Vergel de Dios 1

Rafael Vergel de Dios

Professor Albert Wray

UWRT 1104-018

30 March 2017

Critical Reading 2 - Carter Comment on Downey and Condron

The article was a comment by Prudence Carter on Downey and Condrons note that

schools cannot completely eradicate test score gaps because of the disparate nature of childrens

resource environments. Sean Reardon, a researcher that measures the socioeconomic status of

districts, found a .85 correlation of student test scores and the socioeconomic status of public

schools. Another statistic found a .40 correlation between family socioeconomic status and

student test scores. From these statistics, Carter concluded that schools play a big role in a

students success in their test performances. High-quality schools enhance all students

educational and personal well-being. Carters comment to the whole situation is that the

education system is unequal and may be unjust. Schools in low-income communities tend to be

substandard compared to the middle-class and wealthier schools. Harlem Childrens Zone and

KIPP charter schools have erased test score gap. They realized that many of the non-school

factors towards a students success are indeed school factors. They have took an ecological

approach by focusing on proper food, health care, skill development, and high-quality teachers

for their students. Another comment Carter noted in this article was the issue of tests being fully

determinate of life outcomes. Many of the underprivileged students can thrive academically even

if their test scores are relatively lower. Many of these students are in need of guidance from an

experienced teacher that can raise proficiency rates, produce vibrant engagement across diverse

social groups and culture and cultivate deep critical thinking. These factors are, in Carters
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opinion, the fundamental purposes of schooling.

The authors purpose for writing the comment to Downey and Condrons note is to

disagree with their view of equal schooling opportunities can never be achieved. He shows

credible evidence to support his argument. He agrees that the education system is unequal to the

underprivileged students in lower income communities and families. He credits Sean Reardons

research on socioeconomic status and how they affect student test scores. Sean Reardon and his

team studies district SES as a composite of district median household income, the proportion of

parents with a bachelors degree or higher, and rates of child poverty, free lunch eligibility,

SNAP (food assistance), teen births, and unemployment. This credibility allows Carter to trust

the statistics and conclude the inequality of schools in different wealth classes. He believes the

achievement gap between the different wealth classes can be solved because of an example of

charter schools in these lower income communities who have drastically improved their students

scores by focusing on the non-school factors which many believe does not affect the students

performances on standardized tests. He also claims that many of these underprivileged

students have the capability to perform well academically in universities but the standardized

tests prohibit those students in excelling to higher education. He is writing this piece to anyone

interested in his opinion on the achievement gap. They would want to know his stance on the

situation because he has credibility as the Faculty Director of the John W. Gardner Center for

Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University.

Works Cited
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Carter, Prudence L. "Carter Comment on Downey and Condron." Sociology of Education, vol.

89, no. 3, 01 July 2016, pp. 225-226. EBSCOhost, librarylink.uncc.edu/login?

url=http://search.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1105004&site=ehost-live&scope=site.