Closing the Gap in student achievement between Black/Latinos and Whites



Closing the Gap in Student Achievement between Black/Latinos and Whites

Literature review

Closing the Achievement Gap: How are Schools making it happen?

The student achievement in United States has remained a problem over the period of time. The white children have outperformed children of color. In Houston 5 years ago the overall children result was exceptionally well. The children have displayed the result of 86% and were able to pass the exams and tests. The real results were revealed after carefully analyzing the statistics which showed that the white children have performed exceptionally well and the individuals have been able to pass the state tests. The 98% white children in 1995-96 have been able to clear the state tests while only 80% of the individual have been able to clear those tests. In order to cater the problems and fulfill the achievement gap special strategies have been designed. Special groups were made for the Latinos and Hispanics for the reading and writing problems which they have faced in the schools. During the 1980s the gaps between the white and blacks had stopped reducing and the NAEP has identified that 17 year old black student's performance has been equal to the performance of 13 year old white children. The Hispanics dropout rates have been increased by 28% for the age group of 16-24 (Rothman, 2001).

The problems which have been identified include the poverty as the major cause for underperformance in school. The African American children have been disproportionately due to which the differences in the school and family norms affect the educational performance. The income difference has been identified by the few groups however the studies have shown the rich Africans and Whites also have shown the difference in educational levels. Achievement gap is the result of deep rooted racism in the United States and the mindset of the individuals who beloved that the children of color cannot achieve success in the educational curriculum. The study conducted by the Stanford University suggested that the individuals have been stereotyping the performance of the black Americans due to which the performance is impeded in the state level examinations. When the African Americans were asked to identify themselves or their race then they underperform in the tests while when they were simply directed to do the test without identifying themselves they have outperformed the whites. Psychologist Claude Steele identified this affect and suggested that children of color when asked to identify them lead to activation of racial stereotypes among the blacks which affected their performance. A similar study has been conducted in Washington which showed that outperforming African Americans start dropping out between fourth grade and sixth grade. The reason identified for the dropout suggested that the expectations with these children started declining. Steele's theory of stereotype threat can be attributed to the falling performance of the individual. The expectation to keep from the children inculcates self confidence in them which leads to excellent performance while the ...