Abstract
This paper argues that the Brown vs. Board of Education, a Supreme Court decision mandating the integration of public schools with the purpose of promoting equality in education, and ultimately in society, has not yet achieved this ideal. The first part of this paper details how the achievement gap between different races can be seen in all levels of education, from primary to college levels. This section also looks at how this gap can be discerned in various areas from academic subjects like mathematics to extra curricular activities like SAT preparations. The next part of the paper then looks at the reasons why this achievement gap persists. Finally, the paper looks at various programs that are geared towards narrowing this gap. Though their successes remain limited, this paper argues that programs such as these are the only long-term solution to a problem as ingrained as the achievement gap in education.

From the Paper
"The scholastic achievement gap starts as early as pre-school. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor (cited in Jacobson 2001) shows that by kindergarten and first grade, children of African American, American Indian and Latino heritage exhibit lower levels of school awareness compared to white and Asian children of the same age. These tests measure factors such as the mastery of oral language, pre-mathematics and pre-reading skills. In addition, African American, American Indian and Latino children also who lower levels of general knowledge."

Tags:elementary, grades, vocabulary, knowledge, reading, skills

Abstract
In this article, the writer offers an evaluation of student achievement in academia. In particular the researcher explores whether boys are performing at a lower level of achievement than girls in the realm of academia. For purposes of this study the author hypothesizes that 7th grade boys will achieve at least 1-grade level below 7th grade girls resulting from maturation differences. This study aims to help identify what, if any, gap exists in the achievement between girls and boys at the elementary level, assuming that early intervention is most likely to yield positive results when addressing education gaps among children.

From the Paper
"Broude suggests that the situation of boys in the world of academia may best be described as "desperate" with alarming news suggesting that boys are consistently plagued with "depression, isolation, despair and fragile self esteem" all of which may contribute to poor performance in school compared with girls who are more likely to thrive. Broude also agrees that boys are more likely than girls to be diagnosed with learning disabilities including attention-deficit disorder which may contribute to higher rates of drop outs among boys and inability to achieve at the same level of their female peers. Many have referred to these recent trends as the "boy problem" suggesting that adolescent boys are particularly at risk for academic struggles in the current educational system."

Tags:education, boys, girls, performance

Abstract
This paper seeks to better understand the correlation between kindergarten readiness and kindergarten achievement in the United States today through a comprehensive and critical review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning kindergarten readiness and its relationship to achievement in kindergarten in general. The paper also proposes a study to identify valid measures that can be used to assess children's readiness levels for entry into kindergarten in order to provide them with any specialized services they may require to achieve academic success. This paper contains a table.

Outline:
Introduction
Problem Statement
Nature of the Study
Purpose of the Study
Theoretical Framework
Operational Definitions
Scope and Delimitations
Assumptions and Limitations
Significance of the Study

From the Paper
"In spite of the gains that the majority of poor children make during their enrollment in kindergarten, their more affluent counterparts are progressing academically and behaviorally as well. This suggests that children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families will be required to constantly attempt to overcome any preexisting gap in academic proficiency. Moreover, as Feldman (2003) emphasizes, "Unlike their more advantaged peers, poor children fall back academically during the summer because they usually do not have access to the academically enriching vacation experiences that middle-class children take for granted--museum visits, organized sports, camping, etc." (p. 21). This educator recommends that the provision of kindergarten should be expanded to include summer months and be universally accessible by lower socioeconomic families. "

Tags:constructivist, theory, academic, proficiency, children

Abstract
This paper first illustrates the argument that cultures of achievement are essential to democratic society. Then, methodologies for introducing such cultures to a community are proposed and examples of a plausible organization that seeks to achieve this goal in the form of an intra-mural squash club are given.

From the Paper
"In a book called Geography of Nowhere - The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape, James Howard Kunstler makes a dismal observation about the landscape of America. Whereas America was once a land of Our-Town-esque Main Streets and cogent communities, it has fallen into an amorphous array of highways, fast food restaurants, parking lots and sprawling pre-fab housing developments. He makes the claim that Eighty percent of everything ever built in America has been built in the last fifty years, and most of it is depressing, brutal, ugly, unhealthy, and spiritually degrading. The diffusion of American society to the corners of the carbon-copy suburbs and exurbs is lamentable, however, one is forced to ask why people fled the urban neighborhoods that had formed the nuclei of social interaction.

Robert Putnam, Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, blames the alienation of the individual from society on the decline of group-oriented social activities. Not only does he see these as key to building better communities, he claims that they are essential to the American Republic. His book, Bowling Alone, has been considered the most important work on society in America in the 1990's. In an interview about his book, Putnam described why he considered a competitive sport such as bowling to be such a crucial element in society. Writing in 1994, Putnam notes that although bowling alone, which is non-competitive, is up by 10% since 1980, the existence of competitive bowling leagues was down by 40%."

