Changing Policies to Close the Achievement Gap

Changing Policies to Close the Achievement Gap PDF

Author: Cynthia D. Prince

Publisher: R&L Education

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 9781578861200

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Closing the academic achievement gap is one of the most complex challenges that school system leaders face. Closing the gap became even more urgent with the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act. For the first time, the federal government has set a deadline for closing the gap, requiring schools to bring all students to proficient levels of academic performance in twelve years. How much of the achievement gap can be attributed to what school districts themselves may be doing? What factors and conditions impede progress toward closing the achievement gap? And what can superintendents do to narrow as much of the gap as they can? These questions led to the development of this guide. In Changing Policies to Close the Achievement Gap Cynthia Prince identifies state and local policies that tend to make the achievement gap worse and describes policy changes that superintendents have made with the support of their boards to help narrow the gap. She also examines policies that aggravate the inequitable distribution of quality teachers and principals, that restrict student access to challenging coursework, and that reduce academic instruction time. Prince argues that closing the gap will require serious efforts to change these policies and other conditions that impede the ability of school districts to bring all students to high levels of performance.

Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap

Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap PDF

Author: Anthony Muhammad

Publisher: Classroom Strategies

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781936763276

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Explores the state of the "academic achievement gap" that exists in U.S. public schools, particularly among poor and minority students, and argues that the mindset that achievement gaps are inevitable are no longer tolerable. Explores ways to close the achievement gap via real-world case studies where principals and educators have adopted new mindsets for education.

Class and Schools

Class and Schools PDF

Author: Richard Rothstein

Publisher: Teachers College Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 9780807745564

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Contemporary public policy assumes that the achievement gap between black and white students could be closed if only schools would do a better job. According to Richard Rothstein, "Closing the gaps between lower-class and middle-class children requires social and economic reform as well as school improvement. Unfortunately, the trend is to shift most of the burden to schools, as if they alone can eradicate poverty and inequality." In this book, Rothstein points the way toward social and economic reforms that would give all children a more equal chance to succeed in school. This book features: a summary of numerous studies linking school achievement to health care quality, nutrition, childrearing styles, housing stability, parental economic security, and more ; aA look at erroneous and misleading data that underlie commonplace claims that some schools "beat the demographic odds and therefore any school can close the achievement gap if only it adopted proper practices." ; and an analysis of how the over-emphasis of standardized tests in federal law obscures the true achievement gap and makes narrowing it more difficult.

Using Data to Close the Achievement Gap

Using Data to Close the Achievement Gap PDF

Author: Ruth S. Johnson

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2002-06-25

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1483362833

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This updated edition of Setting Our Sights outlines the five stages for equity reform while clearly explaining research findings and offering practical tools and examples.

Closing the Achievement Gap

Closing the Achievement Gap PDF

Author: Belinda Williams

Publisher: ASCD

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 0871202735

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Chapters in this book, based on the efforts of the Urban Education National Network Task Force, define the nature of obstacles to the academic performance of urban students and identify, validate, and disseminate a knowledge base of theory and practice to inform decision making about urban schools. The chapters are: (1) "The Nature of the Achievement Gap: The Call for a Vision To Guide Change" (Belinda Williams); (2) "Bridging the Achievement Gap in Urban Schools: Reducing Educational Segregation and Advancing Resilience-Promoting Strategies" (Margaret C. Wang and John A. Kovach); (3) "Cultural Values in Learning and Education" (Patricia Marks Greenfield, Catherine Raeff, and Blanca Quiroz); (4) "Educating Teachers To Close the Achievement Gap: Issues of Pedagogy, Knowledge, and Teacher Preparation" (Kenneth M. Zeichner); (5) "Closing the Achievement Gap: Opportunity To Learn, Standards, and Assessment" (Floraline Ingram Stevens); (6) "Fostering Resiliency in Urban Schools" (Bonnie Benard); (7) "Teacher Engagement and Real Reform in Urban Schools" (Karen Seashore Louis and BetsAnn Smith); and (8) "A Social Vision for Urban Education: Focused, Comprehensive, and Integrated Change" (Belinda Williams). An appendix lists the Regional Educational Laboratories. Most chapters contain references. (Contains one figure.) (SLD)

The Anatomy of Achievement Gaps

The Anatomy of Achievement Gaps PDF

Author: Jaekyung Lee

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 0190217642

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The Anatomy of Achievement Gaps offers a critical analysis of underachievement problems in American education from interdisciplinary, international, and systems perspectives. The book has several aims: to build a new model of achievement gap research and policy; to provide evidence on the state and alterability of achievement gaps; to synthesize separate lines of domestic and international achievement gap research; and to evaluate and inform American P-16 (pre-school through college) education policies. In light of socioeconomic changes and educational paradigm shifts, Jaekyung Lee extends the scope of analysis from a K-12 to a P-16 education pipeline and from domestic racial/social groups to international groups, with focus on the case of South Korea. Through multilevel and longitudinal analyses of U.S. national and international datasets, The Anatomy of Achievement Gaps provides new evidence on the status and trends of achievement gaps, causes of these gaps, and the effects of policy interventions. In an effort to evaluate the nation's strengths and weaknesses across the P-16 education pipeline, it draws upon a wide range of educational data sources and indicators. Featuring cross-cultural perspectives beyond the U.S., Lee reframes achievement gap and educational accountability issues.

