For decades, researchers examined the “achievement gap” between minority and nonminority students. This singular definition of achievement gap ignores important within-group differences. This article uses National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) data to examine within-group differences and compares those across Latino, African American, and White populations. Results question the singular definition of achievement gap. Given the importance of how issues are defined, a singular definition of achievement gap may mean current policies miss the mark in raising achievement levels between and within groups.
Adams, D., Astone, B., Nunez-Wormack, E., & Smodlaka, I. (1994). Predicting the academic achievement of Puerto Rican and Mexican-American ninth-grade students. Urban Review, 26, 1-14.
2.
Alspaugh, J. (1991). Out-of-school environmental factors and elementary-school achievement in mathematics and reading. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 24(3), 53-55.
3.
Atanda, R. (1999). Do gatekeeper courses expand education options?Education Statistics Quarterly, 1(1), 33-38.
4.
Bainbridge, W. L., & Lasley, T. J. (2002). Demographics, diversity, and K-12 accountability: The challenge of closing the achievement gap. Education and Urban Society, 34(4), 422-437.
5.
Bartley, S., Sutton, R., Swihart, S., & Thiery, T. (1999). Cultural perspectives at Goshen Middle School: Examination of internal and external factors that affect Hispanic student achievement. Washington, DC: Rural Education and Small Schools ERIC Clearinghouse. (ERIC Document No. ED430771)
6.
Blair, S. L., & Legazpi, M. C. (1999). Racial/ethnic difference in high school students’ academic performance: Understanding the interweave of social class and ethnicity in the family context. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 30, 539-555.
7.
Bowman, K. L. (2001). The new face of school desegregation. Duke Law Journal, 50(6), 1751-1808.
8.
Bryk, A. S., & Thum, Y. M. (1989). The effects of high school organization on dropping out: An exploratory investigation. American Educational Research Journal, 26, 353-383.
9.
Buriel, R., Perez, W., DeMent, T. L., Chavez, D. V., & Moran, V. R. (1998). The relationship of language brokering to academic performance, biculturalism, and self-efficacy among Latino adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 20(3), 283-296.
10.
Byrnes, J. P. (2003). Factors predictive of mathematics achievement in white, black, and Hispanic 12th graders. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 316-326.
11.
Cohen, J. (2005). AM software (Version 0.06.03 Beta). Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research.
12.
Coleman, J. S., Hoffer, T., & Kilgore, S. (1981). Public and private schools [Report to the National Center for Education Statistics]. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.
13.
DeGarmo, D. S., Forgatch, M. S., & Martinez, C. R. (1999). Parenting of divorced mothers as a link between social status and boys’ academic outcomes: Unpacking the effects of socioeconomic status. Child Development, 70(5), 1231-1245.
14.
Denner, P., Norman, A., Salzman, S., & Pankratz, R. (2003, February). Connecting performance to student achievement: A generalization and validity study of the renaissance teacher work samples assessment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Teacher Educators, Jacksonville, FL.
15.
Derwing, T. M., DeCorby, E., Ichikawa, J., & Jamieson, K. (1999). Some factors that affect the success of ESL high school students. Canadian Modern Language Review, 55(4), 532-547.
16.
Dewey, J., Husted, T. A., & Kenny, L. W. (2000). The ineffectiveness of school inputs: A product of misspecification?Economic of Education Review, 19(1), 27-45.
17.
Edelman, M. (1988). Constructing the political spectacle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
18.
English, F. W. (2002). On the intractability of the achievement gap in urban schools and the discursive practice of continuing racial discrimination. Education and Urban Society, 34(3), 298-311.
19.
Evans, W. N., & Schwab, R. M. (1995). Finishing high schools and starting college: Do Catholic schools make a difference. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110, 947-974.
20.
Fan, X., & Chen, M. J. (1999). Academic achievement of rural school students: A multi-year comparison with their peers in suburban and urban schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 15(1), 31-46.
21.
Ferguson, R. F. (1991). Paying for public education: New evidence on how and why money matters. Harvard Journal on Legislation, 28, 465-498.
22.
Finn, J. D., & Voelkl, K. E. (1993). School characteristics related to student engagement. Journal of Negro Education, 62(3), 249-268.
23.
Griffin, G. (2003, February 23). Color change; African-Americans and Latinos reassess their relationships in wake of changing demographics. San Diego Union-Tribune, p. 1-1.
24.
Gutierrez, F. D., & Rogoff, B. (2003). Cultural ways of learning: Individual traits or repertoires of practice. Educational Researcher, 32(5), 19-25.
25.
Gutiérrez, R. (2002). Beyond essentialism: The complexity of language in teaching mathematics to Latina/o students. American Educational Research Journal, 39(4), 1047-1088.
26.
Hativa, N. (1989). Socioeconomic status, aptitude, and gender differences in CAI gains of arithmetic. Journal of Educational Research, 83(1), 11-21.
27.
Henderson, R. D. (1975). School climate in White and Black elementary schools: A comparative study. Urban Education, 9(4), 380-399.
28.
Izzo, C., Weissberg, R., Kasprow, W., & Fredrich, M. (1999). A longitudinal assessment of teacher perceptions of parent involvement in children’s education and school performance. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 817-839.
29.
