Review of the Literature
As has been stated numerous times throughout this site, the achievement gap is one of the most significant issues that America currently faces. As such, there has been significant research conducted in an attempt to identify the ways in which the achievement gap manifests itself, the groups that are affected by these gaps, and what factors contribute to the gap in order to come up with viable solutions to close the gap. Overall, research has found that the achievement gaps manifest themselves as disparities in measures of academic performance such as grades, standardized test scores, graduation rates, college-completion rates, and number of disciplinary infractions. Research has also found that low-income and minority groups are severely affected by these achievement gaps, and a number of contributing factors to these gaps have been identified.
Since low-income and minority groups are impacted the most by the presence of the achievement gap, it should come as no surprise that an individual's race and socioeconomic status are largely considered to be the biggest predictors of academic achievement. However, research has found that there are various other factors that also significantly contribute to an individual's academic performance. Bankston and Caldas performed two separate studies in which they investigated the effect of a school's student body composition on individual achievement. In the first study that they conducted, they found that the racial composition of a school had an effect, as the concentration of minority students exhibited a negative influence on the achievement of individual students. Not only did higher concentrations of minority students have greater negative impacts, but the research found that minority students were even more seriously affected than White students. Additionally, in the second study they conducted they found that the socioeconomic composition of a school also effected the performance of an individual student, as schoolmates' socioeconomic status was positively correlated with individual achievement. Both the racial and socioeconomic composition of a school's population have these effects as a result of the cultural capital that the student bodies bring into the school, thereby creating different learning environments. Primarily minority and low-income student bodies both have low levels of cultural capital, and as such are associated with poorer individual academic achievement.
Continuing to research regarding the effects of cultural capital, Lee and Bowen conducted an investigation of how parental involvement affects elementary school children's academic attainment. They found that active parental involvement in a child's academic experience, by creating a positive learning environment within the home, attending parent teacher conferences, and having expectations of their child's performance, positively influences academic achievement. Furthermore, they found that the cultural capital that a parent has accumulated over time through knowledge gained from their own personal educational experience and access to "education-related objects" such as books and computers, also positively influences achievement. Building on this research of the effects of parental involvement on academic performance, Jeynes investigated the effect specifically as it pertained to minority students. After conducting a statistical analysis on several previous studies that examined the effects of parental involvement on the academic achievement of Black, Hispanic, and Asian children in all grades between kindergarten and 12th grade, he was able to conclude that there was in fact a significant effect on achievement for all groups, but most specifically for African Americans and Latinos. This provided valuable insight to urban educators and parents, as it shows the importance of parents being actively involved in order to help maximize a child's academic performance.
Research on factors contributing to achievement gaps was continued by Talbert-Johnson, who investigated the structural inequalities prevalent in urban schools. She found that these schools were often dilapidated and segregated, with run down facilities and predominantly minority student populations. In addition to the effects caused by the school's population, which are substantial considering the typical composition of urban schools, the lack of resources, quality teachers, and large class sizes that these schools have has significant negative impacts on individual achievement. Talbert-Johnson stated that a large part of the issue with teachers in urban schools is that they are not culturally responsive to their often largely minority students. She says that they lack care, compassion, and competency as they fail to address not only the academic, but the emotional, behavioral, and social characteristics of these students. The effect of class size on individual attainment was further studied by Krueger and Whitmore. After doing a follow-up on Tennessee's Project STAR, in which Kindergarten through third grade students were assigned to either "small" or "normal" sized classes, their research found that both Whites and African Americans do benefit from smaller class sizes, although African Americans do benefit significantly more. In addition to all of these other factors that were studied, Fitzpatrick investigated the effect of attending Pre-Kindergarten on the long-term success of life outcomes. After analyzing data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress on the test scores and overall progression of students through the fourth grade, she found that all groups did in fact benefit from attending universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, although socioeconomically disadvantaged students benefited significantly more.
