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Looking at the Achievement Gap between
African American and Caucasian Students
Adam Stefanik
Arcadia University
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Abstract
A significant achievement gap exists between African American students and Caucasian
students. This is due to poor educations being taught in inner-city schools. Dropout rates hover
around 50% in inner-city schools, and only 41% of African Americans who graduate high school
attend a postsecondary institution (Bailey, 2010). This research focuses on identifying the
problems that have led to the achievement gap, and then looks at possible solutions to fix the
issue that has long plagued the African American community. Research from prior studies that
others have done is used in this paper. Future studies are also proposed, as well as future
programs that may lead to fixing the achievement gap. Some conclusions found while
researching include a program called Empowered Youth Program that raises graduation rates all
the way up to 98% (Bailey, 2010). This program is the model for future programs to give all
students an equal opportunity at success.
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Introduction
Inner-city schools are failing the students that attend them. The majority of students
enrolled in these schools are African American’s, and this has led to a large gap in achievement
between different races. It is time to finally address the significant achievement gap that exists
between African American’s and Caucasian’s and level the playing field so that every student
truly has an equal opportunity. Low income African American students face a myriad of hurdles
that they must overcome to be a successful student and subsequently get a prestigious job in their
lives. With how poor of an environment they grow up in while living in poverty stricken cities to
how terrible an education they receive from inner-city schools, it is no wonder that a significant
achievement gap exists between African American’s and Caucasian students. In inner cities, high
school graduation rates are often less than 50% (Turner, 2007). Many factors contribute to
African American’s not receiving the same education as Caucasians. This research paper
explores those many factors with evidence gathered from prior research and studies.
This research is focusing mostly on urban, inner city schools. Somewhat loosely defined,
these schools are typically in low income and high poverty areas. With the majority of families
in low income families being minorities, this leads to most students being minorities in the innercity schools (Glickman, 2007). This research focuses specifically on African American students
in these urban schools. Although other minorities, such as Latino’s and Hispanic’s also make up
a portion of these schools systems, this research is not focusing on those ethnicities.
Inner city areas are home to low income, predominantly minority families that make up
the high poverty neighborhoods while the suburbs are becoming more white and wealthy. Some
have referred to this as the “American apartheid,” with somewhat of an unspoken segregation
existing between urban areas and the suburbs. As this has happened, achievement gaps between
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rich and poor, black and white, and cities and suburb have grown (Glickman, 2007). Currently,
only a staggering 41% of African Americans who graduate high school continue their
educations, not to mention the amount who did not even graduate. A college education is vital in
today’s society to get nearly any job of importance. An estimate from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics estimates that performing some form of postsecondary education (associates degree,
bachelor’s degree, etc.) could increase ones earning potential by up to 15,000 dollars compared
to those who receive a high school diploma. When compared to a student who drops out of high
school, the earning potential is estimated to be as much as 30,000 dollars (Bailey, 2010). Clearly
this stresses the importance of getting a college degree, which not nearly enough African
American students are getting.
The cycle of poverty of African American families living in low income areas is a vicious
circle that has existed for far too long. This vicious circle happens because of the lack of
education received. A student will attend one of these urban schools where they will not receive
a quality education. Maybe they are part of the 50% of African American high school students
that drop out. They do not end up going to college and end up getting a low paying job. They
cannot afford to move out of the poverty stricken area because they do not have a job that allows
it. They have kids of their own and the same cycle keeps happening over and over far too often.
African American families earn on average 66% of the income their white counterparts earn
(Moore-Thomas, 2010). All races are capable of the same achievement, yet obviously African
Americans are not reaching their full potential often enough. Nearly 90% of fourth and eight
grade students in the 11 urban districts that the National Assessment of Educational Progress
database did not meet proficiency rates in reading and math in 2005! White students in the same
database were at only 52%. This percentage only grows as students enter high school (West,
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2010). Many factors contribute to the achievement gap; it is not simply because they are of
African ancestry.
Literature Review
The Importance of Parenting
Parenting is one of the most important factors related to how students do academically.
Parental involvement and academic success have a direct connection. Not enough African
American parents are getting involved in their children’s educations, which is one of the causes
of the achievement gap. As early as third grade, African American students show significantly
lower performance in reading, mathematics, and science (West, 2010). One big reason parents
are not getting involved is because teachers often hold stereotypical expectations regarding the
parent’s behaviors that involve a set of “culturally embedded norms (West, 2010 pg. 1).”
