I was a 1999 teach for america corps member and recently, in my occasional work with the organization, ive begun to. The demographic makeup of public schools is of particular interest, given recent concerns about the growing resegregation of schools frankenberg, lee, and orfield 2003. The term achievement gap is often defined as the differences between the test scores of minority andor lowincome students and the test scores of their white and asian peers. Some groups may trail at particular points, for example, boys in the early years and girls in high. Problems with read 180 or specialized classes ells eld classes instead of read 180 english classes for adults in the evenings better training and preparedness for teachers had sdaie training nothing extensive. Kati haycock is one of the nations leading advocates in the field of education. Day calls for reflection on race relations and racial equity in america. But achievement gaps in test scores affect many different groups. Closing the achievement gap national education policy center. Race, class, and americans perspectives of achievement gaps. Closing the achievement gap will also take the support of parents, guardians, uncles, aunts, church leaders and community activists with a. Although trainings have been varied in length in order to increase effectiveness, assessment literacy appears to be focused on what i need to know for the test and does not promote deeper.
News and world reports knowledge bank blog in early january 2016, dr. As a teach for america corps member, one is reminded of this reality monthly through professional development presentations and analyses of. This is the story of amistad academy, a charter school founded to close the persistent and dramatic achievement gap between minority students and. She currently serves as ceo of the education trust. Effective teachers guide to closing the achievement gap 9780470432860.
In a recent article in the principal, kati haycock, executive director of education trust, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to disseminating research on the elimination of the achievement gap, urges school leaders to accept the challenge and join the ranks of more than 4,500 highpoverty and highminority schools that are. Mar 22, 2007 paul toughs prescription for making children better students sounds like a license to have fun. Closing the achievement gap educational leadership ascd. There are two overall reasons why the achievement gap persists between white students and minority students. Teachers are hugely important in determining student achievement, say kati haycock and candace crawford in closing the teacher quality gap. The achievement gap is a persistent and perplexing challenge for educators.
Narrowing the achievement gap in secondgrade social studies. Denvers achievement gap is bigger than nearly 90 percent of major u. Suggests four principalinitiated actions to replicate these efforts. Research shows a correlation between how many words a child hears in the first three years of life and brain development, he said. The american achievement gap continues damage millions of young people as individuals and our country as a whole because we, the adults responsible for the education of our children and young people, almost willfully refuse to act.
Recently, ive been more and more troubled with the phrase achievement gap. The blackwhite achievement gap has often been studied, but its relationship to school composition has generally not been explored. I am delighted to present closing the achievement gap. The question should not be how one closes the achievement gap but what factors contribute to the achievement gap and how these factors can be addressed. A first step toward closing the achievement gap in the seven years since george w. Throughout the nation, both poverty and racism have had a negative impact on the american education system. Closing the achievement gap through assessment literacy. To increase the achievement levels of minority and lowincome students, we need to focus on what really matters. Closing that gap has led us to focus our attention on students who are struggling with fundamental achievement. Established in 1996, ed trust works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, prekindergarten through college. Haycock believes that good teaching is characterized by teachers having the necessary knowledge and. This paper looks at the achievement gap between white and black.
Schoolsparticipants will try to come up with ways to help students of color do better in school. As a teach for america corps member, one is reminded of this reality monthly through professional development presentations and analyses of student data. Between 1970 and 1988, the africanamericanwhite achievement gap was. A vision for changing beliefs and practices association for supervision and curriculum development, williams, belinda on. I was a 1999 teach for america corps member and recently, in my. Closing the achievement gap in mvusd recommendations. Kati haycock and strengthening teaching kati haycock is the executive director of the education trust, an advocacy organization for the rights of poor and minority students. Bush signed the no child left behind nclb act of 2001 into federal legislation, usde, nd. Richard rothstein and kati haycock talk about the possibility of closing the achievement gap through education and face off on poverty, race, and school achievement. Students affected by achievement gaps find out which groups of students are affected by the achievement gaps. More progress towards closing the achievement gap has been noted in schools that are intentional about addressing the existence of and need to close the.
