Academic Achievement Gap Research Articles

A Study of the Changing Academic Achievement Gap through Panel Data

A Study of the Changing Academic Achievement Gap through Panel Data

Jesus and the streets

In this article, against John Ogbu’s oppositional culture theory and Claude Steele’s disidentification hypothesis, this work offers a more appropriate neo-Marxian hermeneutical framework for contextualizing, conceptualizing, and evaluating the locus of causality for the black male/female intra-racial gender academic achievement gap in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Positing that in general the origins of the black/white academic achievement gap is grounded in what Paul C. Mocombe refers to as a “mismatch of linguistic structure and social class function.” Within Mocombe’s neo-Marxist theoretical framework the intra-racial gender academic achievement gap between black boys and girls is a result of the social class functions associated with the urban street life where the majority of urban black males achieve their status, social mobility, and economic gain, and the black church where black females are overwhelmingly more likely to achieve their status, social mobility, and drive for economic gain via education and professionalization.

Sequential Online Course Redesign: When “It Just Takes Time” Works No Longer

Despite the increase in formats of online education, evidence suggests that the academic achievement gap could widen without iterative adaptation. This comparative case study analyzes the implementation of an online undergraduate course delivered consecutively in hybrid and fully online formats. Student feedback and instructor reflection address adaptive processes for online learning and adjustments to enhance the second course following a sequential redesign. Results include students’ challenges with technology and workload, benefits of cross-course collaboration, instructor efforts to mediate challenges without sacrificing rigor, and advice for educational developers as they support online teaching through rapid adaptation by design.

Reading enjoyment amongst non-leisure readers can affect achievement in secondary school.

This study aimed to evaluate determinants of differences in leisure reading behavior and school achievement. We specifically examined reading enjoyment, mental imagery, and sex as predictors in a large, age-homogeneous sample of Dutch secondary school students (N = 1,071). Results showed that the prevalence of leisure reading was low in both the lower, pre-vocational track (19.5%) and the higher, pre-academic track (32.5%). Boys read even less than girls. Almost all leisure readers enjoyed reading and engaged in mental imagery, i.e., the propensity “to see images” of a written story in the mind’s eye. Overall, boys who did not like to read for leisure had the poorest school performance. Non-leisure readers who reported that they enjoyed reading got higher school grades in the higher educational track. In the lower track, this was the case for girls. Our study findings imply that reading promotion programs should take into account individual differences in sex, achievement level, and reading enjoyment when aiming to decrease the academic achievement gap.

The effect of banning affirmative action on human capital accumulation prior to college entry

Abstract This paper examines how banning affirmative action in university admissions affects both overall academic achievement and the racial gap in academic achievement prior to college entry. Focusing on college-bound high school students, we use a difference-in-difference methodology to analyze the impact of the end of race-based affirmative action at the University of California in 1998 on both the overall level of SAT scores and high school GPA, and the racial gap in SAT scores and high school GPA. We find little evidence of either a decline in academic achievement or a widening of the racial gap in academic achievement after the ban. JEL codes I21; I24

How real is race?: a sourcebook on race, culture, and biology

Part 1 The Fallacy Of Race As Biology Chapter 2 Why Contemporary Races Are Not Scientifically Valid Chapter 3 Human Biological Variation: What We Don't See Chapter 4 If Not Race, How Do We Explain Biological Differences? Chapter 5 More Alike Than Different More Different Than Alike Part 6 Culture Creates Race Chapter 7 Culture Shapes How We Experience Reality Chapter 8 Culture and Classification: Race Is Culturally Real Chapter 9 Race and Inequality: Race as a Social Invention to Achieve Certain Goals Chapter 10 Cross-Cultural Overview of Race Chapter 11 If Race Doesn't Exist, What Are We Seeing? Sex, Mating, and Race Part 12 Race And Hot Button Issues In Schools Chapter 13 Assemblies, Clubs, Slurs, and Racial Labels Chapter 14 The Academic Achievement Gap and Equity Chapter 15 Racial and Racialized Conflicts Chapter 16 Interracial Flirting and Dating in Schools Part 17 Resources Chapter 18 References Chapter 19 Alignment with Standards Chapter 20 List of Teaching Activities Chapter 21 Illustrations List

Widening Gap in College Admission and Improving Equal Opportunity in South Korea

As private education has become widespread over the last decade in South Korea, the education gap among regions and social classes has noticeably widened. The recent global financial crisis exacerbates the problem as the rich continue to utilize more private education, while the poor utilize it less. For the first time, we confirm the widening gap in academic achievement and college admission in recent years by using source materials on Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and students admitted to Seoul National University (SNU). We also present a simple theory that suggests that, as the influence of socioeconomic background and educational environment on the entrance exam score rises over that of innate talents, labour productivity of overall society appears to decline. Controlling for student talent by using the scholastic ranking of the second year of middle school, we show that the socioeconomic status and learning environment exert a considerable influence on all college admissions criteria in this country. Finally, we discuss the importance of voluntary efforts by universities for expanding equal opportunity in higher education, as well as the government's response to the growing gap in college admissions.

