The Minority Student Academic Gap

Term Paper # 104236

Education > Administration
Education > Social Issues
Ethnic Studies > North American

Explores minority student under-achievement in the American school system as compared to the achievement of students from the cultural majority.

3,140 words () | 5 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines poverty, family circumstances, cultural issues between families and schools and the lack of resources in many American public schools, which have large minority populations. The author offers an explanation for each item's continued existence and strategizes how educators can combat these inequalities through different programs and policies. The paper also provides insight into how the achievement gap in our schools came about. The author concludes that, until various remedies are implemented, minority students will continue to be inadequately educated.

From the Paper:

"Specifically, she cites the example of certain language arts classrooms where misunderstanding and/or indifference have thwarted the efforts of minority children to grow stronger in the use/application of the English language. For instance, she reports how some teachers, unfamiliar with the language abilities of African American children, are led to believe that these students have no fluency with language. They therefore allow them to remain in the first stages of the writing process, producing first draft after first draft, with no attention to editing or completing final products."

Sample of Sources Used:

Farmer, C. Joy. (2005). The No Child Left Behind Act: will it produce a new breed of school financing litigation? Columbia Journal of Law & Social Problems, 38(4): 443-481.
Landsman, Julie. (2004). Confronting the racism of low expectations. Educational Leadership, 62(3): 28-32.
US Department of Education Website www.ed.gov
I Won't Learn from You: And Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment, Kohl, Herbert R . 1994
Other Peoples Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, Delpit, Lisa. 1998. The University of Harvard Website on Education

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APA Citation:

The Minority Student Academic Gap (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Term-Paper-The-Minority-Student-Academic-Gap/104236