Teachers who lack an understanding of cultural diversity often view diverse parents (particularly
those of low income status) as disinterested in education, incompetent, or that they are unfit
parents. Teachers perceive that culturally diverse parents lack interest and do not want to get
involved with their child’s education (West, 2010). Parents may want to get involved, but feel
unwelcomed by the teachers that stereotype them as uncaring. This leads to a rift and the parents
subsequently not becoming involved despite the fact that they may be perfectly competent and
interested in their child’s education.
There are three main types of parenting styles; authoritarian, permissive, and
authoritative. Authoritarian is described as punitive, and lacking communication between child
and parent. Studies on African American parenting styles suggest that African American’s
predominant use of this style has contributed to their children not reaching their full academic
potential. Permissive parenting is said to establish poor parent-child interaction boundaries and
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compromises that parent as a parental figure. Both permissive and authoritarian parenting styles
correlate negatively while authoritative parenting correlates positively to success in school.
Authoritative parenting is described as having open communication with your children and
embracing them with affection while also having boundaries and strict discipline when
necessary. African American parents need to be made aware of how important their role of a
parent is for their children’s educations (West, 2010). If more parents were to use the
authoritative style, perhaps more children would succeed better in school.
A study of parents of fifth grade African American students was conducted by one
research group. These parents all had the same criteria; their children had high attendance rates,
low frequency of discipline referrals, and had a “B” average or better in their studies. The parents
were selected because by most accounts, their children were succeeding academically. This study
was somewhat flawed as they really only looked at the students through statistics and test scores
and did not evaluate them on a personal level, but by most accounts they were on the right path.
They wanted to interview these parents to see what they were doing right that led to raising
successful children. The parents went to a focus group where they talked and shared their
methods and stories about parenting while the researchers recording the dialogue and proctored
conversation. These parents believed that frequently communicating with their child’s teachers
helped to stay informed of academic demands and also raised teacher expectations in regards to
their children’s chances of success in class. All the parents stressed making an effort to get to
know teachers is important to having a successful child in school. They also emphasized the
importance of education to their children by letting them know they need a good education to
advance in the world. They also talked about having discipline with their kid yet also being very
caring as well in their parenting. One parent called it “tough love,” where they are hard on the
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children with boundaries but also can share problems and have deep conversations with their
children. More African American families need to follow this model of success demonstrated by
the parents in this study (West, 2010).
Resilience
The ability to succeed in the face of hardship and overcome obstacles is determined by
how resilient an individual is. African American’s face many hardships in the inner city schools
they attend and have to have a lot of resilience to succeed. Studies show that while to a certain
degree, resilience is dependent on the individual; it is also heavily dependent on the family and
community around the individual. Some typical hardships an African American living in poverty
faces are being raised in a single parent household, being one of many brothers or sisters, or
having to get a job to contribute to the household at a young age. Resilience is necessary to
thrive in a poor environment, and a good support system increases the odds for success.
Supportive parents play a large role in having a child who succeeds, and cutting these parents out
of teacher discussions has contributed to the large achievement gap that exists between African
Americans and Caucasians (West, 2010).
Teacher Student Relations
The teacher student relationship is one of the biggest factors in the achievement gap.
With the majority of the teaching force being white and female, rifts exist between teachers and
African American students. Cultural mismatch and racial stereotyping exists in inner city
schools. White teachers are sometimes unfamiliar to many of the patterns of African American
students and it may lead to the teachers interpreting certain actions as combative or
argumentative. This leads subsequently leads to a somewhat unconscious racist treatment to
some African American students. Simple things like walking with a stroll in one’s step makes
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teachers more likely to judge the student as aggressive. Studies show that students of color are
two to three times more likely to be suspended than other students. One particular study looked
at 364 elementary and middle schools during the 2005-2006 academic year. Date collected
showed that African Americans in elementary school are 2.19 times more likely to be referred to
the office for problem behavior than their white counterparts. When middle schools were looked
at, that percentage jumped to 3.78 times more likely (Skiba, 2011). Another study found that
nearly 15% of African American students are disciplined, while only 6% of white students are.
