Understanding the Achievement Gap

Given the recent Supreme Court case, Fisher v. University of Texas, the concept of “achievement gap” has surfaced in politics. “Achievement gap” has become a vaguely common phrase in our normal discourse. Education Week refers to the achievement gap as, “the disparity in academic performance between groups of students.” This achievement gap primarily refers to groups of different socioeconomic status, races and gender. There is a significant gap between African-American and Hispanic students who perform at the lower end of the scale and Caucasian students, who perform at the higher end of the scale. There is a similar disparity between students from lower socioeconomic status and those from a higher one. To no one’s surprise, race and socioeconomic status goes hand in hand with this scale. We can either choose to hold the social groups accountable or our broken system. I choose to blame the latter. In order to fully understand the complexities of the achievement gap, one ought to know the influence of race and socioeconomic status in the American society, especially, in the field of education.

Having had the Civil Rights Movement less than only 50 years ago, racism and racial discrimination are still prevalent in our society. Because of the years of inequality, minorities today are not starting on an equal level playing field and this disparity is reflected in our education system. The American dream is not as readily accessible for minorities and citizens of the lower and middle class due to the opportunity gap. The system is still corrupt and discriminates against minorities. Given the recent economic conditions and the scarcity of jobs, education is the only ladder up for lower and middle-class citizens. The quality of public education one receives is dependent upon his/her residence and socio-economic factors. High-poverty areas tend to have less funds and resources for schools. According to the US Department of Education, being raised in a low-income family also means having fewer education resources and poor health care and nutrition at home. Certain racial and ethnic groups are disadvantaged because they are frequently in lower income brackets. These minorities tend to be populated in high-poverty areas. According to the 2009 data from the Census Bureau, “one in three black and Hispanic children, at 4 million and 5.6 million, respective live in poverty.” This is also because of discrimination for housing. Even after the passage of The Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the execution of the Fair Housing Act, The National Fair Housing Alliance estimates that there are estimated 4 million cases of housing discrimination per year, mostly for African-Americans and Latinos. This system has been affecting generations of minority groups that are restricted by their race and socio-economic status.

The cycle of the quality of education one gets is dependent upon ones residence, which is further affected by race and class. This vicious cycle leads to the evident achievement gap present in our nation today. The National Assessment of Education Progress found in a study that, “By the end of the fourth grade, African American, Hispanic and low-income students are already two years behind grade level on average… by the time they reach the twelfth grade, they are four years behind.” Graduation rates are also lower for African American and Hispanic students than for White students. By attending under-resourced and failing schools, we have fewer minority students who are able to attend higher education, as compared to White and Asian students. The consequences of this are monumental and ones that are hindering the true potential and caliber of our nation. This leads us to question, what are some ways to help diminish the achievement gap and fix our education system?

~Namrata Kang