Gauging the Gaps Report by Education Trust

Here is a 2010 report from Education Trust called, "Gauging the Gaps: A Deeper Look at Student Achievement."

OSPI Report on Closing Opportuinity Gaps

Thanks to classmate Erin for sending me this link. Here is a 2010 report published by the Washington State OSPI entitled: "Closing Opportunity (Achievement) Gaps in Washington's Public Education System." The report contains some startling information about the achievement gap between groups of Washington students. It also makes recommendations for how to close the gap, including suggestions for the Quality Education Council and the state legislature.

Levey Middle School

Dr. Anthony Muhammad lead the transformation of Levey Middle School in Southfield, MI. Here is a link to the story of what happened at Levey.

Levey Middle School

A Classic Case of Dysfunction

•97% African-American student population – Student population of 800+

•School-wide Title 1 eligible

•Over 80% of students live in single female headed households

•Achievement scores well below state averages

•25% – 40% annual student mobility rate

•2000-2001 school over 3000 disciplinary suspensions

•2000-2001 school year over 150 students failed two or more classes and were required to attend summer school

•65% of staff in their first, second, or third year of teaching

•2000-2001 school year, three parents arrested for disorderly conduct on campus

•2001-2002 school year, I became the third principal in three years

Harlem Children's Zone

Called "one of the most ambitious social-service experiments of our time," by The New York Times, the Harlem Children's Zone Project is a unique, holistic approach to rebuilding a community so that its children can stay on track through college and go on to the job market.

The goal is to create a "tipping point" in the neighborhood so that children are surrounded by an enriching environment of college-oriented peers and supportive adults, a counterweight to "the street" and a toxic popular culture that glorifies misogyny and anti-social behavior.

In January 2007, the HCZ Project launched its Phase 3, expanding its comprehensive system of programs to nearly 100 blocks of Central Harlem. President Barack Obama has called for the creation of "Promise Neighborhoods" across the country based on the comprehensive, data-driven approach of the HCZ Project. Read more...

Oprah Winfrey called the HCZ, "An organization that has set out to prove that poor, black children can and do succeed."

Here is a clip from a CNN story on the HCZ, featuring its President and CEO, Geoffrey Canada. 

Phi Delta Kappan Article

This is a link to an article published in Phi Delta Kappan in 2003. Although it's eight years old, it contains some relevant ideas about the factors that contribute to the gap, and what math has to do with it.

"The Achievement Gap: Myths and Reality" by Mano Singham

Educational Leadership Article

This article from Educational Leadership tries to answer the question, "Why does the gap persist?" The author synthesizes the research and names several factors that impact achievement. In all cases, he found that the factors have a bigger impact on minority students.

NPR: Seattle Offers Lessons in Bridging Achievement Gap

 Listen to the story or read the print version (12:39). Originally aired March 15, 2007.

Mind the Gap: Why are Good Schools Failing Black Students?

Reporter Nancy Solomon spent last year as a Spencer Fellow in Education Reporting to examine why good suburban schools are failing black students. Click here to access Solomon's hourlong radio documentary on the topic.

NPR: Racial Achievement Gap Still Plagues Schools

Listen to the story or read the print version (7:20). Originally aired October 31, 2009.

NPR: Schools Find Achievement Gap Tough to Close

Listen to the story, or read the print version (30:17). Originally aired November 23, 2010.

Campaign for High School Equity

The Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE) advocates for high schools to prepare every student for graduation, college, work, and life. Their policy priorities include:

• Equitable learning conditions
• Common core state standards
• Community investment in student success, and
• Expanded learning opportunities

The Black Boys Report

Yes We Can: The Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Education was published by the Schott Foundation for Public Education.

One of their most significant findings: "The American educational system is systemically failing Black males. Out of the 48 states reporting, Black males are the least likely to graduate from high school in 33 states, Black and Latino males are tied for the least likely in four states, with Latino males being the least likely in an additional four states. To add insult to injury, Black Male students are punished more severely for similar infractions than their White peers. They are not given the same opportunities to participate in classes with enriched educational offerings. They are more frequently inappropriately removed from the general education classroom due to misclassifications by the Special Education policies and practices of schools and districts. By Grade 8, relatively few are proficient in reading and, finally, as a consequence of these deficiencies in educational practice, less than half graduate with their cohort."