Widening Gap in College Admission and Improving Equal Opportunity in South Korea

As private education becomes widespread over the last decade in South Korea, the education gap among regions and social classes, noticeably widens. The recent global financial crisis exacerbates the problem as the rich continues to utilize more private education while the poor utilizes it less. For the first time, we confirm the widening gap in academic achievement and college admission in recent years by using source materials on Korea’s College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and students admitted to Seoul National University (SNU). We also present a simple theory that suggests as the influence of socioeconomic background and educational environment on the entrance exam score rises over that of innate talents, labor productivity of overall society appears to decline. Controlling for student talent by using the scholastic ranking of the 2nd year of middle school, we show that the socioeconomic status and learning environment exert a considerable influence on all college admissions criteria in this country. Finally, we discuss the importance of voluntary efforts by universities for expanding equal opportunity in higher education, as well as the government’s response to the growing gap in college admissions.

Socioeconomic background, education, and labor force outcomes: evidence from a regional US sample

This paper examines the long-term association of family socioeconomic status (SES), educational, and labor force outcomes in a regional US longitudinal sample (N = 2264). The results offer insights into the mechanisms underlying the role of family SES in transitions from secondary schooling to early work experiences. It was found that the academic achievement gap associated with SES widens during secondary schooling due in part to course-level tracking. Family SES relates to college enrollment mainly via its association with academic gains in school, but also through family income and father’s occupational status. Family SES is weakly but significantly related to adult offspring’s earnings but more strongly related to occupational status. Educational qualifications and cognitive skills make independent contributions to the explanation of labor force outcomes.

A Social Psychological Perspective on the Achievement Gap in Standardized Test Performance between White and Minority Students: Implications for Assessment

The National Study Group for the Development of Affirmative Academic Ability (Bennett, Bridglall et al., 2007) examined national trends in standardized tests for White, Black and Hispanic students in the United States. The data selected for examination was broadly inclusive by design, and included middle- and high-school samples, a range of years, and multiple academic subjects. More specifically, the group examined representative National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores for eighth- and twelfth-grade students between the years 1996 and 2002 in science, math, and reading. The group also examined SAT scores for Black and White students between the years of 1996 and 2003.For NAEP scores, the data revealed that across years, subjects and grades-in other words, in every single comparison conducted-Black and Hispanic students scored significantly lower than their White counterparts. For SAT scores, Black-White differences across eight years ranged from 92 to 108 points. The consistency of these achievement differences is as striking as it is sobering, and made even more so by the fact that they replicate decades of data demonstrating achievement gaps in standardized tests among these groups (e.g., College Board, 2010). These achievement gaps are the central focus of this article.Scholars have debated the source and meaning of these academic achievement gaps intensely. While psychologists tend to interpret these achievement gaps as examples of test bias and unfairness due to the fact that one should not, a priori, have reason to expect factors such as race to influence test scores (e.g., Helms, 2006, 2009; Walton & Spencer, 2009), the testing field rejects the existence of such differences as evidence of bias per se (Sackett, Bomeman, & Connelly, 2008,2009). Sackett and colleagues (2008) put forward the proposition that, in fact, such differences may reflect constructrelevant variance: ethnic group membership, for example, may be associated with undervaluing academic achievement and/or spending less time studying. In the words of Sackett and associates (2008),It is precisely because of these potential alternative explanations that the dominant view in the testing field rejects the position that a finding of a relationship between race... and test scores can be directly interpreted as signaling bias or unfairness, (p. 223)This position reflects the strong assumption that if a student is unmotivated or spends less time studying than his or her peers, there is a lack of personal responsibility and, as such, is fairly reflected on the standardized test. Sackett and others (2009) expanded on this notion of personal responsibility, arguing[We] find it hard to imagine any instructor responding positively to a student who says, 'I chose not to read the assigned material covered on the test, so it's unfair that you penalize me for my incorrect responses.' (p. 286)This author reviews research suggesting that, even when it came to processes that reflect personal choice-such as time spent studying or becoming invested in academics-the interpersonal milieu surrounding the student has a profound influence on the development of these processes. The aim is to shed light on how certain classes of students, in particular ethnic minority students, are systematically exposed to toxic messages about their abilities that force many to minimize the importance of academics (Major et al., 1998; Ogbu, 1991; Steele, 1997). This, in turn, suggests that academic achievement gaps, rather than reflecting test bias, may be more accurately described as reflecting societal bias. The author concludes with some possible directions that fair testing may take in the context of a cultural context that does not support all students to the same degree.This article explores the issue of academic motivation and performance from a social psychological perspective. It focuses specifically on the academic achievement gap between White and minority students, not only because it represents one of the widest and most persistent gaps in testing, but also because social-psychological research in this area has, to date, concentrated most heavily on this dimension. …

