Chandler Crean

3/28/17

Achievement Gap

Summary
The achievement gap in education refers to the difference in
academic performance among different groups of students. The groups are
defined by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and gender. This term will
show up in grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates,
and college completion rates. It is believed that there is a gap in academic
skills between white and historically disadvantaged racial minorities that
exist in school entry and grows over time. In the article there are numerous
reasons to why there is such a thing. There have been numerous studies that
documented racial / ethnic differences in childrens academic skills in reading
and math. Many believe that family experiences, such as parenting practices
and family processes, have been used to help explain childrens academic
achievement by their race/ethnicity. The educational outcomes of students
can be based on the quality of their school, which can consist of schools with
better paid and crentialed teachers, higher per pupil spending and more
ideal class sizes. The topic of private and public schools is brought up to
discuss the unfairness of the two for students. The three main questions of
the article to help get a better understanding to which these important
developmental contexts contribute to growing racial/ethnic inequality in
academic achievement.
1. Do racial / ethnic minority children accumulate fewer
educationally beneficial family and schooling experiences?
2. Do cumulative family and schooling experiences
explain racial / ethnic inequality in academic development?
3. Does the reward to cumulative family and schooling
experiences vary by race / ethnicity?

Rhetorical Analysis
The article, Family and Schooling Experiences in Racial / Ethnic
Academic Achievement Gaps: A Cumulative Perspective, by Daniel Potter
and David S. Morris fully described the major topics to why there is such a
thing as achievement gap. The abstract included in article gave a brief
overview of what the entire article was going to discuss. The keywords that
were included are their for the purpose of needing to search a database to
find an article dealing with these certain topics. The first classification of
rhetorical strategy involved the ethical, logical, and pathetic appeals. There
 Chandler Crean
3/28/17

are many cases in the article where the author is giving credibility to a
certain study that was performed to receive the audience's approval. There
are cases in which there are opinions made by the writer that support the
argument on the ethnicity in schools. The writer includes numerous tables to
support their research on the ethnicity of children in their school
experiences. There is a table that shows a cumulative measure of number of
books in the household per grade level by race, predicted gaps in math and
reading scores, and the growth curve regression coefficients for Childrens
Cumulative Family Experiences. The use of these tables and figures add a
visual aid to back their beliefs on the different issues. The audience of the
article is anyone that is interested in the ethnicity of students in different
school systems and family experiences. There are many strengths to this
article, due to the plethora of support that backs the argument of
achievement gap.

References
Potter, D., & Morris, D. S. (2017). Family and Schooling
Experiences in Racial/Ethnic Academic Achievement
Gaps. Sociological Perspectives, 60(1), 132-167.
doi:10.1177/0731121416629989

Short Summary
The achievement gap in education refers to the difference in
academic performance among different groups of students. It is believed that
there is a gap in academic skills between white and historically
disadvantaged racial minorities that exist in school entry and grows over
time due to family and schooling experiences, academic development, and
quality of schools.

Agreeing/Disagreeing/Simultaneous
I agree with Daniel Potter and David S. Morriss statement that achievement
gap does exist in school entry and continues to grow over time due to family
 Chandler Crean
3/28/17

experiences, academic development, and quality of schools, a point that

needs emphasizing since so many people believe that your childhood
development plays a huge role in your academic success.