Achievement Gap

A number of reports and studies have explored issues surrounding the education of African American, Latino/a, and other culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in American school systems. Every CLD group has a different history in the United States. It is widely recognized that the educational experiences of African American students in public schools is rather unique. Specifically, African Americans as a group have been systematically and legally denied the right to an education, and past and ongoing injustices continue to affect the educational achievement of African American students. The most obvious effect is the gap between the academic performances of African American students and their White counterparts. Specifically, myriad reports indicate that Black students often graduate from high school 4 years behind White students in both reading and math. In addition to the gaps in reading and math, there are gaps between White and CLD students in grade point averages, participation in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, gifted education classes, and honors classes, as well as high school graduation rates and college enrollment and graduation rates.

The achievement gap is not a new phenomenon; it has its roots in history. One has only to recall the Supreme Court decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson to see that separate but equal was legally acceptable only 100 years ago. And it was less than 6 decades years ago that legislation was passed to desegregate education as a result of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Although efforts to secure equity and excellence in the education of African American students have a relatively short history, there really is [Page 953]no excuse for ongoing inequities in the education of CLD students.