The achievement gap between white and non-white students: a conceptual  (Page 12/19)

Research in early literacy programs that are subsidized by the Early Reading First legislation have been evaluated by some researchers to determine if low income and minority children were being engaged in effective strategies in vocabulary development for future success. Neuman and Dwyer (2009) evaluated 12 curriculum programs that served over 41,000 children across the nation during the three years of a grant: 2005, 2006, and 2007. The researchers concluded that the research-based curriculum had “little consensus on the breadth or depth of vocabulary teaching in these early years” (Neuman&Dwyer, 2009, p. 387). The lack of curriculum instruction creates uncertainty for teachers who are not cognizant in vocabulary instruction and creates a greater academic gap for children who are academically deficient.

Haskins and Rouse (2005) stated that students who are Black or Hispanic begin kindergarten “far behind” other kindergartners in both reading and math readiness (p. 1). The authors maintained that many of these kindergartners were from low-income families who had little access to educational resources that encouraged reading development. Rumberger and Anguiano (2004) conducted a research study in California on students in kindergarten and concluded that Latino students were at a disadvantage and that “…the disadvantage increases during the first two years of school” (p. 1). The researchers concluded that students’ initial achievement could be linked to their socio-economic status and language background (Rumberger&Anguiano, 2004). Gregory and Rimm-Kaufman (2008) reported that positive family interactions influence young children’s future achievements. A longitudinal study was conducted and determined that positive interactions were related to high school graduation, regardless of ethnicity, socio-economic status or gender.

Lleras and Rangel (2009) commented on the negative effects of grouping young minority students in low reading groups. Hispanic and African American students who were placed in low reading instructional groups during their formative years learned less and had diminished academic achievement in future grade levels than their White counterparts. Foorman and Torgesen (2002) contended that small group instruction of minorities was effective if teachers used strategies that were intensive and comprehensive to the needs of each student. The authors argued that reading instruction could be effective as long as teachers used research based strategies on minority students and students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

The topic of school success among minorities and academic achievement within math has been investigated by many researchers since the implementation of the NCLB Act (Balfanz&Byrnes, 2006; Lee, 2004; Lopez, Gallimore, Garnier,&Reese, 2007; Stevens, Olivarez,&Hamman, 2006). Researchers attempted to determine the variables that create achievement gaps among Hispanic minorities and White students. Azmitia, Cooper, and Brown (2009) focused on the math achievement of Hispanic students and the variables that support success in early adolescents. They determined that parents’ emotional support and academic guidance was positively and statistically significantly related to student success in school and 20% of the variance associated with family income and academic achievement was statistically significant. . Investigating math and reading achievement among students in third grade, Grimm (2008) determined that students who demonstrated early reading skills had greater achievement scores when analyzing math concepts and estimations on academic achievement tests than students who were not exposed to literacy at an early age.