Introduction

Abstract

One of the most troubling problems facing education in schools today is the achievement gap—the observed disparity in a number of educational measures in academic performance between different groups of students, especially groups defined by race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. In the USA, achievement gap is typically used to describe the disparity in test scores between minorities, usually between Blacks and Hispanics and their White and Asian peers. Similar gaps exist more broadly between high-poverty students and their more wealthy counterparts. At each grade level, racial disparities in an array of achievement variables demonstrate a wide gap in performance, especially in mathematics and science, particularly among disadvantaged minorities from urban and rural communities. These disparities start as early as kindergarten, persist across grades, and in most cases widen over time.

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