Could such a large disparity exist because they simply act out with more frequency than white
students? No, there is far more to it than that (Rocques, 2011).
One particular study talks about what is called racial threat theory, which is when a black
population increases beyond what white are comfortable with and they begin to feel threatened.
This racial threat theory states that when whites feel threatened, they use punitive legal policies
to respond to the perceived threat of African Americans. This theory can easily be extended to
the school environment. The theory is generalized to the following; white teachers, with a culture
of academic success and control over a classroom, perceive black students as a source of trouble
or threat to the order in the classroom. This may lead to them treating them unfairly and
unnecessarily disciplining students of color (Rocques, 2011). Research shows that black students
are more likely to be disciplined than whites and also receive harsher punishments for the same
offences at school. What a white student may get just a detention for may lead to a black student
getting expelled (Skiba, 2011). By removing African American students from academic
environments by expulsion or suspension, the risk factors for negative outcomes greatly increase.
Poor academic performance, dropping out of school, and ending up in the juvenile justice system
all correlate positively to being suspended or expelled. Suspensions and expelling students at
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unnecessarily high rates is greatly contributing to the achievement gap as it turns off students
from wanting to succeed and takes them out of the classroom, where they have the potential to
learn.
Education and Incarceration Link
One study concluded that schooling reduces criminal activity. African Americans drop
out with more frequency than Caucasians and also are incarcerated with more frequency. These
are strongly related to each other and stress the importance of finishing school. A report from
2009 shows that 1 in every 31 adults in the United States is in prison, on parole, or on probation.
When this is broken down by race, it equates to 1 in every 11 African Americans, 1 in 27
Latino’s, and 1 in 45 whites (Haney Lopez, 2010). These numbers clearly indicate a huge
disparity in incarceration rates between races. Another extremely alarming statistic is that 32.4
percent of black men who did not complete high school have been incarcerated (Haney Lopez,
2010). Nearly one third of all African America males who drop out of high school will spend
time behind bars! This shows how important it is to keep students in school, as once they dropout
the chances of ending up behind bars are far too high.
Digital Divide
The achievement gap does not exist just in books. The internet and digital usage is
rapidly becoming a tool that just about every job uses. Background on how to use and operate the
computer and its programs is necessary to succeed in many fields today. A term that came about
in 1996 called the “digital divide” shows the disparity between access of technology by different
races and social classes. A report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies showed
that nationwide, 69% of African Americans use the internet regularly. When this is looked at by
social class, it is revealed that 90% of African Americans with college degrees use the internet
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regularly while only 38% of African American high school dropouts do (Moore-Thomas, 2010).
This shows how furthering your education goes hand in hand with having access to computers
and all the resources on the internet. The students who dropout and who were failed by the
education system also miss out on the benefits included with mastering computers. This shows
how important it is to continue student’s educations because not only are they falling behind in
the books and job markets; they are falling behind with our technological advances. Computer
use is arguably just as important today as book use, and there is a clear link between those who
dropout and those who are part of the digital divide (Moore-Thomas, 2010).
Interventions
The vicious cycle of poverty is just going to keep on going and going unless changes are
implemented. The future is dim if changes are not made. However, there is hope as studies on
programs and changes in some urban schools have shown tremendous results in improving the
quality of education of their students. Transition theories that researchers have developed suggest
that a way to decrease school dropout rates is to prepare students at an early age for transitional
planning and preparation. By preparing at-risk students before they enter high school, they have
a better chance at being able to adjust to the new school setting and academic demands.
Programs that help develop the independence to succeed and adjust in high school increase the
likeliness that students will orient successfully to high school and subsequently not dropout. One
study in particular focused on transitions between middle school and high school. The study
identified four categories for their research. The categories were academic preparation, career
development skills training, parental assistance, and skills developed to overcome social and
environmental barriers. The researchers used these categories to do a study in which they
surveyed 147 eight grade students from an inner-city middle school. In this study, 96% of the
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participants lived at or below the poverty line. Graduation rates from the school district predicted
fewer than 50% of these students would graduate high school (Turner, 2007). The research asked
questions about the factors that contribute to success and failures and the researchers analyzed all
the answers of the students to make inferences. They found that one big factor among the
students was anticipating having a teenage pregnancy as being a worry of many of the students.