Teaching to Close the Achievement Gap for Students of Color

Teaching to Close the Achievement Gap for Students of Color PDF

Author: Theodore S. Ransaw

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-04

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9780367555238

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This volume highlights approaches to closing the achievement gap for students of color across K-12 and post-secondary schooling. It uniquely examines factors outside the classroom to consider how these influence student identity and academic performance. Teaching to Close the Achievement Gap for Students of Color offers wide-ranging chapters that explore non-curricular issues including trauma, family background, restorative justice, refugee experiences, and sport as determinants of student and teacher experiences in the classroom. Through rigorous empirical and theoretical engagement, chapters identify culturally responsive strategies for supporting students as they navigate formal and informal educational opportunities and overcome intersectional barriers to success. In particular, chapters highlight how these approaches can be nurtured through teacher education, effective educational leadership, and engagement across the wider community. This insightful collection will be of interest to researchers, scholars, and post-graduate students in the fields of teacher education, sociology of education, and educational leadership.

Teach! Change! Empower!

Teach! Change! Empower! PDF

Author: Carl A. Grant

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2009-08-25

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 1452273200

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"Teach! Change! Empower! takes the concepts of diversity and change—which are often complex, abstract, confusing, and not salient to many teachers who struggle with the meaning of these concepts in actual classroom practices—and uses them as a framework for something that is very real to teachers: the achievement gap." —Barbara Heuberger Rose, Associate Professor Miami University "Readers are challenged to think about themselves and their role in addressing achievement gaps in a non-blaming manner. Carl Grant does an outstanding job of incorporating the work of a number of researchers." —Maria Whittemore, Minority Achievement Coordinator Frederick County Public Schools, MD Narrow the achievement gap by affirming diversity and engaging in a process of personal change! The achievement gap illustrates restricted life chances and choices for many students, and only by addressing these inequities can we enable all learners to reach their fullest potential. Teach! Change! Empower! provides a powerful, step-by-step process for making the changes necessary to close the achievement gaps in your school! This innovative resource offers a wealth of strategies and action plans to help teachers reflect on their own beliefs about diversity and power and turn those reflections into actions. Educators can put into practice ideas that challenge the status quo, including: Culturally relevant curriculum and environments for students Caring with a social-political consciousness within a culture of learning Cooperative professional development for teachers, administrators, and staff Democratic student involvement Initiate change in your classroom that fosters lifelong learning in yourself, your students, and your school!

Narrowing the Achievement Gap

Narrowing the Achievement Gap PDF

Author: Janet Goodall

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-04-21

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1317373235

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Narrowing the Achievement Gap proposes a radical change to our conception of learning, education and schooling, arguing that parental engagement is the best lever we have for school improvement and closing the achievement gap. Unique in its focus on original research linking underachievement and parental engagement, this book uses a range of international case studies to demonstrate that achievement isn’t only reliant on what happens in school and that what happens out of school is equally important. Each chapter explores how schools can actively engage with parents and communities to reinstate education in the home, and to generate support to combat issues out of their control, including poverty, deprivation, and a lack of social capital. Although schools have an integral part to play in this process, it argues that parents and society must reconsider their own educational responsibility, regardless of background, and offers a solid research base and practical suggestions to help do so. Consisting of an in-depth and contemporary study of this significant issue in educational achievement and written by an expert in the field, this text will appeal to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of education, schooling, sociology of education, school effectiveness and improvement, school policy and school leadership.

Closing the Achievement Gap

Closing the Achievement Gap PDF

Author: Yvonne S. Freeman

Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

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Struggling older English learners pose a real challenge for educators. Some of these students are new arrivals with limited or interrupted schooling. Others have been in and out of ESL and bilingual programs in this country since kindergarten, but have never succeeded academically. How can teachers help older students who lack academic content knowledge and English language proficiency catch up with their classmates? Yvonne and David Freeman provide four research-based keys for closing the achievement gap. three teachers have put this theory into practice to reach their older English learners. These teachers organize curriculum around themes, use predictable classroom routines, and scaffold instruction in a variety of ways. The clear examples from their classes will help other teachers implement effective practices for their older English learners. Closing the Achievement Gap features: the four keys for school success for older English learners clear distinctions among the types of older English learners in our schools with examples of students from each category a thorough discussion of the kinds of language proficiency older English learners need a review of the latest research on effective practices for older English learners detailed descriptions from the classrooms of three teachers, including thematic units they have developed, their daily routines, and the strategies they use to scaffold instruction professional extension activities to help readers apply the information in this book to their own educational settings. For teachers and teacher educators, program directors, resource personnel, and administrators, this book offers both the research and practice schools need to develop effective programs to educate struggling older English learners.