Describe the nature of the achievement gap that exists between white and minority students and the five factors mentioned in the textbook that appear to contribute to this gap

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Most white students outscore most African American, Latino, and American Indian minority students on standardized tests of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. This difference has even been found when white and African American students from relatively affluent middle-SES families have been compared.
The textbook describes five general classes of factors that appear to play a role in the achievement gap. Those factors are health status, living conditions, family environment, beliefs and attitudes about school, and motivation.
Health Status: Many lower-SES children are at risk for educational problems because of premature births, birth defects, inadequate medical and dental care, and more untreated illnesses than their middle-SES peers. In addition, some low-SES children still live in homes that were painted with lead-based paint. Ingestion of lead-based paint chips and dust is associated with low standardized test scores, attention deficits, and behavior problems.
Living Conditions: Housing conditions tend to be crowded because of relatively small apartments, and a quiet place in which to study is often nonexistent. Parental supervision tends to be inconsistent or absent. Daily life can be additionally stressful because of the threat of street crime. About 25 percent of African American and Latino/Latina children have the added challenge each year of adapting to new peers, instructional methods, and curricula when they change schools because their parents have changed residences.
Family Environment: Lower-SES students are more likely than middle-class students to come from one-parent families. This factor has been linked with lower academic achievement, although the results of research in this area are inconclusive. White and Asian American middle-class parents tend to have higher expectations and provide more support for academic achievement than low-SES parents. Middle-SES children have more access to computers and the Internet, and travel more than low-SES children. Because white middle-SES parents speak more than three times as many words to their children as do low-SES minority parents, the typical white middle-SES child begins school with a vocabulary about four times as large as that of a typical low-SES minority child.
Students' Beliefs and Attitudes: Lower-SES adolescents, particularly African American males, place a low value on academic achievement (the so-called aversion to "acting white"). Many believe they can get a good job without a high school diploma. The reasons why minority low-SES males place a lower value on academic achievement than white middle-SES males or minority low-SES females are not yet understood. Female minority students on the other hand, be they in the primary, elementary, or middle school grades, are more likely to admire, respect, and want to be like their high achieving female classmates.
Level of Motivation: Lower-SES children often lack motivation because they have a lower need for achievement than middle-class students. Need for achievement is a characteristic that influences an individual's willingness to invest time and effort into the achievement of a goal. This inhibits their ability to acquire the academic skills that are necessary for them to succeed in school.