Classroom, Targeted and Intensive interventions to Overcome the Achievement Gap in the US - Term Paper Example

The achievement gap is particularly evident amongst children belonging to the poor socioeconomic groups, children of the minority groups like blacks, children who are learning the English language as well as children who have difficulties in reading or memorizing. The issue needs to be resolved because, despite many efforts, an analysis of the different states in 2011 revealed that there were still five states in America where this achievement gap had increased since 2003. This analysis explained that an effective policy for overcoming this issue is needed in the country (Johnson 11; Lynch).

The achievement gap is a matter of concern as it affects a large number of American students and this issue needs to be addressed with strong and effective strategies for the improvement of the educational system of the country. The achievement gap has been observed not only in primary and secondary schools but it has also been seen in children during their kindergarten years. Further analysis of the achievement gap in minority groups has revealed that this gap is known to exist in schools even if the economic status of all the students is the same.

This means that each cause of an achievement gap is independent and it is not essential that students coming from good economic backgrounds would be saved from this issue (Williams 26,27). According to an analysis done by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2007, it was seen that white students were better achievers in reading and math tests which were conducted in the fourth and eighth grade (Lynch). Thus, these surveys and reports indicate that the achievement gap is a grave issue and needs a thorough assessment.

This is because considering the statistics of the immigrants in the country; it can be judged that this gap would rise if it is not tackled.  This can be assessed as statistics reveal that from the year 2000 till the year 2050, the number of whites would reduce in the United States to 49 percent from 68 percent and the Latinos would form 40 percent of the America population. In a similar trend, African Americans would rise by 1 percent whereas the Asian population would surge by four percent (Haller).