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Achievement Gap In the United States

The education system is nowhere near perfect; the achievement gap is one of those flaws.
The achievement gap in the United States is based on many factors. When most people think of
an achievement gap, they think of Caucasians and African Americans, but thats not always the
case. These problems occur with children whose parents did not attend college or finish high
school. The children of lower class citizens are further back in their studies, have a harder
understanding of new material and are at a disadvantage. This problem is just going to get worse
with time. A solution to this problem could be to offer more programs with daycares and preschools. By doing this, the preparation for school will be more equal for everyone and creates
more of an equal opportunity Also, providing free tutoring would show great results. This would
accommodate the specific student. Another solution that could be long term is providing some
education to the parents of the students. Instead of changing just small things with the schools,
the schools could go to more of a charter school set up. The learning forum is different and will
help the students. This problem cannot be solved in a short time because it is such a drastic
achievement gap.
One of the main problems found in todays education system is the achievement gap
between low income families and children of college graduates. When children of low income
families or families of non-college graduates enter kindergarten they are already one year behind
the other children. Rarely anyone knows about this astonishing drawback. They have a harder
understanding of reading and math. These problems dont just arise from low income families
but it also occurs from not properly educating them in the early years. Proper education depends

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on several things and if just one is missing it can hold back their education. For instance if the
child is not getting read to, that could result in a harder understanding of what certain things are
and reading in general. When the brain is not being stimulated with new material they will not be
at the level that others are when they enter school. Another problem with the achievement gap is
the history behind it. Until a couple decades ago African Americans didnt have the same
educational opportunities as whites. Socioeconomic groups and minority groups are in the same
situation. They are all still making up for the time lost with their education. Even though the gap
has closed a lot since then, there is still a lot of work to be done. This problem will never go
away but there are many way that we can decrease the achievement gap.
Improving the education of the child before they enter school will substantially help them
when they enter kindergarten. Research has shown that going to high-quality preschool programs
can decrease the gap and improve the students performance. Just going to these programs isnt
going to solve the whole problem. Many think that entering their child in a high quality program
will be costly and therefor unattainable. Taking these measures before it becomes in the long run
saves money and is very much less costly. A downside to this solution would be the time that it
takes up. A downfall in the short-run would be money. If the parents take into account the long
run possibilities then the achievement gap could shrink and they would be investing in the future
of the kids. A way to fix this problem is that you can apply for a discounted price for the lower
income families. These programs are not assimilated to fit low-income families and make it
difficult to for them to bridge the gap. If a family doesnt have their child attend pre-school they
usually attend daycare. At daycares they could have more reading times and have book they
bring home and read that night. They could do other things to help with the other areas of
development so they are closing the gap even a little bit. Any progress with these programs is

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still helping close the gap even if it is just a little bit. They need to ensure that the child is getting
an education at home as well as at schools. (Nguyen) When trying to fix this, looking outside of
school for a solution is always a possibility. Free at home tutoring gives benefits to the students
and families. The students benefit for the obvious reason of expanding their knowledge and
improving what they already know. Before a subject becomes an issue in school you would want
to address them. When people think of tutoring they think teenagers struggling in school but this
solution would come before the struggle. This would be free and further educate the child outside
of school. This would also be specially formulated for the specific child and address the problem
areas. Even though there are many upsides to this there are also downsides. People willing to
tutor for free will be limited. Not many people will want to provide free tutoring with nothing for
them. A way for both parties to benefit is if at high schools there is a class specified for tutoring
or provides extra credit. At Tacoma School District in Washington state, the school teamed up
with Sylvan Learning Center. They are providing tutoring to students who qualify for free
or reduced lunch programs. (Shuck). This idea was brought on by the No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001, implemented by George W. Bush (No Child Left Behind). The No Child Left
Behind Act states Title 1, the law's most important provision, provides guidelines for the
education of "educationally disadvantaged" students. (No Child Left Behind.). This is just
one step in improving the educational achievement gap. Families dont always have to rely on
other people to further their childs education. (Shuck) (No Child Left Behind. )
Helping the child can come in an indirect but blatantly obvious way. Giving an education
to the parents about a variety of things could help the child. Providing classes through the school
with the teacher at night or on weekends would further the education in the parents. When
providing them with this knowledge, they will be more involved and will better prepare their

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children for learning in a school environment. Not only this, but they would also be
knowledgeable in what the child needs to know at certain ages. This would help in making sure
that the child is learning what they need to know. In order to help the parents, the parents need to
know there is a problem. Many parents dont know that their children are at risk to fall behind
and fall on the bad side of the achievement gap. In a school in Jackson County, Wisconsin the
parents are making an active effort to bridge the gap. I think it was good for them to hear from
the parents and what they feel about it because the state superintendent had another taskforce and
those were educators from around the state with diverse backgrounds, and so this was providing
our perspective as parents and how we saw it, said Lowe. (Colson). Now that the parents are
an active part of the effort hopefully more parents will have more awareness and take action.
Other parents will be more perceptive to other parents telling them about these achievement gap
problems. They now realize there is a serious problem and they all need to take action in
defeating these barriers that their children are stuck behind. We all have a role to play in
closing achievement gaps. (Colson). The education at home might not be the problem and
therefore well have the look at the education system as a whole. (Colson)
If no matter what we do doesnt close the achievement gaps to the fullest then maybe we
need to try something different. Charter schools have a different forum and show completely
different results. The gains with test score were found to be more drastic then those of public
schools. "The findings confirm those of national and state-level studies showing strong gains in
achievement among public charter schools" (Charter School Closing). This doesnt say that
public schools arent making progress but charter schools are making that progress more
efficiently. The charter school work hard to make sure that they remain focus on quality and
accountability so that more children have the opportunity to achieve (Charter School Closing..).

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The partnership between parents and staff is closer and therefore the child benefits the most. Not
every school is a charter school; in fact, many people dont even know what a charter school is.
If we incorporate some of a charter school curriculum and take some pointers public school will
be more like charter schools. Not every school will do this so then the playing field is uneven.
It also would be more expensive to maintain this over time. These cons would be something to
consider if it helped in the long run. (Charter School Closing.)
Even though there are many solutions to the broadening achievement gap, there should be
as much effort used as we can to solve this problem. The solution to this problem is bigger than
just choosing one of my four options. The best solution to this problem is a combination of all of
them. There should be higher quality preschool programs overall and not just specific ones.
There would also be free tutoring and classes for the parents to take to help them with their
children. Also there would be improved school forum to resemble more of a charter school
forum. All of these would substantially improve the achievement gap. All of these should be used
because we should take all the measures to help the childrens education. Children are the future
and America needs to invest in the future of their country.

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Works Cited
"Charter Schools Closing Achievement Gap in Fourth Grade Reading, Math; Big Gains for
African-American, Low Income, and Latino Student Populations." US Newswire 19 Oct.
2005. Student Resources in Context. Web. 24 Sept 2015.
Colson, Cassandra. "Parents Assist State on Student Achievement : Jackson County
Chronicle." La Crosse Tribune. 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
Nguyen, Madison. "Madison Nguyen: Preschool Needed to Close Achievement Gap." San Jose
Mercury News. 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
"No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Ed. Jeffrey Wilson.
2nd Ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 633-638. Student Resources in Context. Web. 24
Sept. 2015.
Shuck, Derek. Sylvan and Tacoma School District Team up for Free Tutoring. Tacoma Weekly.
22 Oct. 2015. Wed. 23 Oct. 2015.