Minding the achievement gap one classroom at a time by jane e. Achievement gap definition the glossary of education reform. We have just emerged from a year characterized by police brutality. The achievement gap, a look into causes harvard gazette. White achievement gap is needed because the blackwhite achievement gap remains large nces 2011 and by some measures u. Read the full report on our closing the achievement gaps initiative to discover what we learned about improving learning conditions for more than 200,000 students. For math, the gap was 46 percentage points in 2017. May, 2004 bridging the achievement gap brings together the findings of renowned education scholars who show how various states, school districts, and individual schools have lifted the achievement levels of poor and minority students.
We are closing the shameful achievement gap faster than ever, the mayor said again in. Read to them, sing, play, emphasize encouragement over criticism, and converse a lot. Between 1970 and 1988, the africanamericanwhite achievement gap was halved. Sep 04, 2012 closing the achievement gap will also take the support of parents, guardians, uncles, aunts, church leaders and community activists with a renewed sense of what is possible for our children. Since the 1966 coleman report, equality of educational opportunity, another debate has waged as to whether money makes a difference to educational outcomes. First, research has found that factors outside the classroom, such as economic, family, and personal characteristics have a strong influence on achievement slavin. The achievement gap in education refers to the different levels of academic performance of students from a variety of racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds.
Closely related to learning gap and opportunity gap, the term achievement gap refers to any significant and persistent disparity in academic performance or educational attainment between different groups of students, such as white students and minorities, for example, or students from higherincome and lowerincome households. A hearing with two panels of witnesses was held, titled closing the achievement gap in americas schools. What does the accumulated body of research reveal about the correlation between life experiences and life conditions on the one hand, and cognitive development and school achievement on the other. Established in 1996, ed trust works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, pre. Closing the achievement gap by bonnie humphreys on prezi. The lack of access to highquality education in a childs early years has a deep and enduring impact on development and academic achievement. States perspective on educator involvement and reducing the achievement gap single, statewide webinars do not appear to provide optimal results. In this article, the author interviews two leading thinkers in the field of education. Closing the achievement gaps initiative nea foundation. Eric ej752294 can educators close the achievement gap. Generally speaking, achievement gap refers to outputsthe unequal. Describes successful school and state efforts to close the achievement gap in lowincome, highminority schools. Closing the achievement gap educational leadership.
The registerguard eugene, or gale reference team on. September 2017 closing the achievement gap volume xxxiv, no. In his book, class and schools teachers college press, 2004, rothstein writes that the influence of social class characteristics is. Kati and brooke haycock bring data and stories on gap closing to the association of california school administrators conference. An interview with richard rothstein and kati haycock. The achievement gap refers to disproportionality in rates of achievement between white students and students of color. School composition and the blackwhite achievement gap. During the first panel education secretary spellings. The achievement gap initiative at harvard university is a universitywide initiative to help raise achievement for all children while narrowing racial, ethnic and socioeconomic gaps.
So, the authors ask, how do we address the fact that no matter how you measure quality, good teachers are not evenly distributed across all kinds of schools and students. An examination of differences in student achievement and growth mccall, hauser, cronin, kingsbury, houser the achievement gap is commonly defined as the difference between the academic performance of poor. This is the story of amistad academy, a charter school founded to close the persistent and dramatic achievement gap between minority students and white students in americas public school system. Kristy brugar, meghan block, stephanie strachan, meghan berka and jason brown, michigan state university. While school and systemlevel reforms continue to be discussed in statehouses and district offices, individual teachers are challenged to do something now to help students who are falling short of standards, including students who are english language learners and receiving special education services.
It is certainly what makes joel klein tick, said kati haycock, the president of the. We already know how to close the achievement gap education week. Exploring the impact of more than a decade of collaboration. Narrowing the achievement gap in secondgrade social studies and content area literacy. The achievement gap in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. The first parsing the achievement gap report, published in 2003, focused on expanding our knowledge about why these gaps exist. The socalled achievement gap between the kids of top earners and those from the poorest families has increased by as much as 40 percent in the past few decades, and family incomes have declined. Triumph on racial gap withers in new york schools the new. The wellknown achievement gap refers to the difference in the average academic performance between our highest and lowest achieving population groups. Jan 16, 2017 perhaps even more than usual, this martin luther king jr. Sep 26, 2011 the achievement gap is a literacy gap. Closing the achievement gap kati haycock to increase the achievement levels of minority and lowincome students, we need to focus on what really matters. Kati haycock, executive director, the education trust.
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