployedavarietyoftacticstoaddressit.
Commonreformrecommendationshaveincludedreducingclasssizes,creatingsmallerschools,expandingearlychildhoodprograms,
raisingacademicstandards,improvingthequalityofteachersprovidedtopoorandminoritystudents,andencouragingmoreminority
studentstotakehighlevelcourses.Still,progressinreducingacademicdivideshasbeenslowornonexistent.
AchievementgapsseemlikelytoremainafocusinthenextauthorizationoftheElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct.The
requirementthatschools,districtsandstatesdisaggregatestudentstestscoresandgraduationratesbyrace,gender,languageand
socioeconomicstatusremainsoneofthefewpartsofNCLBwithbroadbipartisansupportforreauthorization.Moreover,theeconomic
stimuluslawpassedbyCongressin2009requiredstatestocloseachievementgapsandprovidemoreequitabledistributionofhigh
qualityteachersforpoorandminoritystudents.Policymakersandeducatorshopetofindnewwaystocloseachievementgapsfasterin
thedecadetocome.

HOWTOCITETHISARTICLE
EditorialProjectsinEducationResearchCenter.(2011,July7).IssuesAZ:AchievementGap.EducationWeek.RetrievedMonthDay,Yearfrom
http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/achievementgap/

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Achievement Gap - Education Week

AnnieE.CaseyFoundation,"2011KidsCountDataBook,"2011.
Breaden,M.C.,TeacherQualityGapExaminedWorldwide,EducationWeek,Feb.6,2008.
EducationTrust,"TheFundingGap:LowIncomeandMinorityStudentsReceiveFewerDollars,"2002.
EducationTrustWest,AccessDenied:2009APIRankingsRevealUnequalAccesstoCaliforniasBestSchools,2010.
EducationWeek,QualityCounts,2011.
Engle,J.,TopGapClosers:SomePublicFourYearCollegesandUniversitiesHaveMadeGoodProgressinClosingGraduationRateGaps,TheEducationTrust,2010.
Hanushek,E.A.,Kain,J.F.,andRivkin,S.G.,Teachers,Schools,andAcademicAchievement,(NBERWorkingPaperNo.w6691),NationalBureauofEconomicResearch,
1998.
Hernandez,D.J.,HowThirdGradeReadingSkillsandPovertyInfluenceHighSchoolGraduation,AnnieE.CaseyFoundation,2011.
NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,"NAEP2009HighSchoolTranscriptStudy,"2009.
NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,ConditionofEducation2011,2011.
Ryu,Mikyung,MinoritiesinHigherEducation2010,2010.
Sparks,S.D.,StudyFindsGapsRemainLargeforHispanicStudents,EducationWeek,June23,2011.
TheTeachingCommission,TeachingatRisk:ACalltoAction,2004.
U.S.DepartmentofEducation,NoChildLeftBehindActof2001,fulltext,2001.
U.S.DepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterforEducationalStatistics,"DigestofEducationStatistics,"2000.
Viadero,D.,ScholarsProbeDiverseEffectsofExitExams,EducationWeek,April29,2009.
Viadero,D.,"LagsinMinorityAchievementDefyTraditionalExplanations,"EducationWeek,March22,2000.

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