Understanding the racial achievement gap in US education

There are numerous academic achievement gaps in the U.S. educational system between minority and White students. These achievement gaps include disparities in testing scores, drop out rates, high school completion rates, as well as college attendance and completion rates. Statistics for example, show that Black students have consistently lagged behind White students in the educational sector. Understanding what is causing this persistent gap is vital to narrowing and eventually eliminating the achievement gap. Therefore, improving the educational attainment for all students nationwide. There have been various studies that examine the causes of the achievement gap. Through these studies researchers have theorized that several factors contribute to the manifested disparities in education such as the following: socioeconomic status factors, biological factors, school environment factors, teacher and/ or teaching related factors, educational factors, and cultural factors. However, limited research has investigated the consequences that using color-blind (race neutral attitudes) ideology has on the achievement gap. In this article, the relevant literature on the implications of color-blind ideology in terms of education was analyzed. The implications from the literature on color-blind ideology and color-blind practices used in a school setting were then drawn upon to determine the consequences it had for teaching students of color and/or low-income students and superior methods were obtained. Introduction/Literature Review Differences in the academic achievement rates of preschool and elementary aged African American and Hispanic students when compared to their White counterparts are well documented (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2001; National Education Association [NEA], 2005). For example, in the year 2000, 20 percent of White fourth graders scored below the basic level of proficiency on the national math test, while 61 percent of Black fourth graders tested below the basic level (Hispanic reading levels were not included; National Education Association, 20042005). Since 1988, the gap between Blacks and Whites has increased due to the declining math and reading scores of Black students (Irvine, 2003). Additionally, oneon-one assessments of pre-kindergarten students revealed a gap in achievement even before the children began school (National Education Association [NEA], 2005). The academic disparities between some minority populations and Whites, are collectively referred to as the “achievement gap.” These disparities are predominately evidenced by differences in standardized test scores, dropout and graduation rates (or equivalent completion of high school), and college attendance rates (National Education Association [NEA], 2007). The magnitude of the difference in academic achievement between Blacks and Whites has varied over time. In general, any gains realized have been small and transitory. For example, during the 1970's and 1980's, the gap narrowed when Black students’ score gains exceeded those of Whites (Irvine, 2003). Beginning in 1988, the gap widened due to Black students’ declining scores in reading and math (Irvine, 2003). The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed that the gap between White and Black students has increased over the last 12 years (NCES, 2000). Disparities between the test scores of minorities and/or low-income students when compared with their White or Asian peers help to perpetuate other academic disparities. Reading test scores show that only 10 percent of Blacks could read at a competent level by 4 grade and the average scores for 17-year-old Black students tested in math and reading were at the level of 13-year-old White students (NEA, 20042005; Irvine, 2003, p. 3). Such gaps are believed to lead to long-term differences, including reduced rates of high school and college completion and lesser job attainment (NEA, 2007). High school dropout rates are higher and completion rates lower for Black and Hispanic students than White and Asian students. The National Center for Educational Statistics (2005 [NCES]) found that between October 2003 and October 2005 Black and Hispanic high school students were more likely to dropout than were White and Asian (including Pacific Islanders) students. Nationally, Blacks accounted for 10.4 percent, Hispanics 22.4 percent, Whites 6.0 percent, and Asians and Pacific Islanders 2.9 percent of all dropouts (NCES, 2005). The national completion rates for 2005 were highest for Asian (including Pacific Islanders) high school students (95.8 percent), followed by White (92.3 percent) Black (85.9 percent), and lastly Hispanic (70.2 percent) students (NCES, 2005). Not surprisingly, the differences in high school completion rates contribute directly to a gap between the number of Blacks and Hispanics attending college in comparison to Whites and Asians (Pacific Islanders). The overall national college attendance rates between 1972 and 1992 showed a black-white gap. For the years of 1979 and 1983-1989 Blacks had a 4to 7-percentage point lower rate of college attendance when compared with Whites (NCES, 2005). Additionally, for the year 1992 the black-white college attendance gap widened with Blacks having a 10-percentagepoint lower attendance rate than Whites (NCES, 2005). Moreover, for the minorities that attended college, 18 percent of Blacks and 11 percent of Latinos earned their bachelor’s degree, while 33 percent of White attained their undergraduate college degree. The disparities between students of color and/or low-income students have been well documented. The gap, however, remains unmended leading many to ask why poor children or children of color fail to succeed in school? The goals of this paper are to examine literature about the consequences of color-blind racial attitudes in order to ascertain the impact such attitudes have on elementary students’ performance and review programs which have improved the success of students of color. The observed differences in academic achievement are the result of factors at the societal, school and individual levels, and factors associated with educational system practices (Wynn & Mark, 2005, p. 40; NEA, 2007). Factors believed to contribute to the achievement gap include, but are not limited to student background (i.e. socioeconomic status), social factors (i.e. community issues such as impoverished neighborhoods), biological factors (i.e. genetics), cultural-incongruence, teacher and teaching related issues (i.e. cultural incongruence between educators and students), and families’ support of students’ learning factors (i.e. parental involvement with students’ education) (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; Cross, 2003; Irvine, 2003;Oakes, 2005). In addition, the causes for these gaps in academia vary from school to school, district to district, and community to community (NEA, 2005) Socioeconomic Status Socioeconomic status (SES) and the effects of poverty are important factors in explaining racial differences in educational achievement (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; Mayer, 1997; Brooks-Gunn et al., 1994,1995, 2000; Fryer Jr., Ronald G., & Levitt, Steven D., 2004). Proponents of the SES explanation assert that variables such as class and wealth explain the failure of minorities in academic pursuits. Researchers that support this theory link factors such as slavery, Jim Crow Law practices, and poverty as they create situations of oppression and few opportunities resulting in disparities even in the educational sector. Additionally, these scholars suggest that the strongest predictor of academic achievement is inevitably SES (Irvine, 2003, p. 3). However, even after controlling for socioeconomic status in conventional regression analysis, a substantial gap still remains. That gap has generally been declining over time, although for high school students today, it is slightly larger than it was in the late 1980s (NEA, 2005). Another weakness in SES theory is that is does not explain why students from wealthy Black families, on average, underperform Whites on standardized achievement measures (Irvine, 2003). Although the socioeconomic theory has value in explaining the achievement gap, it does not give a complete explanation for why Black students attending integrated schools are more successful than Black students in segregated schools. Furthermore, it does not explain, “The finding that the average Black child now attends school in a district that spends as much per pupil as the school attended by the average White child” (Jencks & Phillips, 1998). Thus, in line with the socioeconomic argument one would expect a similar level achievement if the same amount of money is being spent. Thus, there are various loopholes in the SES theory as an explanation for the achievement gap.