With a recent study on the minority achievement gap, an Evanston-based consortium of school districts has continued to examine a problem evident in many schools across the country.
A report released in November by the three-year-old Minority Student Achievement Network challenges many assumptions about the achievement gap, which is the disparity in test scores between white and minority students that persists in many schools.
According to the study, black and Latino students reported a desire to succeed that is equal to white and Asian students even if the resulting grades and test scores do not match.
The survey, “What Doesn’t Meet the Eye: Understanding and Addressing Racial Disparities in High-Achieving Suburban Schools,” asked questions of 40,000 sixth- through 12th-graders in 15 suburban school districts nationwide in fall 2001.
The districts are members of the network, a national coalition founded in 1999 that is based at Evanston Township High School. The network combines research and analysis to find the best ways to improve the academic achievement of minorities, specifically black and Latino students.
“This survey suggests that African-American and Hispanic students’ disengagement from school achievement is … due to subtle messages received in schools, a lack of resources in homes and inadequate skill levels in concepts learned early on,” said Prof. Jon Diamond, who is also the network’s research director.
Student responses among all races were similar in the amount of time spent on homework, how much they enjoy their homework, and whether their friends think it is important to study hard and get good grades.
However, 50 percent of white and Asian students reported having an A or A- grade point average compared with 21 percent of Latino students and 15 percent of black students.
Ronald Ferguson, a lecturer and research associate at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, authored the study.
In all racial groups, the average GPA was directly related to socioeconomic status, the survey found. One reason, Diamond said, is a lack of resources at home for black and Hispanic students. Twenty-two percent of black students and 30 percent of Latino students said they had no access to a computer at home, compared with just 3 percent of white students. Twice as many white students as Latino and black students had a parent with at least four years of college education.
Black, white and Hispanic students reported that they spend similar amounts of time on homework, but whites have a much higher rate of homework completion.
“This is a significant finding because teachers only see the completion rates and often assume this reflects the effort put in by students,” Ferguson said.
Philip Prale, the director of instruction at Oak Park and River Forest High School west of Chicago, said the network is unique because it combines research and application.
“Too often research is distant from classroom change,” Prale said. “The network is committed to classroom practice and finding out what really works through practical application.”
The network is working on using the findings of this survey to narrow the achievement gap. Ferguson is the leader of a series of seminars in which teachers discuss ways to improve their teaching methods. Project coordinators invite students to participate in the meetings.
“This survey showed the ways students of different races best respond to teachers, and with the tripod project we are now taking steps to use this information to narrow the achievement gap,” Ferguson said.
