Question 1: What is the Achievement Gap? Is it the same thing as the Dropout Crisis?
As noted in a state report (item ‘a’ below), there are different ways to define the
achievement gap, but the emphasis needs to be on “the disparity in test results between white students and
students of color, and between students who receive a free or reduced-price
lunch and those who do not.” (from the same report, item ‘a,’ page 5). This definition focuses attention on students
of color, especially African American students, and students who live in poor
families—defined as eligible for lunch subsidies.
The dropout
crisis can also be called the dropout gap, and like the achievement
gap it can be defined many ways, but in this state it is useful to focus on
students of color and those who receive lunch subsidies. Achievement gaps and graduation rates are
tightly links. According to several
studies,
(T)he majority
of students who drop out of high school do not do so because of family problems
or because they don’t see the value of a high school diploma …(but rather)
because they are struggling to succeed in school. They have poor attendance and
academic preparation, which leads to course failure and eventual grade
retention or non-promotion to the next grade. Thus, a high school with many
more freshmen than seniors is typically a high school in which large numbers of
students are not succeeding and ultimately drop out. Success in the ninth grade
has been shown to be the most critical variable in determining whether a
student will graduate or not. [See item ‘c” below, p. 1, references omitted
here.]
[For more about the dropout gap, see this page.]
a. Here is a 2002 report from the state Superintendent of Public Instruction on the Achievement Gap. This 100-page reports is a challenge to state educators to do something about it.
b. This report, from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory in March 2007, indicates that all over the state we have not seen much progress toward closing the achievement gap.
c.
This report from the Center for Social Organization of
Schools at