Myopic view point that avoids reality.

The “Achievement Gap”

Paul Barton and Richard Coley, of the Educational Testing Service, wrote an overview of the black-white achievement gap over the course of the twentieth century and concluded that the period in which that gap narrowed most was the 1970’s and 1980’s, in response to such things as desegregation, class size reduction, early childhood education, the addition of federal resources to schools enrolling poor children, and wider economic opportunities for black families.  From that time forward, the gap has wavered up an down without resuming the sharp narrowing of the narrowing of the earlier period.

(Paul E. Barton and Richard J. Coley, The Black-White Achievement Gap:  When Progress Stopped (Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service, 2010.)

Using NAEP math scores to track improvement in the last two decades (1990-2011).

In 1990, 83% of black students in fourth grade scored “below basic”

      In 2011 that fell to 34%

In 1990, 78% of black students in eighth grade scored “below basic”

      In 2011 that fell to 49%

In 1990, 67% of Hispanic students in fourth grade scored “below basic”

      In 2011 that fell to 28%

In 1990, 66% of Hispanic students in eighth grade scores “below basic”

      In 2011, that fell to 39%

In 1990, 41% of white students in fourth grade scored “below basic”

      In 2011, that fell to 9%

In 1990, 40% of white students in eighth grade scored “below basic”

      In 2011, that fell to 16%

It is also hard to close achievement gaps, when all groups are improving.

According to Diane Ravith, “Reign of Error; pg. 57, Reformers ignore these gains and castigate the public schools for the persistent gap.”  

We can and should work to close the achievement gap by providing schools with students at risk additional resources and more of our attention and encouragement.  But, we should do so with the full acknowledgement of what our predecessors have accomplished.  And personally, I have come to the conclusion that those who insist on focusing exclusively on the so called “achievement gap” do so because they do not wish to acknowledge that improvement among all subgroups in the American school systems.  A myopic view point that avoids reality.