The achievement gap between white and non-white students: a conceptual  (Page 16/19)

Bali and Alvarez (2004) reported academic achievement gaps among 22 elementary schools among students who were Hispanic, Black, and White, within a California school district. Analyzing grades 1 through 4 in math and reading, the researchers concluded that achievement gaps develop for Black students and White students, as well as Hispanic students and White students. Bali and Alvarez (2004) determined the achievement gap between Hispanic students and White students developed in later grades, compared to the achievement gap between Black students and White students which developed in the early grades.

Researchers who investigated academic achievement and summer learning concluded that students lose large amounts of learning in the summer and fall behind in the fall semester (Allington&McGill-Franzen, 2003; Entswisle&Alexander, 1992). Kim (2004) evaluated how reading four to five books during the summer increased fall reading achievement scores among ethnic groups. Students were given a criterion-referenced test and a summer survey to complete to establish pre-skill differences before and after summer reading. Kim reported that Latino students had the most difficulty in accessing books to read during the summer. A greater percentage of White students (45%) and Asian students (34%) wrote about the books they read compared to Latino students (16%) and Black students (18%). The number of books read during the summer was positively correlated with fall reading achievement. Overall, Asian students read more books than White students and White students read more than Black students and Latino students combined.

Rabiner, Murray, Schmid, and Malone (2004) investigated academic achievement and the relationship between attention problems and ethnicity. Thirty-eight teachers rated 621 students using a 5-scale Likert survey for academic achievement and the Conner’s Teacher rating scale (CTRS-R:L) to determine whether ethnicity was related with behavioral issues. Rabiner et al. (2004) determined White students had statistically significantly higher achievement than students who were Black when ethnicity was examined in relation to academic achievement and behavior. Black students had higher achievement ratings than did Hispanic students. In relation to academic achievement and problems with attention in class, Black students had statistically significant outcomes for inattentive behavior in the classroom, which is associated with academic achievement.

Konstantopolous and Hedges (2005) reviewed differences in achievement between Hispanic and White students by analyzing six national surveys of students in grades 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12. Regarding Hispanic and White students, the differences in academic achievement for the six national surveys ranged from 0.91 SD to 0.53 SD in reading and 0.77 SD to 0.56 SD for mathematics. White students outperformed Hispanic students in both subject areas. From 1965 to 1992, ethnic differences in achievement decreased in both reading and math scores. Konstantopolous and Hedges (2005) also concluded that socioeconomic status affected the achievement gap between ethnicities, albeit a small effect size. The achievement gap was greatest for Puerto Rican and Mexican students within ethnic groups and smallest for Cuban students.