The Council of the Great City Schools Report

"A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools" is the report published by the Council of the Great City Schools. The CGCS is a coalition of 65 of the nation's largest urban school systems, including Seattle.

"This report will not make many people feel good, even though it contains evidence that black males attending schools in urban areas have made more progress than those living elsewhere. In fact, this report is likely to make people angry, and it should. We hope that this is a louder and more jolting wake-up call to the nation than this country is used to hearing. The fact that previous calls have fallen on so many deaf ears is not encouraging, but we are convinced that we must ring the alarms one more time and play a larger role in setting this situation right." --Michael Casserly, Executive Director

NAACP Fact Sheet: African-Americans and Education

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) published this fact sheet: African-Americans and Education. It paints a stark picture of the African-American educational experience.

Tacoma Public Schools Report on Achievement Gap

Dr. Thelma Jackson was hired by Tacoma Public Schools to study the achievement gap in 2009. This is her report:


"Addressing the Achievement Gap for African-American Students in Tacoma Public Schools"


Dr. Jackson writes, "The data indicate that a high degree of disproportionality, disparity, and structural inequalities exist in the district in such areas as test scores, discipline, dropouts, graduation rates, grade-point averages (GPAs), attendance, participation in Highly Capable and Advanced Placement Programs, Special Education placement, course-taking patterns, teacher assignments, teacher quality, and other factors that contribute to the achievement gap. While poverty, unemployment, crime, and other social ills might well be related to low achievement, these reasons can't be used as an "excuse" for persistent low test scores."

The News Tribune--"Excuses Won't Solve Black-White Education Gap"

This is an editorial published in The News Tribune, a Tacoma-area newspaper. The author, Walter Backstrom, is a reader-columnist from the Federal Way area. He offers his own suggestions for closing the achievement gap.

"Excuses Won't Solve Black-White Education Gap"

President Obama's Plan

In January, President Obama addressed a student's question about how he plans to close the racial achievement gap:

Education Week-Spotlight on the Achievement Gap

Education Week, a publication put forth by Editorial Projects in Education, features an online collection of articles addressing the achievement gap. Most notable in the collection: this article on how testing hurts disadvantaged kids.

Edutopia Poll

Here are the results from an online poll from Edutopia, a project of the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

What will do the most to narrow the achievement gap?

School-by-school efforts such as increased professional development for teachers or an emphasis on project-based learning.

26% (247 votes)

State or federal policy reforms such as class-size reduction or an increase in funding for recruiting high-quality teachers.

14% (128 votes)

Increased parental involvement at school and in children's lives.

33% (310 votes)

Social programs that address issues such as housing, health care, and activities for at-risk youth.

14% (132 votes)

None of the above. (Comment below.)

13% (122 votes)

Total votes: 939

Teach for America--Ensuring Educational Opportunity for All

Teach for America believes that, "too many children in low-income communities are trapped in a cycle of poverty and educational inequity. Children growing up in poverty face extra challenges. Poverty deprives children of adequate health care, nutrition, housing, and access to high-quality preschool programs, creating significant additional educational needs. Because students in low-income communities are disproportionately children of color, they are more likely to encounter the effects of societal low expectations and discrimination."

The nonprofit organization aims to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting the nation's most promising future leaders to teach for two or more years in low-income communities throughout the United States. The organization aspires for these "corps members" to gain the insight and added commitment to tackle the root causes of America's achievement gap throughout their lives.


A 2009 USA Today article was critical of Teach for America.

Three Foundations Making an Impact

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has set an ambitious goal for their work and investments: "to help ensure that 80 percent of high school students graduate college-ready, with a focus on low-income and minority young people reaching this target." Their plan is to continue investing in the following areas:


1. Focus on success at a higher level
2. Empower excellent teachers
3. Support and engage students (through innovation)

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation awards to $2 million Broad Prize every year to honor urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students, because, while they agree that no American student should be left out, written off or ignored, far too many of our poorest and minority students today still lack adequate resources to learn."

The Walton Family Foundation supports K-12 educational reform because, "in too many communities, educational options are limited and often dismal.The communities with the fewest educational options also tend to be places where students encounter the lowest performing schools. A majority of children in these neighborhoods drop out of school and suffer the lifelong consequences of missed educational opportunities. It is in these communities where the Foundation concentrates its work."

