Few people, if any, refute that there are achievement gaps in academic performance among American students. There are students who succeed, and there are students who fall into a void of low test scores, poor academic performance, and disinterest in learning. The reality of the gaps isn’t really up for debate.
The factors that have cracked and widened the gaps, however, are harder to pinpoint. Is it gender? Ethnicity? Socioeconomic class? Something else? These are topics of endless discussion. Ask anyone involved in the educational system—teacher, parent, or government official—why certain students are falling behind in schools across the country, and each person will give a different answer.
In the 1970s, blame for the gap fell squarely on gender inequality in education. As a result, Title IX (also known as the Equal Opportunity in Education Act) ushered in a new era of laws and educational practices.
The well-known act changed the face of modern education with the principle that no American student, on the basis of gender, be denied the benefits of a federally funded education program or activity. Since its enactment, Title IX has been lauded for helping girls excel in academics and sports. It’s also been blasted for impeding the success of boys in academics and sports.
Now, after years of worrying about girls and their achievements, some experts say the tables have turned. They’re pegging boys as the more educationally challenged sex.
In the early years of the new millennium, researchers began publishing reports of a boys’ crisis in education. News of the purported problem soon spread to major media outlets, which informed the public that boys were falling behind girls in elementary and secondary schools and were increasingly outnumbered on college campuses.
According to a 2006 Newsweek article, “By almost every benchmark, boys across the nation and in every demographic group are falling behind.”
The article cited experts who complained about a “myopic view” of educational success and its harm to boys. It went on to list theories explaining the decline. Some experts pointed to gender differences in development and learning mechanisms. Others went further, blaming the disparity on “misguided feminism.” The implementation of Title IX and other educational practices, experts said in the article, led educators to portray girls as disadvantaged and lavish them with support.
Boys were virtually ignored, the article continued, which caused their delays and problems to grow.
That article, and others like it, added ample fuel to an already heated debate about the achievement gap between boys and girls, escalating the issue to “battle of the sexes” levels.
Ever since the Newsweek article hit stands, however, other researchers and educational organizations have been releasing reports aimed at debunking the so-called boys’ crisis.
In 2008, the Association of American University Women (AAUW) released a report, “Where the Girls Are: The Facts About Gender Equity in Education.”
According to that report, girls’ academic successes don’t come at the expense of boys’.
“It’s an obvious thought when you really think about it,” said Catherine Hill, a senior researcher with the association. “People often think of education as a zero-sum game, but the truth is we can all be better educated.”
According to results from national standardized tests, such as the National Assessment of Educational Program (NAEP) and the SAT and ACT college entrance exams, average test scores have risen or remained stable for both girls and boys in recent decades. Similarly, both women and men are more likely to graduate from high school and college today than ever before.
Geographical patterns also highlight the positive connection between girls’ and boys’ educational achievement, the report said. Data revealed that in states where girls do well on tests, boys also do well. And vice-versa.
Overall, the report found that both girls’ and boys’ average scores on the NAEP mathematics test have risen over the past three decades, with boys holding a small lead. Girls, on the other hand, tend to score higher on the NAEP reading assessments. That lead, however, has remained the same or narrowed during the past three decades.
So what is going on?
For some researchers, the most alarming factors lie in gaps revealed by analyzing students’ test scores in relation to ethnicity and family income level.
“When looking at NAEP scores for math, reading, and writing, lower-income students didn’t do nearly as well as higher-income students,” Hill said. “The achievement gap by income is much larger than any gap between gender.”
Children of certain ethnicities also tend toward lower test scores. According to NAEP data, black and Latino children scored lower on average than did white and Asian children. The lowest of all subgroups: test scores from black and Latino children from low-income families.
State of change
In California, the achievement gap among low-income children and children of specific ethnicities is apparent.
According to a January 2008 report issued by the California P-16 (Pre-kindergarten through Higher Education) Council, about 12 out of every 20 white students in grades 2 through 11 were deemed proficient in the English-language arts section of a 2006 statewide exam. In comparison, fewer than six out of every 20 black, Latino, or low-income students were deemed proficient in the same section.
The statistics for proficiency in math scores among the same groups are equally low. And the scores for English learners and students receiving special education services are even lower.
Bridging the achievement gap has been an ongoing goal of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. Shortly after being elected to office in 2004, O’Connell formed the P-16 Council. Composed of more than 40 education, business, and community leaders, the statewide assembly develops strategies to increase academic achievement at all school levels.
Since its formation, the council, along with O’Connell, has researched the achievement gaps in California. Based on its findings, the council has proposed that the major factors inhibiting successful learning for all students can be grouped into four main themes: access (such as to qualified teachers and rigorous curriculum); culture and climate (whether a learning environment is safe and promotes a sense of belonging); expectations (the degree to which a culture of excellence exists for students and adults); and strategies (the extent to which a school or classroom uses proven teaching, leadership, and organizational practices).
