The Achievement Gap
C a r o l i n e K o o n
Figure 1. Children doing hurdles with text. Murphy, Teagan. "Understanding the Educational Achievement Gap." Children Beyond Our Borders, 13 July 2018, www.chbob.org/blog/understanding-the-educational-achievement-gap. Accessed 2 Dec. 2020.
What Is the Achievement Gap?
The achievement gap, as described by a Yale article, is, "the persistent disparity in academic achievement between minority and disadvantaged students and their white counterparts" (Porter, 2020). This gap comes about not because of any differences in ability or IQ, but because of the opportunities and resources afforded to the students.
How Does it Happen?
The achievement gap begins early. Figure 2, to the right, shows how the resources a child has at three years old can have a profound impact on their vocabulary. From here, it only grows. Many parents who are either lower income or belong to a disadvantaged minority can't afford childcare or preschool, which sets their children back an extra step. When these children start school, the quality of education tends to be lower because schools in lower income or disadvantaged areas are grossly underfunded. None of these things are the children or the parents' faults, nor are they things within their control, but they have ramifications that can follow them their whole lives.
Figure 2. Bar graph made of books. "The Achievement Gap Starts at Birth." Heckman, heckmanequation.org/resource/starts-at-birth/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2020.
Who Are the Stakeholders?
Students of colour, lower income, or disadvantage (those who are direct victims of the achievement gap)
White, middle/upper class, or advantaged students (those who are not direct victims of the achievement gap)
Parents (of both groups)
Teachers
The schools themselves
Businesses
Sector that largely employ BIPOC, disadvantaged, or lower-income people
Society
Should the government commit additional resources to underprivileged communities in order to remedy the education achievement gap?
What's the Achievement Gap like in Asheville?
Before you read the following information, I invite you to fill out the form to the left—it's a series of questions to help assess what you know about the achievement gap in Asheville.
Figure 4. Bar graph. "Asheville City Schools General Demographics." State of Black Asheville, stateofblackasheville.com/education/asheville-city-schools/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2020.
Figure 5. Bar graph. "Asheville City Schools General Demographics." State of Black Asheville, stateofblackasheville.com/education/asheville-city-schools/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2020.
The Asheville City Schools district is actually ranked the fifth worst in the nation when it comes to the achievement gap. Despite diversity quotas and more inclusive stances taken in recent years, very little has been done to address this situation and even less has worked to fix it. As a private school, Carolina Day students and teachers might not be as aware of this as ACS students and teachers, but it is still an issue that effects us. Education is what leads us forwards, what creates change, and in this century, a good education is a right. This injustice is unacceptable and we must evaluate our actions and opinions should we want to be able to succeed as a community.