Ian Murray
Ethnicity and Race Research Report #1
Slavin, R. Madden, N. (2006) Reducing the gap: Success for all and the achievement gap
of African American students. Journal of Negro Education, 75 (3), 389-400
Lopez, L. Pantoja, A. (2004) Beyond black and white: general support for race-conscious
policies among African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Whites. Political
Research Quarterly, 57 (4) 633-642
2. Robert E. Slavin- Slavin is currently Director of the Center for Research and Reform in
Education at Johns Hopkins University, part-time Professor at the Institute for Effective
Education at the University of York (England), and Chairman of the Success for All
Foundation. Slavin received his B.A. in Psychology from Reed College in 1972, and his
Ph.D. in Social Relations in 1975 from Johns Hopkins University.
Nancy A. Madden- Madden is president and co-founder of the Success for All
Foundation which develops, researches, and disseminates educational programs to
increase achievement, particularly for disadvantaged students. She is a professor at the
Center for Research and Reform in Education at the School of Education at Johns
Hopkins University and at the University of York Institute for Effective Education.
Dr. Madden graduated from Reed College in 1973, and received her PhD in Clinical
Psychology from American University in 1980.
3. Dr. Slavin, and Dr. Madden focus primarily on success for all, which is a
comprehensive model that uses cooperative learning, tutoring, family support services,
and professional development to help high-poverty schools succeed with their students.
Their article presents the success for all comprehensive model with African American
students, concentrating on decreasing the achievement gap between African American
students and white students.
4. Dr. Slavin, and Dr. Madden express throughout the article that many African American
students are academically behind in reading compared to white students. By applying the
success for all comprehensive model throughout school districts nationwide it seems
likely that the average reading performance of a number of America’s children would
advance, and the gap between African American, and white students would be
significantly smaller today. This must be an essential goal for school districts nationwide.
Significant points made by Dr. Slavin, and
Dr. Madden pertaining to closing the
reading achievement gap between African
American students, and white students.
Relationship of Slavin and Maddens- The
key to attainment for African American
students is implying the success for all
model within their specific school districts.
The gap appears early in elementary
school, develops into differences in high
I) First, Dr. Slavin, and Dr. Madden
identify an achievement gap in reading
between African American students,
compared to white students. Slavin and
Madden point out that African American
students are thought of as underperforming
in American public schools. They also
make reference to a few of the factors
influencing this, and then offer some
helpful models for decreasing the
achievement gap between African
American students, and white students.
1) Attitudes and beliefs: Slavin and
Madden stated that African American
families tend to struggle economically,
which in turn affects students success
within the classroom. Therefore, by
applying the success for all model
within these students schools their
academic achievement will increase
significantly.
2) Values: One value that was discussed
in the article was that African American
students have the ability to work hard,
but it’s imperative to improve the
quality of instruction provided to
African American students. In regard,
there are several lines of research that
suggest that achievement of African
American students is likely to
improvements in educational quality.
For example, there was a class size
study examined in the article. The
Tennessee class size study found a
variety of positive effects for all
children of reducing class sizes from an
average of 22 to an average of 15. The
impact of class size reduction was
much greater for African American
students compared to white students.
school graduation rates, college attendance,
and ultimately, the differences in income
and SES that underlie the most critical
social inequities.
The issue throughout this article is that
African American students are often
underperforming based on academic
indicators for reading proficiency. Low
grades, lower test scores, GPA,
achievement on tests, graduation rates, SES
etc., makes it difficult when it comes to
closing the gap between African American
students, and white students.
1) African American students are often
times referred to as students who
come from high-poverty schools,
and families with a low SES.
Societal factors such as SES and
family structure play an imperative
role in many of these students
success in the United States. Family
expectations, as well as financial
status within African American
families can be a key influence on a
student’s motivation, and success in
the classroom environment.
Another societal factor is that
African American students, on
average attend schools that are far
less funded than those attended by
whites; their teachers are less highly
qualified, and their families are
more likely to suffer from poverty,
which will have a direct bearing on
a child’s success in school. Finally,
teachers must see that every student
is different. It is imperative for
educators to not allow cultural
differences to play a role in trying
different methods of teaching to
assist these students to succeed in
the learning process. The article
African American students continued to
show the most benefits to a reduced
class size.
3) Cultural traditions: Within the article
a specific cultural tradition wasn’t
addressed, but thinking about the topic
I believe language is a cultural tradition
of African Americans. African
American families specifically inner
city kids tend to speak AAVE or
African American vernacular English.
Students are expected to speak proper
English in the school setting, but if they
speak AAVE at their house this can
create a conflict that creates behavior
issues, and multilingual personalities
within the classroom. AAVE is
academically considered a legitimate
dialect because of its logical
structure, some of both Caucasians
and African Americans consider it
slang or the result of a poor
command of Standard American
English. In result, African American
students who are isolated by
speaking only AAVE have more
difficulty with standardized testing
and, after school, moving to the
mainstream world for work.
However, it is common for many
speakers of AAVE to code switch
between AAVE and Standard
American English depending on the
setting.
discussed that schools fail to take
advantage of the cultural and
personal assets of African American
students, but culturally consistent
instruction can be beneficial to
African American students.
2) As discussed earlier each student
is different, and each racial group
has different values. Therefore
educators must find different
teaching strategies, to meet the
needs of these students and their
specific learning styles. The
specific skills and assets that
African American students own,
will aid their achievement in the
classroom. For example, if African
American students tend to be more
successful in smaller class settings,
then educators should try to
implement this strategy into their
classrooms. For example, if a
teacher knows that African
American students work better in
smaller groups, than the teacher
should try to incorporate small
group activities, projects etc. into
their classroom.
3) A racial group of individual’s
language is imperative to
maintaining their cultural identity.
It is imperative for schools to
accept some of this group’s cultural
traditions. However, a positive
approach would be to gear more
towards cultural assimilation, than
acculturation. In the end you want
all your students to feel safe,
comfortable, and successful in the
classroom. Educators must see
differences and allow students to
learn from each other.