Carter 1

Tyler Carter
Reflective Writing Portfolio
Seifert14
March 9, 2016
The Achievement Gap: Have We Made Progress
Imagine this. There is a 15-year-old African American boy, sitting in his sophomore
English class that is taught by a white teacher. He is one of eight in a class of twenty-five. He is
known as one of the most outgoing, friendly boys in his grade although most of his friends know
that his cousin was just shot last night in a drive by shooting. He lives in a small Englewood two
flat with his mother, her abusive boyfriend, and four other siblings that he must watch after.
None of his teaches are aware of his problems at home, but they also do not care to ask what
could possibly cause a D+, consciously knowing that his white peers will get at least a B no
matter what. Would you be worried about why Jay Gatsby is pursuing Daisy Buchannan? This
story unfortunately is the story of many young black teens in America today. It is hard to believe
that the achievement gap between white and black students is so wide in a country that has an
African American President. To live in a country that claims it believes in racial equality
although statistics show that when it comes to academics, black students are still inferior to white
students. School is supposed to be a place where students are encouraged by their teachers that
education is a fantastic thing, but it seems they are contributing to the problem.
One might be curious to know what the achievement gap is. The achievement gap is the
persistent disparity in academic statistics between a group of students based on either their
socioeconomic class or race/ ethnicity. There are many possible causes for why the achievement
gap is as wide as it is. Some may include low self- esteem, low expectations, and a lack of

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minority role models (Miller 25). Some minority students come from an environment where
they are not encouraged to get an education because they are incomparable to their white peers.
Therefore, they are walking into a classroom where its orchestrator has a preconceived notion
that their students of color will not be as successful based on the color of their skin. According to
the Institute of Education Sciences, eighty- three percent of teachers in public schools are white,
whereas in twenty-four percent of public schools, more than three quarters of the schools
population is minority students. Studies show that minority students would prefer to be taught by
a teacher that looks like them. Students feel uncomfortable around a white teacher and also feel
like their teacher would not understand their trials and tribulations. These feelings often lead to a
student dismissing their teachers lecture and possibly feel less confident to ask questions that
clarify confusion. White teachers often believe subconsciously that a minority student is not
going to be motivated enough to succeed in their class. These low expectations contribute to the
low self-esteem that students already have when adjusting to a teacher that does not look like
them.
In addition to those subconscious limitations there are others that can be measured in
numbers and statistics. The amount of resources available in an inner- city school district is
significantly less than that of a suburban school district. Dr. Robert Ferguson is a Harvard
professor that travels the country visiting racially mixed public high schools. He found that the
average grade of a black student was a C-plus but the average grade of a white student is a Bminus in racially mixed suburbs (Winerip). A lot of white students at private schools have a tutor
for every subject, even if they are passing the class. They also have the financial ability to attend
a standardized testing preparation class that ranges from $150 to $600 (kaptest.com). Therefore,
minority students do not have the same resources as many white students do. Oprah Winfrey did

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an experiment in the Chicagoland area called Turnaround. She would take three or four
students from an inner city school and suburban school then arrange a swap to expose the
students to their polar environment. A local school in Naperville, IL has one of the best athletic
facilities, computer labs and teachers in the state of Illinois. On the other hand, Harper High
School, a Chicago Public School, has a worn down gym and an outdated computer lab. Although
the gap seems to stay consistent, the Federal Government and public schools districts have
attempted to close this gap.
The United States definitely made an attempt to improve the scores of Blacks and Latinos
when President George W Bush signed the No Child Left Behind act in action in January 2002
(edweek.org). It expanded the federal governments role in public education by attempting to
assist disadvantaged students. There were a number of significant changes made to the education
landscape. One of these changes was the governments expectation of the states school systems.
They were required to bring all students up to proficient level on stat tests by the 2013- 2014
school year (edwee.org). The No Child Left Behind Act was also intended to target the poorer
school districts. Each School had to meet its states adequate yearly progress with targets that
were specified in the NCLB law. Teachers also had to be highly qualified: by the end of the
2005- 06 school year, meaning the teacher could provide certification and demonstrate their
knowledge in the subject they teach. US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, found that several
states saw failure rates over fifty percent in 2011 despite all of the hope that the law held. Despite
the progress intended as a result of this law, not much progress was made. Between 2004 and
2009, minority students average test scores improved, but so did the white students, meaning the
gap is still the same.

