Abigail Henry

10/01/2020

EDFD 460

Ethnicity and Race Research Report

Academic Achievement

I chose to compare White and Black students for the Achievement area. I learned that between
1992 and 2017, the 4th grade reading gap only decreased by six points. Unfortunately, the 8th grade gap
wasn't measurably different during the same time frame. The math gap for 4th grade narrowed from 32
to 25 between 1990 and 2017. Again, the 8th grade gap wasn't measurably different. The data also
shows that students having calculus as their highest math course credit was a larger percentage of white
students (18%) than of black students (6%).

Important Societal Factors – Possible Rationales

I think that racialization could be a reason for these achievement differences because black students
have been discriminated against based on stereotypes and assumptions made by others. Example:
https://theconversation.com/what-it-means-to-be-black-in-the-american-educational-system-63576

Economic factors could be reason for the noticeable achievement differences based on racial
discrimination in employment and income level. This affects the parents of students first-hand, but
students will also be hurt by this. Example:
https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/minorities

This leads to household dynamic being a factor. The employment and income level of parents will affect
where the family lives, who lives in the household, and how the household is run. Parental incarceration
could also affect the household dynamic and income levels. Example:
https://www.epi.org/publication/the-racial-achievement-gap-segregated-schools-and-segregated-
neighborhoods-a-constitutional-insult/

Lastly, classroom dynamic or institutional practices could be a cause of these achievement differences
because of the way that the administration, teachers and other students interact with black students. If
there is racism in the classroom or school building, a Black student will most likely not be as confident
and could possible fall behind. This also includes harsher punishment for black students compared to
white students. Example: https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/research/education-law/whats-a-zero-
tolerance-
policy.html#:~:text=A%20zero%20tolerance%20policy%20requires,when%20students%20break%20cert
ain%20rules.&text=Under%20zero%20tolerance%20policies%2C%20harsh%20punishment%20applies%
20regardless%20of%20the%20circumstances

URLs of Articles from the Web

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2015/12/sobering_report_on_black_achievement_co
mes_as_obama_signs_new_k12_law.html
The Every Student Succeeds Act was passed into law to create accountability for schools and require
them to work on closing the achievement gap between students. Over the last 25 years, the scores of
black students have risen drastically but are still much lower than the national average. It is noted that
these students are still far from reaching their full potential and it is the job of our schools and teachers
to help students excel.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/08/29/minnesota-math-scores-continue-decline

The Minnesota Department of Education notes that 66.6% of white students met reading standards
while only 34% of black students met those same standards. In math, 63% of white students met
standards while 26% of black students met standards. Minnesota’s education commissioner, Mary
Ricker, commented that she was committed to serving the whole child and help them succeed in the
classroom. It was also noted that there was a large increase in the number of black students who
graduated.