New Media and the Power of Youth Organizing: Minding the Gaps

As the gulfs between low-income and more affluent youth widen, researchers and practitioners continue to search for effective means of closing gaps in academic achievement, digital participation, and civic engagement. This article examines how youth organizing offers a bridge across these divides. We consider how one youth organizing group, The Philadelphia Student Union, integrated new media into its core functions and how the student members experience these tools. Drawing on extant research, we argue that when situated within an organizing framework, new media tools can help to promote the digital literacy, academic achievement, and civic engagement of low-income youth of color, who have otherwise limited opportunities to contribute to the civic life of their communities.

Sequential Online Course Redesign: When “It Just Takes Time” Works No Longer

Despite the increase in formats of online education, evidence suggests that the academic achievement gap could widen without iterative adaptation. This comparative case study analyzes the implementation of an online undergraduate course delivered consecutively in hybrid and fully online formats. Student feedback and instructor reflection address adaptive processes for online learning and adjustments to enhance the second course following a sequential redesign. Results include students’ challenges with technology and workload, benefits of cross-course collaboration, instructor efforts to mediate challenges without sacrificing rigor, and advice for educational developers as they support online teaching through rapid adaptation by design.

Health and Academic Achievement: Cumulative Effects of Health Assets on Standardized Test Scores Among Urban Youth in the United States

The Institute of Medicine (2012) concluded that we must "strengthen schools as the heart of health." To intervene for better outcomes in both health and academic achievement, identifying factors that impact children is essential. Study objectives are to (1) document associations between health assets and academic achievement, and (2) examine cumulative effects of these assets on academic achievement. Participants include 940 students (grades 5 and 6) from 12 schools randomly selected from an urban district. Data include physical assessments, fitness testing, surveys, and district records. Fourteen health indicators were gathered including physical health (eg, body mass index [BMI]), health behaviors (eg, meeting recommendations for fruit/vegetable consumption), family environment (eg, family meals), and psychological well-being (eg, sleep quality). Data were collected 3-6 months prior to standardized testing. On average, students reported 7.1 health assets out of 14. Those with more health assets were more likely to be at goal for standardized tests (reading/writing/mathematics), and students with the most health assets were 2.2 times more likely to achieve goal compared with students with the fewest health assets (both p < .001). Schools that utilize nontraditional instructional strategies to improve student health may also improve academic achievement, closing equity gaps in both health and academic achievement.

Feed My Sheep: An Analysis of the Black–White Biblical Academic Achievement Gap

Secular academic achievement gap analyses consistently hold that Blacks perform worse than their White counterparts. Although gaps are closing, significant variances remain; sadly, poor performance isn't limited to secular academics. Analysis of Pew Forum on Religion &amp; Public Life's 2010 U.S. Religious Knowledge survey holds that although African-American Christians are more likely to attend church more frequently than other ethnicities, they are significantly more likely to know the least about the Bible. Unfortunately, the literature does not address the biblical racial achievement gap; we seek to correct this deficiency. We explored the extent of the Black–White biblical academic achievement gap and identified variables which exacerbate it. Linear regression analysis reveals that Blacks actualize a negative impact to biblical literacy engendered by their race: regardless of attendance frequency, the total number of questions answered correctly (μ = 4.337 out of 8) is reduced by 0.705. This impact is (a) not experienced by Whites and (b) larger than the church attendance benefit (0.228).

Karl Marx, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Black Underachievement in the United States and United Kingdom

This article synthesizes Marxian conceptions of identity construction within capitalist relations of production with the Wittgensteinian notion of “language games” to offer a more appropriate relational framework within which scholars ought to understand the Black–White academic achievement gap in America, the United Kingdom, and globally.