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Since the US government cannot even come up with an effective solution for this
problem, I propose one. This solution will reduce the pressure that minority students feel when
they are in an all-white environment as well as increase their ACT/ SAT scores and GPAs. I
propose that school districts put new academic resource centers throughout each school. If an
elementary school there should be at least two computer labs, if a high school there should be at
least four. Each classroom should have a smart board for more interactive learning and students
should be provided with their school supplies each year. Although their individuality might be
lost if this solution is successful, that will not matter because they will have a brighter future. I
propose that each public school system enforce a policy that states that all students, male or
female, 6 or 16, wear the same uniform, given by the school district that would completely cover
their face and their skin color. Each student will receive two uniforms per school year from the
time they first enter a classroom until they graduate high school. Teachers will also have to wear
the same uniforms, but in a different color so there is no confusion when trying to distinguish the
teachers from the students easily. Along with the uniforms, students will not use their
government name as an identifier. Instead, they will use an identification number that will stay
with them for the rest of their elementary and secondary careers. They will receive this number
on registration day with their uniforms. Registration day would be the most important day of the
year for parents and their children because they would change from being Jerome Watson to
being #44830, they would be getting a whole new identity! The consequences for not wearing
the uniform would be a day- long solitary detention for the first offense, a suspension for the
second offense, and a possible expulsion for the third and final offense. Finally, on the most
important day of school, graduation day, all the students would come to graduation in their
regular clothes, revealing their faces and names to the student body and to the teachers.

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Enforcing a uniform nationwide would promote academic success for all students, a sense of
community amongst all races and will contract the gap between those of different socioeconomic
status.
An overabundance of benefits will develop if this policy is enforced to improve our
schools and nation. The uniforms would allow students to feel as if they are all equal because
race would be completely eliminated. Furthermore, a teacher would not expect anything from
or have preconceived notions about the students walking into her classroom by seeing their faces
on the first day of school. The discomfort that minority students feel with their teacher if she
does not have the same skin color as them would also be eliminated because their teachers face
and skin would also be covered. The uniforms would establish a sense of community between
the students because they all have at least one thing in common, their uniform. The identification
number would eliminate low expectations that teachers would have because one could assume a
persons ethnicity if they know their name. Gang violence amongst teens would also be reduced
because all they would be covered by these uniforms for gang members would not know whom
their target is. Racial hate crimes would be reduced as well because ones race could not be seen.
Families that come from poverty would be the people that benefit the most because they would
not have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of school clothes for a number of children. Parents
would not have to worry about buying $100 worth of schools supplies either because those are
provided as well.
The next question that would be posed is how I would benefit from this new policy in the
United States education system. The truth is that I would not benefit at all. This policy is
intended to benefit elementary students and high school students, and Ive already graduated

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high school. There is a plethora of benefits that would result with the passing of this legislation,
however, there are also some detriments.
This new policy sounds like it will run as smoothly as possible, but there will be some
setbacks. First of all, the government is going to have to fund these new uniforms, school
supplies and resource centers. This means that taxes will have to increase which also means the
people who are already in poverty will have to pay higher taxes than they could possibly afford.
The uniforms would cause all students to lose their individuality, which could make their selfesteem worse than it already is. There will be a handful of students who will not comply with the
new uniforms, meaning there will be a lot of disciplinary action that could lead to these students
being at home a lot. If these students are at home a lot, that means they will be tempted to
participate in illegal activities or be influences not bother coming back to school.
The achievement gap in America has the potential to be one of the main reasons the
country will fall behind. Minority students are not being given the tools and resources that they
need to succeed in the real world. They walk into a classroom where they know they are
expected to fail which causes their low self-esteem and eventually disconnect with their
educators. The government has attempted to fix this problem by enforcing laws that will improve
the overall test scores of minority students, but it has failed. The proper solution would be to
enforce a law that says that all students would have to wear the same uniform with new
identification numbers instead of names that would eliminate all possibilities of academic
prejudice because a students race could not be assumed with these new methods. Once this
policy is put into effect, students and parents would benefit because of the financial benefits.
Educators must learn to acknowledge the achievement gap as a racial issue in order to take the
steps necessary to resolve it.

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Works Cited
Dillon, Sam. "'No Child' Law Is Not Closing a Racial Gap." New York Times 29 Apr. 2009: n.
pag. Print.
Institute of Education Sciences. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
<https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28>.
Miller, Karen, ed. The Achievement Gap. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print
"No Child Left Behind." Education Week. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.edweek.org/info/about/epestafflist_division.html>.
Singleton, Glenn E., and Curtis Linton. Courageous Conversations About Race. Thousand Oaks,
California: Corwin, n.d. Print.
Winerip, Michael. "Closing the Achievement Gap without Widening a Racial One." New York
Times 13 Feb. 2011: n. pag. Print.