Previous research shows that among inner-city teens, pregnancy rates are 34% above the national
mean. The data shows that adolescents negative expectations that they may become pregnant
lowers students’ confidence of being successful while entering high school because of the
perception they will have a teen pregnancy. This shows how programs are needed at a young age
to stress the importance of safe sex and raise awareness at a young age about contraceptives.
Students are entering high school naïve and programs are needed at the middle school level that
preaches sexual education. The overall results of the study led the researchers to suggest ways
for school counselors to help prepare inner-city middle school students to have a successful
transition into high school. They suggest providing services that focus on academic planning,
career development, building support systems among family and others, and specific help in
areas that are relevant to inner city students like sexual education classes. Programs that entail
these aspects can be very successful in helping to lower dropout rates (Turner, 2007).
Communities and Schools
Schools are linked to the communities they are located in and the residents that they serve
(Glickman, 2007). Poor schools in inner-city areas typically are in communities that are marred
by crime and low income housing. These areas are run down and far from an ideal environment
for a student to thrive in. Poor schools reflect a poor community surrounding them, while good
schools reflect a good, safe community. Many local groups seek better outcomes for inner city
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schools. These groups push for improvement in achievement by students and increasing
graduation rates. They also push for better school conditions where students are safe from
violence and are not in rundown, overcrowded classrooms. These groups also strive for better
equity among all schools, where they all receive equal and fair funding. Community groups can
have a big impact in helping with the betterment of the community and the betterment of
schools. The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) if a foundation dedicated to social change and
improving schools and communities. The IAF works to bond local leaders in low income
communities and combining their leadership with schools to improve the relations between
leaders and students in the community. This increases the social capital of students who are able
to meet more people and make more connections. The IAF networks over 1 million families
throughout the United States. They build housing units, improve poor schools with repairs,
connect people with poor educations to potential job offers, and even create their own schools in
inner-city areas. A high school created by the IAF in the Bronx graduated 89% of their seniors.
Groups like the IAF are doing wonders for the communities they get involved in and more of
these groups need to be founded (Glickman, 2007). More groups like these would certainly help
more students better improve their educations.
Affiliated Alternatives is an alternative school associated with Accelerated Schools that
works to help out students that may not be reaching their potential in inner-city schools.
Affiliated Alternatives has four programs for at-risk students or students who have already
dropped out. One program is called Alternative Education Resource Options that is designed to
help overage eighth or failing ninth graders to get to 10th grade by the programs end (Finnan,
2007). The Cluster Program focuses on a select group of high risk middle school students and
helps them to succeed. The School-Age Parent Program is a program to help parenting or
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pregnant students. The last is the Work and Learn Center, which works with students who are
close to completing high school but may have dropped out and they link them with job
opportunities and get them back into school. Programs like these greatly help out inner-city
students and can change the lives of the participants in them. More of these types of programs
would certainly help with the achievement gap the more programs that there are, the more
students that can receive help from them (Finnan, 2007).
Empowered Youth Programs
Empowered Youth Programs (EYP) is one of the most successful programs for inner-city
students who otherwise might not receive a quality education. These programs try to maximize
the academic and social potential of African American students by establishing meaningful
communication between African American parents and the educational community that their
children are enrolled in (Bailey, 2010). They also provide information sessions for African
American parents with the purpose of helping the parents understand their role in their children’s
postsecondary education future. EYP tries to do what other enrichment programs fail to do,
which is to prepare students for admission and graduation of postsecondary education institutions
as opposed to just helping to raise test scores.
EYP put their emphasis on African American students who demonstrate a need or desire
to improve their academic performance. The main components of the program include Saturday
Academy, academic advisement, and exam lock in. The study of EYP points out that 98% of
EYP participants have graduated from high school and have been accepted or graduated from a
postsecondary institution. This is in comparison to the local average of 55% local high school
graduation rates for African American students (Bailey, 2010). Saturday Academy works to help
raise the participant’s GPAs so that they can get into competitive colleges. The program
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participants attend the program on Saturday and spend the day basically taking classes and
having study times and times to meet individually with tutors and instructors to ensure they
understand the work they are doing. The academic advisement part of the program is essentially
an academic advisor assigned to all program participants who works with the students to help
plan for their futures and make sure they are maintaining the standards that they need too. Exam
lock in is where the program participants are locked in while taking practice exams and upon
completion the students go over the exams with instructors (Bailey, 2010). This is great practice
for exams that the state gives out that colleges look at so closely and prepares these students to
achieve high marks on the state mandated tests. This gives these students a better chance at
getting into good colleges, as the better scores they get on tests like the SATs, the better schools
they will get accepted too.