Postindustrial Capitalism, Social Class Language Games, and Black Underachievement in the United States and United Kingdom

Against Ogbu's oppositional culture hypothesis, this article offers a class or structural/relational framework to contextualizing and understanding why it is that Blacks have more limited skills in processing information from articles, books, tables, charts, and graphs compared with their White counterparts in the United States and United Kingdom. We synthesize Marxian conceptions of identity construction within capitalist relations of production with the Wittgensteinian notion of “language games” to offer a more appropriate relational framework within which scholars ought to understand this Black–White academic achievement gap in America and the United Kingdom.

Will closing the achievement gap solve the problem? An analysis of primary and secondary effects for indigenous university entry

Effective intervention into educational inequalities is dependent on having an accurate understanding of the factors which predict it. Research on the educational attainment gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Australia has typically focused on closing the academic achievement gap in the hope that this will resolve the issue. However, recent research is beginning to find that Indigenous youth also have significantly different choice behaviours and resources. Using the work of Boudon, the current research used a Bayesian logistic regression model to explore the extent to which differences in university entry rates are due to achievement differentials (primary effects) versus differences in choice behaviours and resources (secondary effects) for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Australia. This was applied to 10,000 Australian youth, followed over eight years. Results suggest that primary effects were predominant, however, a moderate proportion of the Indigenous university entrance rate gap is due to secondary effects.

Importance of race, gender, and personality in predicting academic performance

AbstractSubstantial research has demonstrated that African American students tend to perform more poorly than their White counterparts in terms of academic performance (e.g., Bali &amp; Alvarez). However, this knowledge has proven insufficient in highlighting a clear path for countering this gap in academic achievement. The present study (n = 719) provides evidence that race (African Americans and Whites) interacts with personality in predicting academic performance (i.e., grade point average) in a college setting and that the pattern of effects differs for men and women. Agreeableness reduced race effects for women, and extraversion and openness reduced race effects for men. Our results suggest new avenues for educators and policymakers to consider when attempting to reduce this performance gap.

Dynamic Duos

How can mentors maximize their positive relationships with “at-risk” youth? Youth mentoring program evaluations at the Boys &amp; Girls Club of McAllen Metro (BGCMM) yield a framework that illuminates the content of relating inside mentoring relationships. The mentoring model identified is established primarily by qualitative methods with a phenomenological approach and supported by young adult alumni findings from a Harris Poll Interactive Survey. The case review of mentoring program evaluations is significant in that it fills a gap in the mentoring literature regarding the content of mentor-mentee relating. The summary of evaluation findings is also important because the inquiry occurs with 98 percent Latino youth population between the ages of 8 and 17. (The regional success of youth mentoring programs is meaningful to the nation in large part because South Texas is the one location where Latinos comprise a demographic majority). Given the academic achievement gap of Latino students, nationally with Latino high school drop-out rates approaching 50 percent and the overrepresentation of minority populations incarcerated, this simple replicable strategy for the successful mentoring program design and evaluation is timely. The interactionist sociological analysis examines what happens inside the mentor-mentee relationship as it is perceived to be impactful by the youth themselves with their definitions. The mentoring model informed by the case review is a practical tool in planning, implementing, and facilitating effective dyads between mentor and mentee that can inform mentor training and program evaluations.

A Re-Analysis of the Effects of KIPP and the Harlem Promise Academies

Background/Context Existing evaluations of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) and the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) charter school programs suggest that these programs may potentially be very effective in closing the academic achievement gap. Purpose/Objective The purpose of the current study is to investigate the possibility of an internal contradiction in the assumptions underlying the KIPP and HCZ models that would prevent the models from being scaled up with the same positive results. Research Design The method involves: (1) review of the results of the key impact studies; (2) review of empirical evidence of high teacher attrition; (3) review of statements by the founders of the HCZ and KIPP models articulating the core assumption; (4) a narrative explanation of the internal contradiction in these models; and (5) a formal analysis demonstrating the consequences of this contradiction. Findings/Results The analysis suggests that gains from the KIPP and HCZ models would fall to zero once these programs are implemented in every school across the nation. The analysis suggests why existing impact results are likely due to artifacts stemming from high teacher attrition and hoarding of a disproportionate share of the nation's limited pool of highly dedicated teachers, rather than gains that could be sustained when the programs are scaled up and implemented nationwide. Conclusions/Recommendations The article recommends that national implementation of the KIPP and HCZ models should be delayed until research has been performed that would substantiate the assumption that there is a sufficient supply of highly dedicated teachers to fill the large number of vacant teaching positions that arise as a consequence of these models.