After reading through all of these studies, I believe that it is safe to conclude that all of the aforementioned factors contribute to academic achievement, and in turn contribute to the presence of achievement gaps. It is my intention to use these factors as variables in a regression model in order to predict how the achievement gap influences individuals' future success. More specifically, I intend on developing a model that attempts to predict a student's GPA, then trying to determine if there is any relationship between it and the Major that the student chose. I would then use a combination of the two as an indicator for the type of wages they would expect to receive from jobs that frequently hire from the specified majors.
Since low-income and minority groups are impacted the most by the presence of the achievement gap, it should come as no surprise that an individual's race and socioeconomic status are largely considered to be the biggest predictors of academic achievement. However, research has found that there are various other factors that also significantly contribute to an individual's academic performance. Bankston and Caldas performed two separate studies in which they investigated the effect of a school's student body composition on individual achievement. In the first study that they conducted, they found that the racial composition of a school had an effect, as the concentration of minority students exhibited a negative influence on the achievement of individual students. Not only did higher concentrations of minority students have greater negative impacts, but the research found that minority students were even more seriously affected than White students. Additionally, in the second study they conducted they found that the socioeconomic composition of a school also effected the performance of an individual student, as schoolmates' socioeconomic status was positively correlated with individual achievement. Both the racial and socioeconomic composition of a school's population have these effects as a result of the cultural capital that the student bodies bring into the school, thereby creating different learning environments. Primarily minority and low-income student bodies both have low levels of cultural capital, and as such are associated with poorer individual academic achievement.
Continuing to research regarding the effects of cultural capital, Lee and Bowen conducted an investigation of how parental involvement affects elementary school children's academic attainment. They found that active parental involvement in a child's academic experience, by creating a positive learning environment within the home, attending parent teacher conferences, and having expectations of their child's performance, positively influences academic achievement. Furthermore, they found that the cultural capital that a parent has accumulated over time through knowledge gained from their own personal educational experience and access to "education-related objects" such as books and computers, also positively influences achievement. Building on this research of the effects of parental involvement on academic performance, Jeynes investigated the effect specifically as it pertained to minority students. After conducting a statistical analysis on several previous studies that examined the effects of parental involvement on the academic achievement of Black, Hispanic, and Asian children in all grades between kindergarten and 12th grade, he was able to conclude that there was in fact a significant effect on achievement for all groups, but most specifically for African Americans and Latinos. This provided valuable insight to urban educators and parents, as it shows the importance of parents being actively involved in order to help maximize a child's academic performance.
Research on factors contributing to achievement gaps was continued by Talbert-Johnson, who investigated the structural inequalities prevalent in urban schools. She found that these schools were often dilapidated and segregated, with run down facilities and predominantly minority student populations. In addition to the effects caused by the school's population, which are substantial considering the typical composition of urban schools, the lack of resources, quality teachers, and large class sizes that these schools have has significant negative impacts on individual achievement. Talbert-Johnson stated that a large part of the issue with teachers in urban schools is that they are not culturally responsive to their often largely minority students. She says that they lack care, compassion, and competency as they fail to address not only the academic, but the emotional, behavioral, and social characteristics of these students. The effect of class size on individual attainment was further studied by Krueger and Whitmore. After doing a follow-up on Tennessee's Project STAR, in which Kindergarten through third grade students were assigned to either "small" or "normal" sized classes, their research found that both Whites and African Americans do benefit from smaller class sizes, although African Americans do benefit significantly more. In addition to all of these other factors that were studied, Fitzpatrick investigated the effect of attending Pre-Kindergarten on the long-term success of life outcomes. After analyzing data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress on the test scores and overall progression of students through the fourth grade, she found that all groups did in fact benefit from attending universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, although socioeconomically disadvantaged students benefited significantly more.
After reading through all of these studies, I believe that it is safe to conclude that all of the aforementioned factors contribute to academic achievement, and in turn contribute to the presence of achievement gaps. It is my intention to use these factors as variables in a regression model in order to predict how the achievement gap influences individuals' future success. More specifically, I intend on developing a model that attempts to predict a student's GPA, then trying to determine if there is any relationship between it and the Major that the student chose. I would then use a combination of the two as an indicator for the type of wages they would expect to receive from jobs that frequently hire from the specified majors.