THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT GAP: OLD REMEDIES OR NEW

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THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT GAP OLD REMEDIES OR NEW
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Elin McGuire
• Requirement for EDUC 610
• Summer 2010
• The Graduate School
• Holy Family University

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FOR MAINTAINING EXISTING PROGRAMS POSITION 1
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10
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Maintaining Existing Programs
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• The Academic Achievement Gap
• National Assessment of Educational Progress
  (NAEP) testing program established in 1969
• Monitored 9, 13, and 17 year olds
• Reading, Math, Science, and Writing
• 20th Century
• Some students incapable of mastering standard
  curriculum
• Students of color genetically or culturally
  inferior
• Southerners justified segregation
• After World War II
• Racial attitudes changed
• Civil rights organizations
• Discrimination prevented students from similar
  education of the white student
• Over the last 35 years, laws and programs were
  designed to make equal opportunity education

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Maintaining Existing Programs
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• The Academic Achievement Gap
• Stats
• 75 of African American and Latino students
  receive high school diplomas
• 10 to 12 of students of color who drop out
  earn GED
• 4Xs as many African American and 5Xs as many
  Latino students take SATs as did in 1996
• The number of African American students attending
  college has doubled in the last 35 years
• The number of Latino students attending college
  has quadrupled
• The gap in NAEP reading test results in African
  American student has decreased by half and in
  Latino students has decreased by 38
• The gap in NAEP math test results in African
  American student has decreased by 45 and in
  Latino students has decreased by 40

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Maintaining Existing Programs
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Integration
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
• Law assigning students to schools based on race
  was unconstitutional
• Segregated schools could never be equal
• Violated the 14th amendment that all Americans
  deserved equal protection
• Students of Spanish heritage were presumed
  deficient since instruction was in English
• Mendez v. Westminister desegregation of schools
• In the south, school districts closed down rather
  than integrate
• New private schools created exempt from
  desegregation
• Crowd control
• Housing patterns
• Violent protests

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Maintaining Existing Programs
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Head Start
• In 1965, Congress funded Head Start, a program
  for poor pre-school children to become school
  ready
• Effective children start school more ready to
  learn, like school, try to do their best, and get
  along with others
• Underfunded
• Half of the eligible children were enrolled
• 1 million of the poorest children never received
  Head Start benefits
• In 2003 Head Start was not reauthorized by
  Congress funding was frozen for 6 years by
  2008 only 40 of eligible children were enrolled.
  
• Reauthorized bill passed in 2007 the program
  had been cut by 10 million and no catch-up money
  allocated.

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Maintaining Existing Programs
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Title I
• In 1965 Congress passed the Elementary and
  Secondary Education Act
• Inequalities in educational opportunities were
  responsible for the academic achievement gap
  between poor and privileged children and between
  white and students of color
• Federal government provided financial assistance
  to school districts with larger number of low
  income families
• In the 1980s received high levels of growth in
  funding
• In the 1990s Title I was revised to reflect
  programs that benefit children, i.e. pull-out
  versus giving extra help
• Title I reformed schools and promoted
  achievement, NCLB Act sets the bar higher and
  funding for Title I has not kept pace with demand

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Maintaining Existing Programs
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Affirmative Action
• Remedy past discriminatory practices
• People of color were denied employment and
  educational opportunities because of race or
  ethnicity
• Equal protection under the 14th Amendment
• Affirmative Action is meant to break the cycle of
  outlawing prejudice and start a process of
  creating equal opportunity
• Helped to narrow the gap of academic achievement
  and benefited all students
• Diverse populations experience academic gains
• Increase number of interactions among racial and
  ethical groups leading to greater understanding
  of people
• Survey results indicate diversity experience
  helped professionally and personally

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FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONSPOSITION 2
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10
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Innovative Solutions
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Reconsidering the Academic Achievement Gap
• Differences in academic achievement between white
  and African-American and Latino has been ongoing
• Progress made between 1970 and 1980 since then
  has stalled
• Gains have been lost

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Innovative Solutions
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10
Blaming the Victims

• Sociocultural
• Segregation
• Discrimination
• Poverty
• Parent low level education
• Lack of financial resources
• Child-rearing practices
• Linguistic differences

• School Related
• Racially isolated
• Forced integration
• Affirmative Action programs
• Obligated to act white

