Viewpoints Vol. 9: Bridging the Great Divide: Broadening Perspectives on Closing the Achievement Gaps

Viewpoints Vol. 9

Organizations at the higher-education, district, and school levels are implementing programs to close achievement gaps in schools. (Refer to the sidebars on the Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education, the Minority Student Achievement Network, and Sageland Elementary School.)

In addition, some programs are making great strides in closing the achievement gaps. The following are highlighted:

Montgomery County, Maryland, School District. School officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, implemented a program to improve reading skills. They reduced class sizes, provided professional development for principals and teachers, and added a reading block to the daily schedule. In a matter of months, the district had reduced the gap between African-American and white reading levels by 7 percent (Johnston & Viadero, 2000).

Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, Washington. Through team teaching, mentoring groups, integrated studies, schools within schools, and teacher groups to promote collaborative professional development, Nathan Hale High School has been able to help its minority students outperform students of the same race in the broader Seattle school district, notes Boss (2002). On the 2001 state assessments, 10 percent more African-American students met math standards, 22 percent more met reading standards, and 7 percent more met writing standards. Among Hispanic students, 36 percent more met math standards, 31 percent more met reading standards, and 27 percent more met writing standards. Among Native American students, 18 percent more met math standards, 34 percent more met reading standards, and 24 percent more met writing standards. In addition, between 1995 and 2001, student attendance was up, and disciplinary and dropout rates were down (Boss, 2002).

Pablo Elementary School, Pablo, Montana. Native American students on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Pablo, Montana, also are closing achievement gaps. A school reform model that emphasizes cooperative learning strategies, a focus on reading, and several inspirational and tireless leaders have helped the school increase its percentage of fourth graders who met state standards by 30 percent between 1999 and 2001 (Sherman, 2002). Moreover, attendance is up and discipline referrals are down. The school, along with the rest of the Ronan-Pablo Public School District, faced the tensions between the white and Indian populations, and within the Indian population, to create a shared vision for the education of its children.

Schools in Texas. Researchers who studied the most successful schools for educating Hispanics and African Americans in Texas say that the most important factor these schools had in common was that they implemented their curricular programs suitably and consistently. Indeed, the researchers found that this implementation was more important than the programs themselves (Johnston & Viadero, 2000).
A RAND study (Grissmer, Flanagan, Kawata, & Williamson, 2000) suggests that a link can be found between students in Texas who showed large gains in math scores in the 1990s and a series of reforms that aligned standards, assessments, and accountability. Further, when the study controlled for family characteristics, it found that lower pupil-teacher ratios, a larger percentage of children in public prekindergarten, and teachers who reported having the resources necessary to teach contributed to higher Texas scores.
DoDEA Schools. In schools around the world operated by the U.S. Department of Defense Education Agency, achievement gaps are narrower. Low-income and highly mobile minority students achieve at higher rates than students with similar demographics in public schools in the United States, and their scores are much closer to their white classmates than in schools in the United States (Johnston & Viadero, 2000).