Summary

The Widening Income Achievement Gap is a scholarly journal article written by Sean F.
Reardon. This article was published in May 2013, and discusses the academic achievement gap,
within the United States, associated with income. Reardon conducted a comprehensive study on
the relationship between academic achievement and family income in the United States over the
past 50 years. He was brought to three findings, which are as follows: The income achievement
gap has grown significantly in the last three decades (in relation to the measurement of
performance on standardized test scores), income gaps in other measures of education success
has grown as well, and the income achievement gap is already large when children enter
kindergarten and does not grow significantly as they progress through school. Reardon then goes
on to note a five key trends that aid in understanding the reason for the growing income
achievement gap. Firstly, income inequality has risen dramatically in the last 30-40 years, which
makes the gap in income between high-income and low-income families much greater. Secondly,
upward social mobility has become far more difficult and far less certain than it was 50 years
ago. Thirdly, the economy has become increasingly divided into low-skill, low-wage sector and
high-skill, high-wage information sector. Fourthly, popular notions of what constitutes education
success have changed. Lastly, American families have changed in several important ways in the
last four decades. Reardon lastly suggests three specific areas, in which he believes schools can
play a role in an effort to reduce the gap. He believes that the economic gap is a symptom of
trends throughout the years that if not reduced will lead to real and important consequences.

Rhetorical Analysis
Sean Reardon wrote the article The Widening Income Achievement Gap, with the intention of
informing his readers of the issue of academic achievement as it relates to income, and the
growing gap that exists between those with high-income and low-income. His intended audience
would be people involved within the educational system and academics, as well as anyone
interested in learning more about inequalities in the system and how to potentially reduce them.
Reardon wants his readers to understand that there is an issue of inequality in the educational
system when it comes to household income, and he uses his study as a basis to verify and explain
to readers how and why this gap exists. Not only is his intention to inform readers of the issue,
but he is also aiming to arouse in them the seriousness of this issue and the negative effects it
could have on society as a whole if the effort is not put forth to reduce this achievement gap.
Throughout the article, Reardon isolates key quotes from within his article and places them
largely on the page to catch the readers attention in a way that forces them to actually pay
attention to what he is trying to convey. The quotes also force readers to see the inequality and to
recognize that this is a serious issue that cannot be ignored or disregarded. He also uses a fair
amount of charts and other visuals, which helps to break up the text while still providing readers
with useful information in a manner that is more appealing and stimulating.

References
Reardon, S. F. (2013). The Widening Income Achievement Gap. Educational Leadership, 70(8),
10-16.