What is the Achievement Gap? What does it look like? Who is involved?
| There are several types of achievement gaps, but all are generalized into "The Achievement Gap." Many universities, and national and international organizations study gaps. In addition, many countries are struggling with the issue.
See the Wikipedia definition of achievement gap. The links and explanations below are only a sampling of, and introduction to, the kind of data, research and researchers involved in this field. Note that not all gaps deal with mathematics and language arts literacy: for instance, some are focused on how students will function after school (the PISA studies), and some might relate student achievement to teaching methods (the TIMSS studies). |
Some studies within the U.S. track content areas by grade over time |
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 The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Take a look at the State Profiles and select New Jersey. |
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Major organizations in the U.S. are concerned with the gap issue |
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See also the National Governors Association (NGA), which is looking at policy options with regard to the achievement gap. |
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Excellent research is available for study |
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Kati Haycock is a leading researcher and spokesperson for information about the achievement gap. For instance, in an article entitled "Schools Matter: Four Steps to Closing the Achievement Gap Once and For All," she lists four essentials: Lesson 1: Have uniform standards; Lesson 2: Make the curriculum challenging; Lesson 3: Help students catch up; and Lesson 4: Provide good teachers. She includes the following table, where one can see that significantly more African-Americans, Whites and Asians graduate high school than do Latinos (at least they did in 1998). Highest Educational Attainment for Every 100 Kindergartners
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. (1998). Educational Attainment Detailed Tables, October CPS. |
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Worldwide studies are being made of student achievement and instructional methods |
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  The largest international studies are known as TIMSS and PIRLS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study & Progress in International Reading Literacy Study). * ...TIMSS "collects educational achievement data at the fourth and eighth grades to provide information about trends in performance over time together with extensive background information to address concerns about the quantity, quality, and content of instruction." * ...PIRLS asks "compared to students in other countries, how well do our [4th grade] students read?" |
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Student achievement in the framework of life-long learning and the economy is important |
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 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is an "internationally standardised assessment of...15-year-olds in ...the domains of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy." The study is conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and answers questions such as "Are students well prepared to meet the challenges of the future? Are they able to analyze, reason and communicate their ideas effectively? Do they have the capacity to continue learning throughout life?" The reports "include students’ motivation to learn, their beliefs about themselves and their learning strategies." |
Major organizations are studying the achievement gap. 