Challenging Assumptions about the Achievement Gap

The national dialogue about the achievement gap can help policy makers and educators find ways to better serve minority students. However, school policy and practice must be founded not on perceptions of group stereotypes, Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Carpenter argue, but on knowledge about each student's needs and strengths. HERE IN Colorado, snow is particularly significant. It affects our economy through winter recreation and tourism, reduces the danger of forest fires, and provides water for most residents. And while to the casual observer the snow all looks the same, Coloradans know differently. We evaluate each snowfall not only by its quantity but also by its quality, that is, how wet it is. Sometimes the moisture content of the snow is low, which sets off a rush of snowboarders and skiers to the mountains but supplies little water to the arid landscape. Other times the moisture content is high, which contributes greatly to the state's water supply. Thus differences within the general category of snow are critical to our state's health and future. Similarly, "within-group" differences are important to recognize when we look at student achievement, particularly as it relates to race or ethnicity. Since the Brown v. Board of Education decision more than 50 years ago, much attention has been paid to significant "between-group" differences. This focus resulted in policies and practices designed to reduce such disparities. Yet, until quite recently, educational researchers, policy makers, and practitioners have paid far less attention to within-group differences that are probably as important as those between groups and could, in fact, help us figure out how to narrow the differences between groups. Take, for example, Latinos, who now constitute the largest minority group in the U.S. and who are certainly well represented in the public schools.1 As a group, Latino students share many similar characteristics that set them apart from other groups. On average, Latino students tend to be poorer, attend more segregated schools, and live in urban areas. Latino students also account for the largest number of students served in programs of English-language acquisition. While these characteristics typify the group of students we call Latinos, it would be a mistake to assume that all Latino students have similar needs or require the same type of education.2 Yet current policies and educational practices directed toward Latino students are built on such assumptions and have had the unintended consequence of hurting the students' futures, educational and otherwise. Among these overgeneralized policies and practices are presuming that all students with Spanish surnames need English-language-acquisition classes; creating a policy of de facto segregation by assigning Latino students only to schools with English as a Second Language (ESL) programs; and presuming Latino students are potential dropouts rather than college-bound students. When policy makers and education professionals remain oblivious to these false assumptions, misinterpretations occur, and stereotypical thinking prevails. Indeed, our investigation of the achievement gap underscores the relative insignificance of race and ethnicity, compared to other factors that most affect student learning. Furthermore, we have found that the "achievement gap" between Latino and white students may be a "phantom gap" derived from the practice of lumping all nonwhite students into a single comparison group. In short, the importance of within-group differences eclipses the importance of between-group differences. Achievement Gap Research Research on the academic achievement gap between majority and minority students is sometimes misapplied by policy makers and practitioners, and this in turn can lead to ineffective and even counterproductive programs for students.3 Media coverage further exacerbates this misunderstanding about the lagging academic performance of minority groups, for it oversimplifies complex data in order to fit the conventions of news reporting and to manufacture catchy headlines. …