Close the gap in student achievement between Blacks/Latinos and Whites - Essay Example

This follows a study that showed that an average Latino or black student currently achieves at approximately the same levels as the white student in the lowest quartile of white performance (Chubb and Loveless, 2010). This revelation is worrying because low achievement by Latinos and black students has serious consequences once students finish their schooling. Chubb and Loveless (2010) reveal that Latinos and black are less likely to graduate from high school than whites are. In addition, finding shows that blacks and Latinos are less likely to pursue college or advanced degree or earn a decent salary that can place them in the middle class.

To make matters worse, research has also shown that Latinos and blacks are more prone to suffer from social problems than their white counterparts are. This certainly underscores the vitality of bridging the achievement gap between different racial groups in America. The study of the achievement gap among different races in the U.S. began in 1966. During this time, James Coleman, eminent sociologists conducted a study on the achievement gap in which he found out that a large gap existed between black-white achievements.

He concluded that the disparity was occasioned by family backgrounds where the students came from (Chubb and Loveless, 2010). Subsequent study conducted in 1970 by the national assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) discovered a large gap between the Latinos and black students against that of their white counterparts. Other studies that have followed since then have been consistently showing a large achievement gap between white students and blacks and Latino students. Despite the gap, recent studies have shown some little improvement among black and Latino students particularly in math and reading in which blacks and Latinos have shown significant improvements.

However, the improvement made has not changed much the gap since white students are also continually improving. According to Associated Press (2009) the achievement gap between black and Latinos and the white students has only narrowed by approximately 7 points since 1992 Haycock (2011). In this regard, the report indicates that black students still scored 28 points less than that scored by white students on a 500-point scale. Haycock (2011) argues that this gap is so huge and alarming. As a result, policy makers need to find ways of bridging this gap if blacks and Latinos are to make significant educational achievement for the betterment of society and America as a whole.

The achievement disparity between white students and minority students in the U.S. is attributed mainly to challenges that the minority groups are still facing in America. A study conducted by Haycock (2011) found out that black students, for example, are poor which is associated with a number of challenges such as hunger, too much TV watching, frequent alteration of schools and less involvement of parents in education of their children. As a result, the disparity exists even before a student begins going to school (Hahnel, 2009).

However, the problem is magnified by lack of commitment by schools in mitigating the problem. Another finding also showed that the achievement gap has remained large because black students are less likely to be taught by teachers who understand their subject matter than whites.