As a preservice teacher, I am constantly learning about and researching the best methods for teaching my future students. One of the most misunderstood challenges facing our education system is the achievement gap. The achievement gap between African American students and their Caucasian peers is one of the most prominent concerns facing the public education system. It has been described by many as the civil rights movement of our time. When comparing the test scores of white students and students of color, many reformers say that the difference in achievement on standardized tests is evidence that African American students and Hispanic students would perform better in segregated or charter schools, but what reformers do not take into consideration is that Caucasian students are achieving higher scores simultaneously as their African American and Hispanic peers. Comparing scores of standardized tests from African American students and Hispanic students show that both populations have made dramatic achievements between 1990 and 2009. One reason that the decrease in the achievement gap has been unrecognized by reformers is because all populations of students are making improvements in their scores, according to Diane Ravitch, author of Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Diane Ravitch provides us with the following insight on pg. 57:
“Despite these increases, the achievement gaps remain between white and black students and between white and Hispanic students because all groups are improving their scores. Asian students perform as well as white students in reading and better than white students in math. Reformers ignore these gains and castigate the public schools for the persistence of the gap.”
Examining this quote allows individuals to see a different perspective on the achievement gap. While the achievement gaps between Caucasian students and African American students and Caucasian students and Hispanic students still exist, both African American students and Hispanic students have made improvements in their standardized test scores in the past two decades. Understanding the history of the achievement gap and the influences the achievement gap has had on specific minority populations is very important to me as a preservice educator, which is why I selected this quote. While the achievement gap is often referenced in the media by local politicians and reformers, the progress that African American students and Hispanic students have made in the past two decades is often not discussed by these individuals. I believe that it is integral to recognize the achievements made by all populations of students when discussing the achievement gap because Hispanic and African American students are making significant increases to their standardized test scores.
In my practicum courses at AppleTree Center for Development at Motivate our Minds, I have had the opportunity to work individually with African American students living in the Muncie community. One of the third grade students that I am tutoring at Motivate our Minds recently stated the following during our session: “I talk pretty good for a black boy. Don’t you think so?” Witnessing that this nine-year-old child understands that there are distinctly different expectations for African American students compared to their Caucasian peers made me further consider the influences of the achievement gap and the self-fulfilling prophecy. Since many African American students and Hispanic students are aware that there is an achievement gap between their test scores and their Caucasian peers, these students also understand that they are expected to score lower than their peers. Yet when comparing the scores from African American and Hispanic students in 1990 and 2009, it is evident that these populations of students are capable of achieving higher scores and have made noteworthy improvements in the past two decades. Recent NAEP test scores show that a large proportion of African American students and a large proportion of Hispanic students are performing at a “basic” or “Above average.”
As a preservice educator, I do not claim to know the perfect solution to decreasing the achievement gap, but I do know this: Having high expectations for all students will help. I believe that the achievements of all students should be our primary focus. We need to take in consideration that achievement gaps were not created by schools and that many other achievement gaps exist in our society. Instead of solely examining the achievement gaps that exist between Caucasian students and their African American or Hispanic peers, we need to realize that both African American and Hispanic students have made dramatic improvements in their standardized test scores. Instead of focusing on the differences in scores between Caucasian students and African American or Hispanic students, we need to focus on the fact that all students are improving their scores on standardized tests. We need to remember that all students are capable of reaching and surpassing the expectations we set for them, which is why I strongly believe that we need to set high and equal expectations for all students.