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Innovative Solutions
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10
Blaming the Victims
Nearly 2 million of the 5.6 million American
children living in extreme poverty are black, and
1.6 million are Latino
Quality and experience of teachers standards of
instruction and accountability relations between
family, community and educational personnel are
the most likely explanation
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Innovative Solutions
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• School-Related Causes of the Academic Achievement
  Gap
• Teachers had low expectations of students of
  color
• Teachers did not search for instructional
  strategies
• Attended schools preparing students of color for
  industrial jobs that may no longer exist
• Less likely to attend schools preparing students
  of color in math and science
• Lack of parent involvement due to school
  practices
• High mobility rates
• Cultural differences

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Innovative Solutions
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Closing the Academic Achievement Gap
• New Solutions
• NCLB
• Use the federal government to help all students
  meet more challenging standards
• State and local accountability for student
  progress
• Greater freedom for innovation where students
  receive instruction and support they need to meet
  high standards
• Highly qualified teachers
• Allows for funding to improve communications
  improving the connection between families and
  schools
• More students in low-poverty schools are being
  taught by high qualified teachers
• Long-term trend National Assessment of Education
  Progress is closing

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Position Questions
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10
Do we have a social responsibility to maintain
and support programs that will close the academic
achievement gap? Does eliminating old
remedies mean we may be taking a step backwards
or are old remedies no longer viable? Is
changing to new innovative solutions, changing
with the times?
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The Academic Achievement GapThe J. McDonald
Williams Institute http//www.thewilliamsinstitut
e.org/Portals/10/Education/Academic20Achievement
20Gap.pdf.
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10
Fourth and Eighth Grade Standardized Test Scores
The most recent National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) data for mathematics
and reading assessments indicate marked
achievement gaps at both the fourth and eighth
grade levels across racial and ethnic groups.
Throughout the United States, as in Texas
(Figures 1 and 2), African Americans and
Hispanics score lower on standardized assessments
than White and Asian students. However,
the minority achievement gap is not present only
in underfunded urban schools. Rather, minorities
in suburban schools, which are presumably well
funded, perform at lower levels than
non-minorities in reading proficiency exams taken
by 13-year-olds (Levine The Academic
Achievement Gap 4 Eubanks, 1990). The gap was
even present when parents college attendance was
held constant, which suggests a more multifaceted
relationship.
17
The Academic Achievement GapThe J. McDonald
Williams Institute http//www.thewilliamsinstitut
e.org/Portals/10/Education/Academic20Achievement
20Gap.pdf.
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10
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Resources
The Academic Achievement Gap Privatization of
Schools Ch 10

• Charles, C., Fischer, M., Mooney, M., Massey,
  D. (2009). Affirmative-Action Programs for
  Minority Students Right in Theory, Wrong in
  Practice. The Chronicle of Higher Education,
  55(29), A29-30. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from H.
  W. Wilson database (Education Full Text).
• Cobb, C., Glass, G. (2009). School Choice in a
  Post-Desegregation World. Peabody Journal of
  Education, 84(2), 262-78. doi 10.1080/01619560902
  810187,,Retrieved July 25, 2010, from H. W.
  Wilson database (Education Full Text).
• Metz, S. (2010). Closing the Academic Achievement
  Gap. The Science Teacher, 77(3), 6. Retrieved
  July 25, 2010, from H. W. Wilson database
  (Education Full Text).
• Nelson, J. Palonsky, S. McCarthy, M. Seigel,
  B. (2010). Critical Issues in Education. New
  York McGraw Hill.
• NGA Center for Best Practices (2010). Closing the
  Achievement Gap. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from
  http//www.subnet.nga.org/educlear/achievement/.
• The J. McDonald Williams Institute (2006). The
  Academic Gap. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from
  http//www.thewilliamsinstitute.org/Portals/10/Edu
  cation/Academic20Achievement20Gap.pdf.
• Viadero, D. (2010). Researchers Argue Head Start
  Study Delayed, Ignored. Education Week, 29(28),
  12. Retrieved July 23, 2010, from H. W. Wilson
  database (Education Full Text).
• Vinci, Y. (2010). The Head Start Study A Closer
  Examination. Education Week, 29(27), 27.
  Retrieved July 25, 2010, from H. W. Wilson
  database (Education Full Text).