Jeynes, W. (2003). A meta-analysis: The effects of parental involvement on minority children’s academic achievement. Education and Urban Society, 35(2), 202-218.
30.
Kamii, M. (1990). Opening the algebra gate: Removing obstacles to success in college preparatory mathematics courses. Journal of Negro Education, 59(3), 392-406.
31.
Kaufman, J. E., & Rosenbaum, J. E. (1992). The education and employment of low-income black youth in white suburbs. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 14(3), 229-240.
32.
Keith, T. Z. (1996). Effects of parental involvement on achievement for students who attend school in rural America. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 12(2), 55-67.
33.
Laosa, L. M. (1984). Ethnic, socioeconomic, and home language influences upon early performance on measures of abilities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(6), 1178-1198.
34.
Lee, C. D. (2003). Why we need to re-think race and ethnicity in educational research. Educational Researcher, 32(5), 3-5.
35.
Lewy, A. (1985). Minimum requirement program: A potential device for promoting equality. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 11(3), 315-320.
36.
Llagas, C., & Snyder, T. D. (2003). Status and trends in the education of Hispanics (NCES 2003-008). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
37.
Mulkey, L. M., Crain, R. L., & Harrington, A. J. C. (1992). One-parent households and achievement: Economic and behavioral explanations of a small Effect. Sociology of Education, 65(1), 48-65.
38.
O’Conner, S. A., & Miranda, K. (2002). The linkages among family structure, self-concept, effort, and performance on mathematics achievement of American high school students by race. American Secondary Education, 31(1), 72-95.
39.
Ogbu, J. U. (1978). Minority education and caste: The American system in cross-cultural perspective. New York: Academic Press.
40.
Orellana, M. F., & Bowman, P. (2003). Cultural diversity research on learning and development: Conceptual, methodological, and strategic considerations. Educational Researcher, 32(5), 26-32.
41.
Portes, A., & McLeod, D. (1996). Educational progress of children of immigrants: The roles of class, ethnicity, and school context. Sociology of Education, 69(4), 255-275.
42.
Roberts, G. J. (1989). The effect of achievement on student friendships in desegregated schools. Equity and Choice, 5(1), 31-36.
43.
Rockoff, J. (2003). The impact of individual teachers on student achievement: Evidence from panel data. Retrieved February 15, 2004, from www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Erockoff/rockoff_individual_teachers_march_03.pdf
44.
Rodriguez, T. D. (2002). Oppositional culture and academic performance among children of immigrants in the US. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 5(2), 199-216.
45.
Rumberger, R. W. (1998). Toward explaining differences in educational achievement among Mexican American language minority students. Sociology of Education, 71(1), 68-92.
46.
Rumberger, R. W., Ghatak, R., Poulos, G., Ritter, P. L., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1990). Family influences on dropout behavior in one California high school. Sociology of Education, 63(4), 283-299.
47.
Rumberger, R. W., & Willms, J. D. (1992). The impact of racial and ethnic segregation on the achievement gap in California high schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 14(4), 377-396.
48.
Sander, W. (1996). Catholic grade schools and academic achievement. Journal of Human Resources, 33, 540-548.
49.
Schacter, J., & Thum, Y. M. (2004). Paying for high and low quality teaching. Economics of Education Review, 23(4), 411-431.
50.
Schmid, C. L. (2001). Educational achievement, language-minority students, and the new second generation. Sociology of Education, 74, 71-87.
51.
Schon, D. A. (1994). Frame reflection. New York: Basic Books.
52.
Stevens, J. P. (2002). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
53.
Stevenson, D. L., Schiller, K. S., & Schneider, B. (1994). Sequences of opportunities for learning. Sociology of Education, 67(3), 184-198.
54.
Trusty, J., & Peck, H. (1994). Achievement, socioeconomic status and self-concepts of fourth-grade students. Child Study Journal, 24(4), 281-299.
55.
Trusty, J., Robinson, C. R., Plata, M., & Ng, K. (2000). Effects of gender, socioeconomic status, and early academic performance on postsecondary educational choice. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78(4), 463-473.
56.
U.S. Department of Education. (2000). The condition of education (NCES 2000-062). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
57.
Valdez, J. (2002). The influence of social capital on mathematics courses selected by Latino high school students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 24(3), 319-339.
58.
Valencia, R. R. (2000). Inequalities and the schooling of minority students in Texas: Historical and contemporary conditions. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22(4), 445-459.
59.
Velez, W. (1989). High school attrition among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white youths. Sociology of Education, 62(2), 119-133.
60.
Wang, J., & Goldschmidt, P. (1999). Opportunity to learn, language proficiency, and immigrant status effects on mathematics achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 93(2), 101-111.
61.
Warren, J. R. (1996). Educational inequality among white and Mexican-origin adolescents in the American southwest. Sociology of Education, 69, 142-158.
62.
Watt, D., & Roessingh, H. (1994). ESL dropout: The myth of educational equity. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 3, 283-296.
63.
Weiss, H., Mayer, E., Krieder, H., Vaughn, M., Dearing, E., Hencke, R., et al. (2003). Making it work: Low-income working mothers’ involvement in their children’s education. American Education Research Journal, 40(4), 879-901.
64.
White, K. R. (1982). The relation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 91(3), 461-481.
