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Tyler Carter
Mrs Kerwin
3 English H
February 21, 2014
The Achievement Gap: Have We Made Progress
Imagine this. There is a 15-year-old African American boy, sitting in his sophomore
English class that is taught by a white teacher. He is one of eight in a class of twenty-five. He is
known as one of the most outgoing, friendly boys in his grade although most of his friends know
that his cousin was just shot last night in a drive by shooting. He lives in a small Englewood two
flat with his mother, her abusive boyfriend, and four other siblings that he must watch after.
None of his teaches are aware of his problems at home, but they also do not care to ask what
could possibly cause a D+, consciously knowing that his white peers will get at least a B no
matter what. Would you be worried about why Jay Gatsby is pursuing Daisy Buchannan? This
story unfortunately is the story of many young black teens in America today. It is hard to believe
that the achievement gap between white and black students is so wide in a country that has an
African American President. To live in a country that claims it believes in racial equality
although statistics show that when it comes to academics, black students are still inferior to white
students. School is supposed to be a place where students are encouraged by their teachers that
education is a fantastic thing, but it seems they are contributing to the problem.
One might be curious to know what the achievement gap is. The achievement gap is the
persistent disparity in academic statistics between a group of students based on either their
socioeconomic class or race/ ethnicity. There are many possible causes for why the achievement
gap is as wide as it is. Some may include low self- esteem, low expectations, and a lack of

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minority role models (Miller 25). Some minority students come from an environment where
they are not encouraged to get an education because they are not as good as their white peers.
Therefore, when walking into a classroom with the preconceived notion that they will not be able
to achieve any goals or aspirations they might have in life because of the color of their skin.
According to the Institute of Education Sciences, eighty- three percent of teachers in public
schools are white, whereas in twenty-four percent of public schools, more than three quarters of
the schools population is minority students. Studies show that minority students would prefer to
be taught by a teacher that looks like them. The students feel uncomfortable around a white
teacher and also like their teacher would not understand their trials and tribulations. These
feelings often lead to a student dismissing the subject that a white teacher is teaching and not
feeling confident enough to ask a teacher questions about their confusion. White teachers often
have a thought that a minority student is not going to be motivated enough to succeed in their
class in their subconscious. These low expectations contribute to the low self-esteem that
students already have when adjusting to a teacher that does not look like them.
Another cause of this problem is the differences between white and black families. For
example, a black parent does not prioritize their childrens education as much as a white parent.
Most black families have more than one child within the family that is being raised by a single
mother. In other words, these mothers have multiple mouths to feed so they consequently would
have to work more than one job to take care of their family so they do not have the time or
energy to put into their childs education. While the mother is at work, the eldest child would
almost always have to watch over the younger siblings, meaning they will not have been in an
environment to study properly. A white mother on the other hand, has more of a support system.
They could have a complete family with a husband and two kids. Even if they do not have the

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time to cater to their childs every need, they can hire someone who does. Dr. Robert Ferguson is
a Harvard professor that travels the country visiting racially mixed public high schools. He found
that the average grade of a black student was a C-plus but the average grade of a white student is
a B- minus in racially mixed suburbs (Winerip). A lot of white students at private schools have a
tutor for every subject, even if they are passing the class. They also have the financial ability to
attend a standardized testing preparation class that ranges from $150 to $600 (kaptest.com).
Therefore, minority students do not have the same resources as many white students do. Oprah
Winfrey did an experiment in the Chicagoland area called Turnaround. She would take three or
four students from an inner city school and suburban school then arrange a swap to expose the
students to their polar environment. A local school in Naperville, IL has one of the best athletic
facilities, computer labs and teachers in the state of Illinois. On the other hand, Harper High
School, a Chicago Public School, has a worn down gym and an outdated computer lab. Although
the gap seems to stay consistent, the Federal Government and public schools districts have
attempted to close this gap.
The United States definitely made an attempt to improve the scores of blacks and Latinos
when President George W Bush signed the No Child Left Behind act in action in January 2002
(edweek.org). It expanded the federal governments role in public education by attempting to
assist disadvantaged students. There were a number of significant changes made to the education
landscape. One of these changes was the governments expectation of the states school systems.
They were required to bring all students up to proficient level on stat tests by the 2013- 2014
school year (edwee.org). The No Child Left Behind Act was also intended to target the poorer
school districts. Each School had to meet its states adequate yearly progress with targets that
were specified in the NCLB law. Teachers also had to be highly qualified: by the end of the