Methodology
Many programs have been very successful in lowering the achievement gap and helping
African American students who were falling behind get ahead. More of these programs need to
exist and be more accessible for all students, who otherwise might not reach their potential as a
student. These programs are one of the best ways to fix our huge achievement gap and truly
make students have an equal opportunity. In inner-city schools where dropout rates hover around
50%, programs to help are absolutely necessary. My proposal is that programs start at the
elementary level and continue all the way through high school. By seeing how previous
programs have succeeded, we can take positive aspects of them all and combine them to make a
system that will greatly help the students that have been failed by their education system up until
now.
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In cities around that United States where poverty and dropout rates are high and
education funding low, I am calling for the following to be implemented. While students are still
in elementary school, leadership and career development classes that stress the importance of
education to get a job and to help grow leadership skills in the students at a young age. Seeing
how other programs in the past the cultivate leaders and help them to succeed leads me to
conclude it is important to start this process at a young age (Finnan, 2007). Teachers should be
required to reach out to parents as well and make a legitimate effort to get parents involved in
their child’s education. Parental involvement is one of the strongest indicators of success for
students getting parents more involved is absolutely vital and important to improving the
achievement gap (West, 2010). Teachers in inner-city schools should receive training to help
understand a culture that they may otherwise misinterpret. As of now, African American students
are being disciplined far more harshly than whites and far more frequently. It may be
unconscious racism and bias from teachers, but they need to be made aware of this and taught
how to change their frame of mind (Skiba, 2011). Teachers should also be frequently monitored
and checked in on to make sure that their discipline rates are not showing signs of unnecessary
discipline to African Americans. Teachers who are found to be punishing more based off race
should face consequences from their actions and even be fired if they prove they will not change
their ways.
As students move on to middle school, school counselors must all hold mandatory sexual
education classes. All students must have to attend and learn about the dangers of sexual activity
and the ways to prevent a pregnancy. Too many African American students are getting pregnant
while in high school and subsequently dropout. More awareness is needed at a younger age
(Turner, 2007). Programs that prepare middle school students for the transition to high school are
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helpful as well and should be implemented into the curriculum and schedule of middle school
students. Students are going into high school unprepared and struggle to adjust to the new
demands and environment they are not used too. By preparing them for high school, students can
adjust easier and make a seamless transition to high school and subsequently lower dropout rates.
School counselors could run these programs and prepare the students for the future (Turner,
2007). The more prepared the student is upon entering high school, the less likely they will be to
struggle and dropout.
Upon arrival to high school, students must have mandatory meetings with their academic
advisors at least once per semester. Too often students are being forgotten about, and we need to
ensure this no longer happens. Every school year up until graduation students should meet with
their academic advisors, and the advisors should work with the students to try and get into
colleges. I would also implement basically exactly what the Empowered Youth Program does,
with Saturday Academy, academic advisement, and exam lock-in (Bailey, 2010). The Saturday
Academy would be open to all students barring any discipline issues that come up. A student
with failing grades would benefit to have people around to help improve their scores and work
on study habits and a student with an straight A’s would benefit from having people around to
help perfect their skills and prepare for entering college. For high school freshman and
sophomores, the Saturday Academy would be mainly for improving grades in class and helping
to develop good study habits. For Juniors and Seniors, the focus would be on preparing for life
after high school and getting into postsecondary institutions. Practice SATs and other exams to
help the students get into college all would be a part of the curriculum. Also, programs getting
parents and teachers communicating are essential to ensuring students succeed and stay in
school.
