An Educational Testing Service study in 2003 found that students of color, as compared to white students, were less likely to be engaged in rigorous academic course work, taught by certified teachers and live in two-parent homes, while they were more likely to be placed in crowded classes and attend school hungry. What’s changed in five years? Very little. In a new report Parsing the Achievement Gap II, ETS revisited its findings and found that most gaps in both academic and life experiences between minority and White students persist. ETS uses 16 factors, including birth weight, lead poisoning, parental involvement and teacher quality, to assess whether white and minority students are reaching parity in their experience with each factor. Not surprisingly, the report concluded that while a few of the gaps in issues related to achievement have narrowed and a few have widened, overall, the gaps identified in the previous studies remain unaltered. “We know that the achievement gap is real. It has deep roots in children’s lives. It’s present when kids start school. It impacts subsequent educational attainment. And it results in lifelong disadvantages ranging from economic to social to health and even the life expectancy,” Richard Coley, co-author of the report, said during a news conference at the National Press Club. “The cognitive development of children is affected not only by their access to quality education but also by what happens to them outside of school. Closing the achievement gap will require closing gaps in social and economic conditions as well.”
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http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish...cle_12527.shtml
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editori...ry/1030976.html
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Thanks to Mark Pudlow for the clip and the lead.