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2005- 06 school year, meaning the teacher could provide certification and demonstrate their
knowledge in the subject they teach. US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, found that several
states saw failure rates over fifty percent in 2011 despite all of the hope that the law held. Despite
the progress intended as a result of this law, not much progress was made. Between 2004 and
2009, minority students average test scores improved, but so did the white students, meaning the
gap is still the same (Dillon).
Since the US government cannot even come up with an effective solution for this
problem, I propose one. This solution will reduce the pressure that minority students feel when
they are in an all-white environment as well as increase their ACT/ SAT scores and GPAs. I
propose that school districts put new academic resource centers throughout each school. If an
elementary school there should be at least two computer labs, if a high school there should be at
least four. Each classroom should have a smart board for more interactive learning and students
should be provided with their school supplies each year. Although their individuality might be
lost if this solution is successful, that will not matter because they will have a brighter future. I
propose that each public school system enforce a policy that states that all students, male or
female, 6 or 16, wear the same uniform, given by the school district that would completely cover
their face and their skin color. Each student will receive two uniforms per school year from the
time they first enter a classroom until they graduate high school. Teachers will also have to wear
the same uniforms, but in a different color so there is no confusion when trying to distinguish the
teachers from the students easily. Along with the uniforms, students will not use their
government name. Instead, they will use an identification number that will stay with them for the
rest of their elementary and secondary careers. They will receive this number on registration day
with their uniforms. Registration day would be the most important day of the year for parents

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and their children because they would change from being Jerome Watson to being #44830,
they would be getting a whole new identity! The consequences for not wearing the uniform
would be a day- long solitary detention for the first offense, a suspension for the second offense,
and a possible expulsion for the third and final offense. Finally, on the most important day of
school, graduation day, all the students would come to graduation in their regular clothes,
revealing their faces and names to the student body and to the teachers. Enforcing a uniform
nationwide would promote academic success for all students, a sense of community between all
races and will contract the gap between those of different socioeconomic status.
An overabundance of benefits will develop if this policy is enforced to improve our
schools and nation. The uniforms would allow students to feel as if they are all equal because
race would be completely eliminated. Furthermore, a teacher would not have any expectations
of the students walking into her classroom to see her students faces on the first day of school.
The discomfort that minority students feel with their teacher if she does not have the same skin
color as them would also be eliminated because their teachers face and skin is covered. The
uniforms would establish a sense of community between the students because they all have at
least one thing in common, their uniform. The identification number would eliminate low
expectations that teachers would have because one could assume a persons ethnicity if they
know their name. Teen gang violence would also be reduced because all the teens would be
covered by these uniforms for gang members would not know whom their target is. Racial hate
crimes would be reduced as well because ones race could not be seen. There are endless benefits
for having this new identification policy in place in schools, which would make on would how I
would benefit from them. Families that come from poverty would be the people that benefit the
most because they would not have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of school clothes for a

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number of children. Parents would not have to worry about buying $100 worth of schools
supplies either because those are provided as well.
The next question that would be posed is how I would benefit from this new policy in the
United States education system. The answer is I would not benefit at all. This legislation would
take at least two to three years to be completed and in effect. By the time this happens, I will
have graduated high school already. This policy is intended to benefit elementary students and
high school students. Also, my high school already has the resources that were going to be
reformed in this policy. Although there is a plethora of benefits that would result with the passing
of this legislation, there are also some detriments.
This new policy sounds like it run as smoothly as possible, but there will be some
setbacks. First of all, the government is going to have to fund these new uniforms, school
supplies and resource centers. This means that taxes will have to increase which also means the
people who are already in poverty will have to pay higher taxes than they could possibly afford.
The uniforms would cause all students to lose their individuality, which could make their selfesteem worse than it already is. There will be a handful of students who will not comply with the
new uniforms, meaning there will be a lot of disciplinary action that could lead to these students
being at home a lot. If these students are at home a lot, that means they will be tempted to
participate in illegal acts or be led to not bother coming back to school.
The achievement gap in America could be one of the main reasons the country will fall
behind. Minority students are not being given the tools and resources that they need to succeed in
the real world. They walk into a classroom where they know they are expected to fail which
leads to their low self-esteem and eventually disconnect with their educators. The government
has attempted to fix this problem by enforcing laws that will improve the overall test scores of

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minority students, but it has failed. The proper solution would be to enforce a law that says that
all students would have to wear the same uniform with new identification numbers instead of
names that would eliminate all possibilities of academic prejudice because a students race could
not be assumed with these new methods. Once this policy is put into effect, students and parents
would benefit because of the financial benefits. Educators need to stop fearing talking about race
because the achievement gap is a racial issue so it should be addressed as such.

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Works Cited
Dillon, Sam. "'No Child' Law Is Not Closing a Racial Gap." New York Times 29 Apr. 2009: n.
pag. Print.
Institute of Education Sciences. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
<https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28>.
Miller, Karen, ed. The Achievement Gap. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print
"No Child Left Behind." Education Week. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.edweek.org/info/about/epestafflist_division.html>.
Singleton, Glenn E., and Curtis Linton. Courageous Conversations About Race. Thousand Oaks,
California: Corwin, n.d. Print.
Winerip, Michael. "Closing the Achievement Gap without Widening a Racial One." New York
Times 13 Feb. 2011: n. pag. Print.