Common Core and the Continued Socioeconomic Achievement Gap: How Can We Better Prepare Future Teachers?

Lauren Dotson Davis

doi:10.5539/jel.v8n6p1

Abstract

This paper discusses a longitudinal study of North Carolina middle level student proficiency levels on standardized assessments since the shift to the Common Core curriculum. Student poverty and its impact on student achievement the focus of this paper, and this study analyzes long-term proficiency trends and while delving into inequity implications regarding socioeconomic status. Recognizing the impact of poverty on student achievement as measured by standardized tests, the author questions the explicit practices of teacher preparation programs in preparing teacher candidates to work with students of poverty, specifically pertaining to the middle level student.

Highlights

1.1 Standardized Testing and the Socioeconomic Achievement GapStudents today face a myriad of challenges unlike those that students in previous generations; while many of these challenges are beyond the control of the professional educator, there are areas in which teachers and administrators can increase their awareness and apply intervention strategies which may bring about positive change in students’ lives
It is a well-known fact that students of lower socioeconomic status frequently exhibit an academic achievement gap on standardized testing; North Carolina has attempted to rectify this issue by implementing the Common Core curriculum standards in the hope that a rigorous national curriculum would serve as an “equalizer” for high poverty students and the related achievement disparity
Students who were considered economically disadvantaged in schools with 1–40% poverty rates in 2014 (M = 49.9, SD = 13.0) on average achieved similar proficiency on both reading and math standardized assessments when compared with economically disadvantaged middle grades students in schools with 1–40% poverty rates in 2017 (M = 49.4, SD = 13.4)

Summary

Introduction

Students today face a myriad of challenges unlike those that students in previous generations; while many of these challenges are beyond the control of the professional educator, there are areas in which teachers and administrators can increase their awareness and apply intervention strategies which may bring about positive change in students’ lives It is a well-known fact that students of lower socioeconomic status frequently exhibit an academic achievement gap on standardized testing; North Carolina has attempted to rectify this issue by implementing the Common Core curriculum standards in the hope that a rigorous national curriculum would serve as an “equalizer” for high poverty students and the related achievement disparity. Poverty will relate to a deficit in all of these areas, as well as a lack of equitable access to a high-quality education

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