Educators are unsure how to use these data. Perhaps schools are educating low-scoring groups badly. But scores, in part, may also reflect cultural orientations. Because inter-group relations are so sensitive, it is dangerous to discuss cultural or class differences in achievement. Americans are not alone in confronting this.
Japan simply refuses to collect student background data.
To think that differences will disappear if we deny they exist may be typically Japanese but it is un-American. If you don't identify a problem, you can't solve it. With new immigrants to the United States from many nations, failing to acknowledge culture could impede efforts to educate all pupils to their maximum potential. Certainly, some cultural attitudes leading to failure are reactions to discrimination. Prof. Claude Steele of Stanford studies how stereotypes affect motivation.