Tags:Bowling, Putnam, Kunstler

Abstract
This paper discusses the limited educational research done to-date that is relevant to the role high school athletic programs plays in motivating Latino students to achieve academically, if any. The paper then goes on to confirm, deny or ascertain that there is a lack of a sufficient body of sound statistical evidence to support the conventional wisdom in the educational field that three is little if any correlation between playing sports and getting good grades in general, and in relation to particular ethnic groups.

Tags:latino, athletics, academics

Abstract
This paper discusses the WRAT3, which has been used for many years as a screening device to help pinpoint students who may need extra instruction or academic support. The paper describes the make up of the WRAT3 test, outlining its three academic subtests - reading, spelling, and arithmetic. The writer claims the importance of this specific test being part of a battery of tests in order to achieve the most accurate reading.

From the Paper
"This test was normed using students age 5 to 19 in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. The test can be administered to anyone aged 5 to 75 (Overton, 2000), making it a screening tool with wide application. It has been noted in the marketing information for this test that wider claims are made for its use. Both the publisher and some distributors have made claims suggesting that the WRAT3 may represent complete testing. The Stoelting Company, one marketer for the test, says
"Useful in determining a person's level of performance in relation to age peers, WRAT3 can be used to determine appropriate instructional levels, and in diagnosing learning disabilities in reading, spelling, and arithmetic." (Wllkinson, 2000). This seems an exaggerated claim unless the tester realizes that the WRAT3 should be one part of a test battery when diagnosing significant learning problems. As noted later in the paper, the reading subtest is markedly limited, and the test does not measure written expression at all, even though that is one area where a student can be found to be learning disabled."

Tags:intelligence, reading, spelling, arithmetic, jastak, screening, cognitive, performance, score

Abstract
This paper looks at the factors that may cause African-American students to receive lower test scores or grades than white students. Factors include genetics, stigmatization, peer influence, teachers' expectations, test bias, and television. The author includes a possible hypothesis for further study.

From the Paper
"Ferguson (2001) further analyzed a possible correlation between the number of hours spent in front of the television and student performance, a theory distinct from other hypotheses. He found that black students watched more television than whites, and the black/white ratio for the number of hours watched on school nights is almost 2-to-1 for females (Ferguson, 2001). Collectively, black students did report lower homework completion rates than white students who report the same amount of time doing homework. However, when a test was conducted to determine whether watching television might cause the lower homework completion rate, the results showed that the estimated effect of television watching was so small as to be completely inconsequential."

Tags:academic, bias, genetics, inequality, intelligence, standardized, stereotypes, stigmatization, test

Abstract
The paper addresses school climate and achievement in relation to an inductive small sample study conducted in the Keele-Eglinton area. The paper relates that students conveyed concerns towards what would improve their achievement, but these did not match established bodies of research on school climate, ecological views, and what promotes school achievement or completion. The paper includes a reflective section and calls for student-focused and reductive as oppposed to theory-based further studies.

From the Paper
"This study refers to 20 surveyed high school students of the Keele & Eglinton area of Toronto, a neighbourhood associated with varied school results, middle class households found as often as youth gang activity and students living in low-income public housing environments. As a research project it has been intended to gather student impressions of their school, its climate, and ideas towards improving achievement outcomes. It is an inductive enterprise that may offer clues to improving school..."

Tags:sch climate, achievement, induction

Abstract
This paper looks at different theories of education to see which best explains the achievement gap. The paper decides that cultural discontinuity is the main theory explaining the achievement gap and explains why the other theories are not as good.

From the Paper
"The theory which best explains the achievement gap in education is cultural discontinuity. Cultural discontinuity argues that we cannot assign value judgements or measure different modes of communication against an Anglo middle class norm, because this is not representative of the student population as a whole anymore. We need to look at different modes of communication as culturally relative. There are differences in communication styles between students of color and the Anglo culture which are culturally based and just, presenting the Anglo culture in the schools leads to conflicts..."

Tags:education, achievement gap

Abstract
The writer of this paper explores the conflicting research which argues that high self-esteem in children does not necessary lead to higher achievements. This paper details the signs of low self-esteem in young children as well as tips and suggestions for improving a child's self-esteem. Also discussed in this paper is the correlation between children with low self-esteem problems and the rising incidents of school violence and the important role both parents and teachers must play in instilling a high level of self-confidence in young children from the start.

From the Paper
"Increasing your children's self-esteem is very important. We can see that now more than ever with all the killings in schools. Evidently these children are angry with someone or something. Listening to your children and teaching them how to control their anger is a very important technique that all parents need to learn before our children end up becoming extinct. When self-esteem is promotion in relation to achievement please make sure it fits that achievement."

Tags:child, development, self, esteem, confidence, goals, education, achievement, research