In the January 2008 report, “A Framework for Closing California’s Academic Achievement Gap,” the council made more than a dozen recommendations to improve the four themes for all of California’s students. The recommendations included everything from increasing access to high-quality preschool programs to fostering stronger relationships in the community to creating a California K-12 high-speed network.
“That’s our blueprint,” State Superintendent O’Connell told the Sun. “That’s our game plan.”
Many of the recommendations have led to real-world action. Educators have set out to strengthen programs at the state and local level, and programs are designed to cater to specific student body needs.
“Just about every [recommendation] has been done or is in the process of being done,” O’Connell said.
And while many of these programs are just developing in the Santa Maria area, local education officials are beginning to see results.
Home work
Santa Maria educators are finding that the biggest educational lag hits English learners and low-income students.
According to STAR results for the Santa Maria Bonita School District, approximately 35 to 40 percent of the district’s students are at a basic language arts proficiency level. The district’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students, which make up about 80 percent of the student body, sit on the lowest rung.
While the crunched data seems to yield some clear pictures of educational need, local administrators caution that determining a student’s proficiency in a subject is more complicated than having him or her take a test.
“It’s not that the students aren’t learning English,” said Margaret Ontiveros, principal at Ontiveros Elementary School. “So many students are just poised to make that jump to proficient, but a lot of the students end up staying there for several years. It seems students progress from not speaking English or very little English to being able to converse regularly with their peers.”
Ontiveros said a steady increase in proficiency can be seen in grades kindergarten through third, after which scores begin to hit a plateau.
“When students have to tackle academic language, it becomes much more difficult,” she explained. “The English learners have to compete academically in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and other skills.”
Ann Wicklund, principal at Alvin Elementary School, agreed.
“The academic expectations at higher-level education are much more intense,” she said. “And it’s a lot harder for older kids because they’re getting thrown into a pretty rigorous curriculum.”
Don’t wait to start
The key to helping students succeed, therefore, is getting to them when they’re young.
One of the ways the state is catching the worm, as it were, is by strengthening the After School Education and Safety program (ASES). The state-funded program, approved by voters in 2002, provides local after-school and enrichment programs.
The Santa Maria-Bonita School District offers ASES programs at every school, expect for Battles Elementary. When the programs were first implemented in 2007, family incomes at Battles were too high to meet state requirements, district ASES coordinator Patty Schwarzkopf said. The district is in the process of writing a separate grant for Battles.
The ASES program runs after school Monday through Friday from the last class dismissal to about 6 p.m. During that time, students get tutoring and help with their homework from a credentialed teacher and other staff members. They also run, dance, sing, put on plays, and participate in other physical education and enrichment activities.
“We’re assisting students with their homework and providing parents with that support and assistance, because a lot of parents might not be able to help their children with homework,” Schwarzkopf said, adding that the program also offers safety.
“I had one administrator tell me that it has saved kids’ lives because it’s a safe environment for them to go after school,” she said.
There are currently about 1,260 students enrolled in the district’s ASES programs, and all of the district’s schools also offer more one-on-one programs available to their students during school.
Alvin principal Wicklund said the school is home to an extensive English as a Second Language (ESL) program. ESL students in grades 1 through 6 spend about 30 minutes a day in small, specialized groups for English instruction.
“It’s important for the community to know how hard our students are working,” Wicklund said. “You see the STAR tests, but you don’t see the growth. We see tremendous growth among our students. It may not show on the STAR test, but that’s an academically rigorous test.”
Another important program for all of Alvin’s students, she said, is its college connection program, which allows students in grades 3 through 6 to visit a different college campus each year.
“We want to get our students focused on higher education,” she said. “It’s all about getting our kids to set goals regardless of their socioeconomic situation.”
“We want them to think, ‘I can do this.’ And we want them to have a vision of what college is, because so many of their parents didn’t have that opportunity,” she said. “It’s so important for students to have the mindset of ‘You can do it.’”
That’s a sentiment shared by staffers at Ontiveros Elementary School, whether in encouraging students to achieve their goals or coping with the state’s current budget crisis, principal Ontiveros said.
“There’s a culture of ‘Let’s pull together and do what needs to be done,’” Ontiveros noted.
That culture can create a strong educational foundation for its students, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or background.
“All children have a boundless potential for learning. It’s our job to discover and harness what inspires children to learn,” she said. “For us to say that a child can’t learn because he’s a boy or because she’s from a certain household—it bothers me. It has to do more with money than with learning.” m
Contact Staff Writer Amy Asman at aasman@santa mariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 5, 2009.