When looking at the mandatory test scores of minority inner city students, specifically African American students, they are significantly lower than White American suburban students, hence the achievement gap. When the achievement gap is mentioned most people automatically think of the difference in grades, standardized-test scores, dropout rates, and college-completion rates between White Americans vs. African American students, but it goes much deeper than that. When determining the gap one must look at many other factors other than race, such as the child's economic status, where they live and the schools they attend, as well as how much parental involvement there is. When the achievement gap is mentioned the instant thought of White vs. Black students comes to mind. Black students scoring lower than White students, but this can be looked at from many different angles.
The quote came from a study taken during finals week at a college. “The fact that the drop in performance was largest for the highest-performing students, the researchers wrote,” “suggests that the negative consequences of alcohol consumption are not limited to a small fraction of users or even to those who might naturally struggle with academics.”( Daily Princetonian Staff) This is proving that alcohol will negatively affect academic performance in everyone. It is not limited to lower performing students. “Both anecdotal and scientific evidence suggest that student drinking is tied to poor academic outcomes such as missing class, getting behind in school work, and receiving low grades.” (Dowdall 50) Not all students go to college to party. College is an investment in someone’s future.
The Achievement Gap Between African American and White Students The low achievement of African-Americans in school is a reflection of a number of constant problems not only in the education system but in the society as a whole. Despite the fact that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test results showed that black students have made great progress when improving their performance in the subjects of reading and mathematics, a gap still separates them from their white peers. For example, there was a special examination completed by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2009 and 2011 that showed that black students trailed behind their white peers by an average of more than 20 test-score points on the NAEP math and reading assessments at 4th and 8th grades, a difference of about two grade levels. These gaps persisted even though the score differentials between black and white students narrowed between 1992 and 2007 in 4th grade math and reading and 8th grade math (NCES, 2009, 2011). Among the reasons for this problem is the issue of poverty, a very poor distribution of tax money for education, and some cultural conflicts.
Also they will have a weaker immune system causing them to miss school due to illness. They also believe material deprivation causes them to have less school resources such as books and pens so they have fewer opportunities to learn. They have no access to private schools and tuition. Pupils in private schools or having private tuition are proven to receive higher grades than those in public schools. This was supported by the National Child Development Study which found that children from low income households were an average of 9 months behind in their education compared to others.
Asses the view that the main cause of underachievement in education is a students ethnicity. Most studies have found out that, overall, ethnic minorities tend to do less well than other members of the population, in educational performance 73% of pupils of Indian origin pupils achieved 5 A* - C passes at GCSE level compared to 56% of white pupils and 47% black pupils. In-School Factors such as teacher labelling, institutional racism, ethnocentric curriculum and finally the selection process have a big effect on different ethnicities. These are interpretivist views and they believe achievement is linked to internal factors. However structuralist such as functionalist and marxist believe there are also other factors outside of school that affect educational achievement such as cultural, material and linguistic deprivation.
For example, Wright (1992) found that teachers perceived and treated minority ethnic pupils differently from white pupils. Afro-Caribbean boys were often expected to behave badly and they received a disproportionate amount of negative teacher attention. Other sociologists claim that non-school factors such as family structure and home background have a greater impact on the educational achievement of different ethnic groups. Assess the claim that ‘ethnic differences in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors’ (20 marks) Patterns of ethnic achievement are complex, cross-cut by gender and social class. For example Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students do worst compared to Indians and Chinese who do best.
Also considering the ethnicity of the students who dropout, this research shows Hispanics and African-Americans are more likely to stop attending college and become vulnerable to becoming college dropouts. On the other hand female students and Asian ethnicities are the ones with a high rate of graduating from college. There are several key factors related to the rate of student dropouts in City College, but the most important factor is the lack of academic and educational knowledge before college. (1-b.) according to the finding by Alliance report, students who were admitted in the earlier admission phases were less likely to dropout, and the ones who admitted in the later phases dropout in higher numbers.
Many are not sure as to whether this should be a cause for celebration – or for concern. Many of the schools from the UC system have a wide gap between the numbers of men to women on campus. In 2008, UCLA………………need statistics………………. Many of the schools in the east, such as NYU and are also under the same predicament, with most of the campuses having a greater ratio of women to men. In Vassar College, a liberal arts school in New York, women outnumber men by a shocking 3 to 2 ratio.
Allowing them obtain better paying job opportunities. Create more jobs with better benefits for low income families as well as a way to get a better education. As stated by Arloc (2005), in figure 1 below, exams done to the Census shows that the U.S public benefits system helps to reduce the poverty in nearly half of Americans. Some of these children may not develop well-mannered vocabulary due to the majority of their parents having difficulty speaking proper English. In a poor socioeconomic group, students are more likely to drop out of school; this happens since the environment around them does not allow them to achieve an academic goal or have parents who support them.
Just as some Hispanic students have difficulty getting help with their homework because there is not an English speaker at home to offer assistance. Minority students are more likely to come from low income households and poorer living areas resulting in the minority student to be more likely to attend poorly funded schools based on the districting patterns within the school system. Schools in lower income districts tend to employ less qualified 2 teachers and have fewer educational resources compared to students coming from middle and upper class families and homes. Many states have initiated several strategies to close the achievement gaps among children. Achievement gaps are being closely