Possible Solutions to Closing the Achievement Gap

After reading the article A way to close the achievement gap between white and minority students in California, in California, people may have found results on how to close this achievement gap we have in the United States: with the right amount of political will and community support. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell blamed race, not poverty, for this issue and wants the people to do something about it. The latest standardized test results for California schools showed that all groups, in all income levels, are struggling to make progress. These results also show that low-income students of all colors are still doing worse than their more efficient peers. But the performance of African American and Latino students from all economic backgrounds shows the need that has to be done to get these students to learn more and overcome the achievement gap “Clearly, there are cultural factors at work - including a distrust of the educational system - that are holding these students back.” said Jack O’Connell.

“But the main question is: “Would the state have the political will to tackle the solutions that emerge?” These solutions have been used because schools that have been successful with African American, Latino and low-income students have already shown that these students perform at a high level when they're offered frequent results back to them, a dedicated principal who reaches out to parents and student, and engaged teachers who have high expectations for their students.

With time and commitment, the ending of the achievement gap can end soon if more people come to realize it and want to make a difference…do you???

(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/21/EDGSRKTPQ.DTL)