Ronald Ferguson

Ronald Ferguson is an economist and senior lecturer at Harvard University, and an expert on the achievement gap. He is the director and faculty co-chair of the Achievement Gap Initiative (AGI) and Harvard and the author of several books, articles and addresses on the matter. In 2007, he published Toward Excellence with Equity: An Emerging Vision for Closing the Achievement Gap. 

Here are links to two articles featuring Dr. Ferguson's work:

"Ronald Ferguson: Achievement Gap Reflects Economic Gap" by Nsenga Burton, The Root (2011)

"Closing the Achievement Gap Without Widening a Racial One" by Michael Winerip, New York Times (2011)

Rod Paige's New Book

Dr. Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education, published a book in 2010 called, The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing it is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of our Time.

From the book's introduction: "When it comes to race in America, we must face one uncomfortable but undeniable fact. Almost 50 years after the birth of the civil rights movement, inequality still reigns supreme in our classrooms. At a time when African-American students trail their white peers on academic tests and experience high dropout rates, low college completion rates, and a tendency to shy away from majors in hard sciences and mathematics, the Black-White achievement gap in our schools has become the major barrier to racial equality and social justice in America. In fact, it is arguably the greatest civil rights issue of our time."

Education Trust: An Advocate for Closing the Achievement Gap

Education Trust is a non-profit advocacy group committed to promoting high achievement for all students at all levels. They are currently working with congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), otherwise known as "No Child Left Behind."

Does NCLB benefit Minorities?

In 2005, during the Bush administration, the U.S. Department of Education released several documents outlining how federal No Child Left Behind legislation would benefit minority students:

How NCLB benefits African Americans

How NCLB benefits Hispanics

How NCLB benefits American Indians

Arne Duncan on the Achievement Gap

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently made comments about the importance of closing the achievement gap. Most notably, he said, "When black and Latino children from disadvantaged communities don’t have high quality opportunities, unfortunately we perpetuate cycles of poverty and social failure.”

Here is a link to a print interview with Mr. Duncan that appeared in the Wall Street Journal in November, 2010. Mr. Duncan is quoted as saying, "And so if we're serious about closing achievement gaps, we have to close what I call the opportunity gap. And we're putting a huge amount of resources into figuring out how to systematically get the hardest-working, the most committed teachers and principals into underserved communities."

What Can Schools Do?

Here is an interesting article from the Center for Development and Learning, based in Louisiana. The author, Kati Haycock, provides some valuable historical perspective on academic achievement among black and Latino students.

She also shares four lessons on what's working in schools:
1. Standards are key
2. All students must have a challenging curriculum
3. Students need extra help
4. Teachers matter a lot

"Helping All Students Achieve: Closing the Achievement Gap"

Racial Disparities and Discrimination in Education

This is an interesting paper about the achievement gap and racial discrimination factors that may play a part. The author elaborates on the discriminatory policies schools have put in place, such as:

1. Ability grouping in early elementary school
2. Retention in grade
3. Special education placement
4. Track placement in middle and high school
5. Teacher and school resources
6. Teacher perceptions and expectations
7. Compensatory programs

Racial Disparities and Discrimination in Education: What Do We Know? How Do We Know It? And What Do We Need to Know?" by George Farkas, Pennsylvania State University (2002)

Washington State Assessment Data

Here's a look at how Washington State is doing:

Note: This data is based on the Washington State assessment (formerly WASL, now MSP). Source: Washington State Report Card, OSPI

What the National Assessment Data Says

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) publishes the Nation's Report Card. The most current data available is for 2009, and the numbers are staggering:

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting this blog. If you are an educator, you are painfully aware of the gap in achievement that exists between groups of students. Federal assessment data shows us that the gap extends to the far reaches of our country--north and south, east and west, in every state, county, city and town across America. Although gaps in achievement exist between boys and girls, rich and poor, and those with strong English-language skills and those without, the primary focus here will be in the issue of race. Specifically, this blog will explore the reasons why African-American and Hispanic students achieve at disproportionately lower numbers that their white and Asian classmates.
Your comments are welcome on any blog items--please join the conversation.