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Black-White Gap Widens
June 3, 2008
No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.
-Alice Walker
New research into the achievement gap between black and white students suggests that the students who lose the most ground academically in U.S. public schools may be the brightest African American children. According to Education Week (April 16, 2008)...

"As black students move through elementary and middle school, these studies show, the test-score gaps that separate them from their better performing white counterparts grow fastest among the most able students and the most slowly for those who start out with below-average academic skills.... The reasons why achievement gaps are wider at the upper end of the achievement scale are still unclear. But some experts believe the patterns have something to do with the fact that African American children tend to be taught in predominantly black schools, where test scores are lower, teachers are less experienced, and high-achieving peers are harder to find."



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Comments (2)

Displaying All 2 Comments
Wanda · June 03, 2008
Minneapolis, MN, United States


I totally disagree with the "experts" indicating that African American teachers are less experienced. As an educator myself, I'm hopeful that I get the same education that my peers get in higher education to be able to successfully teach any child. I am highly educated and can teach African American children academically well. It could be that some teachers may not be able to get the resources needed to teach successfully as the dominant culture can, but it is not to say that they are less experienced.

McNamara buck · June 03, 2008
cambridge, mA, United States


Perhaps the rote teaching to the lower end of the academic curve is holding back the more academically successful kids. Of course many other factors are there also, but school should be picking out these brighter kids and running with them. We don't allow schools to do this in this current academic climate. Rote till you drop. My experience is that the brightest kids drop the soonest.



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