Academic Achievement Gap

One issue that is prevalent in the educational institution is the concept of the academic achievement gap bet between minority students and the majority. The issue is expanded upon the concept of how and why minority students are not achieving academically at the same rate of majority students. There are multiple reasons as to why this gap is so prevalent in today’s schools. Some of those reasons include language and cultural barriers, also the idea of how the minority culture views academic performance. These is also a disconnection between students and school that is impacting the way students learn and how much they ultimately learn within the classroom. The academic achievement gap is caused by multiple reasons such as the language barrier

When students enter into the United States from different nations and proceed their education in the United States’ education system, there is often a language barrier present. This language barrier prohibits students from learning and achieving academically compared to the English speaking students in the majority. In addition, there is a popular misconception among young African American students that if they achieve academically, then it is considered “acting white”. As it states in “The paper, by Drs. Signithia Fordham and John Uzo Ogbu, concluded that Black students turn against academic success out of fear they will be accused of "acting White." (Anonymous). Another issue that can impact the academic achievement gap is the family factors and experiences. As stated in the findings of the Sociological Perspective, “parental educational expectations for their children affected school achievement among a sample of African American adolescents”

The system is still very flawed and unequal in its teachings. I think that the future of education is going to move into the direction of applying altered strategies to close the academic achievement gap between minority and the majority students. These strategies could include more inclusive school organizations and curriculum. This more inclusive program will include better skills in teaching students with a language barrier. So it allows for students who are not English speaking to stay up-to-date in their education without falling behind. The findings also indicate the education needs to improve on establishing a better connection with students and learning. There needs to be a re-shaping of how schools and learning is viewed by