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To do research on this, an inner-city school with high dropout rates would be looked at. To
do the study, we would take many aspects from previous successful educational programs and
put them into action in an area identified to have high dropout rates and be located in an innercity area. The study would follow the student body starting at the elementary level and monitor
their progress all the way until high school graduation. The research would monitor students’
academic achievement, discipline rates, and dropout rates. The research would also consist of
interviews with teachers and parents of the students to get feedback on their opinions of the
programs that their children were attended and to see if there was any increase in parental
involvement upon the implementation of the programs. The research would be over about a ten
year span and would look at one specific grade of students. It would follow this student body and
make year by year analyses of the students to see if they were improving. The researchers would
also compare the group that they are following to others students in similar settings to see if the
programs were making a positive difference (Bailey, 2010). Since we already know many aspect
of the program I am proposing have been successful, we can hypothesize that this should be
successful as well (Bailey, 2010). We do not have a lot of gaps in research on this subject, we
simply have gaps in the achievement of African Americans and Caucasians and it is time to
utilize the already effective programs in all areas.
Discussion
Based on the research of others, it is evident that changes need to be made for African
American students to truly have an equal opportunity. With nearly 50% of African American
students dropping out before completing high school in today’s day in age, obviously programs
need to be implemented to fix this (Finnan, 2007). Fortunately, programs like Empowered Youth
Program have raised the graduation rates all the way up to 98% (Bailey, 2010). There is not
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much more research that needs to be done, but it is the time for what we have learned from the
research to be applied to all inner-city schools nationwide. Schools need to follow EYPs model
for success and graduation rates will rise. This will greatly affect society because as more
African Americans graduate, more will go to college, more will get better jobs, and more will be
able to afford to move out of the low income neighborhoods they grew up in and end the vicious
circle that they have been a part of for too long. Currently, only 41% of African Americans who
graduate high school continue their education. This leaves 59% of individuals whose fresh ideas
and energy could produce solutions to the myriad of problems that the United States faces today
(Bailey, 2010). Raising graduation rates and evening out the achievement gap is simply a must.
The study I proposed earlier has a few limitations, but should still be a very reliable and
helpful study that produces great research. Some of the limitations include the fact it does not
study many groups of people or different schools. Focusing on only one school and one grade
may lead to some inconclusive and unreliable data being concluded. By only studying one group,
there is a bigger chance for a fluke in the research and for it to be flawed. By studying many
groups, you get a larger view of the data and can make more reliable conclusions. Perhaps the
research should be expanded to more groups of students. Another limitation is that the research
takes a long time to conduct. A lot can happen over ten years, and who knows what the world
will be like in ten years. The research may be pointless in ten years for all we know, so there are
some risks to making the research last such a long duration of time. Despite these limitations, the
research would still be useful and potentially very helpful to developing a successful model of
how to reform the way schooling is done in poverty stricken inner-city areas so that the
achievement gap is wiped out. Education is perhaps the most important part of an individual’s
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development, and it is unfair and unjust to not give African Americans an equal shot at a quality
education.
Conclusion
Inner-city schools have long been failing the students that attend them. African Americans
make up the majority of the student body in these schools and have been suffering the
consequences of poor school systems for far too long. This has led to a significant achievement
gap between African Americans and Caucasians in the United States. With dropout rates
hovering around 50% in inner-city schools and an extremely wide disparity between the grades
Caucasian students get and the grades African American students get on standardized testing, not
nearly enough African Americans are getting to college (Bailey, 2010). College is absolutely
vital to getting high paying jobs in today’s society, and African Americans are not getting the
high paying jobs and are stuck in a rut in their poverty stricken cities. A vicious circle of being
born into poverty, going to school and receiving a bad education, not attending college and
getting a bad job, and getting stuck living in the same neighborhood with a wife and kids is the
norm for far too many. Until schools are improved, this circle is just going to keep on continuing
until changes are made.
Many factors contribute to the wide achievement gap between African Americans and
Caucasians. Low teacher expectations of African American students, racial profiling students
from teachers, lack of parental involvement, and poor educational environments are all factors
limiting African Americans from reaching their full potential as students (Skiba, 2011). These
factors have all led to many problems, but fortunately many successful programs have been
created to overcome these problems. These programs raise graduation rates, raise test scores, and
ultimately raise the success of students in life. These programs exist and are very successful, and
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the time has come to implement them everywhere to ensure ALL students have an equal
opportunity (Bailey, 2010). The achievement gap can be fixed, and many solutions are out there.
Now is the time to maximize these programs and stop the vicious circle of poverty plaguing the
African American community in the United States.
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References
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Antecedents of the "School-To-Jail" Link: the Relationship
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