Achievement Gap Pros And Cons

Some educators will argue that the achievement gap is not just an African American issue and other groups are being victimized of the problem too, which is true. Students of all different races are experiencing the achievement gap including white students. However, according to “Racial and Ethnic Achievement Gaps” African Americans are experiencing the gap the most. Students start showing the gap as young as the first grade in reading and math skills. “As of 2012, the white-black and white-Hispanic achievement gaps were 30-40% smaller than they were in the 1970s. Nonetheless, the gaps are still very large, ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 standard deviations.” (Racial and Ethnic Achievement Gaps). Our country is starting to see the gap closing, but we are still experiencing the effects of the negative contributions.