The Achievement Gap
The Achievement Gap: Causes, Difficulties and Strategies
This term paper is broken down into three parts. In Part I, I will address the causes of the achievement gap and why it is so difficult to overcome for certain underperforming subgroups. I believe that the underlying factor causing the achievement gap is money. In a direct sense, it is clear that having money is a big advantage for students and not having money creates a host of challenges. The economically disadvantaged achievement gap is created when economic factors cause poor students to begin school behind the curve and then pose obstacles to closing the gap as they get older. There is an achievement gap for ethic groups, as well. Part of this gap can be explained by the fact that historical factors have led to African American and Hispanics being overly represented in the economically disadvantaged category. There are also social and cultural factors that lead to discrepancies in achievement, but tracing these back far enough will show that economic factors played a role in shaping the social and cultural climate. The gap is extremely difficult to close because the current systems do not close the gap, but, instead, perpetuate a cycle of underperformance.
In Part II, I will look at some raw testing data from Rancho Milpitas Middle School. This data supports the idea of the achievement gap numerically and provides some specific areas of concern. In Part III, I will describe some methods I would use to try and address the achievement gap in an individual classroom. I will use the data from Part II to focus my specific methods and decisions on Hispanic, specifically ELL, students. Part I. Causes of the Achievement Gap
One of the major issues in American public education right now is the significant and persistent gap in achievement between certain subgroups and the rest of the population. Two of the major gaps occur for the subgroup of economically disadvantaged students and ethnic
This term paper is broken down into three parts. In Part I, I will address the causes of the achievement gap and why it is so difficult to overcome for certain underperforming subgroups. I believe that the underlying factor causing the achievement gap is money. In a direct sense, it is clear that having money is a big advantage for students and not having money creates a host of challenges. The economically disadvantaged achievement gap is created when economic factors cause poor students to begin school behind the curve and then pose obstacles to closing the gap as they get older. There is an achievement gap for ethic groups, as well. Part of this gap can be explained by the fact that historical factors have led to African American and Hispanics being overly represented in the economically disadvantaged category. There are also social and cultural factors that lead to discrepancies in achievement, but tracing these back far enough will show that economic factors played a role in shaping the social and cultural climate. The gap is extremely difficult to close because the current systems do not close the gap, but, instead, perpetuate a cycle of underperformance.
In Part II, I will look at some raw testing data from Rancho Milpitas Middle School. This data supports the idea of the achievement gap numerically and provides some specific areas of concern. In Part III, I will describe some methods I would use to try and address the achievement gap in an individual classroom. I will use the data from Part II to focus my specific methods and decisions on Hispanic, specifically ELL, students. Part I. Causes of the Achievement Gap
One of the major issues in American public education right now is the significant and persistent gap in achievement between certain subgroups and the rest of the population. Two of the major gaps occur for the subgroup of economically disadvantaged students and ethnic