Exploring the racial achievement gap on US history written-response state assessment items

PurposeMany states are restructuring their US history state assessments to include written-response assessment items that evaluate students' literacy skills in high-stakes environments. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the addition of an extended-response item to a US history state assessment was associated with an increase in the racial achievement gap.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical framework included linguistic complexity of standardized assessment items and academic language demand and utilized a difference-in-difference research design.FindingsThe findings indicate that the achievement gap between students of color and White students increased when an extended-response assessment item was added to an exclusively multiple-choice item exam and that this increase in the achievement gap may be contributed to a literacy gap.Research limitations/implicationsThe continued investigation of how students of color perform on different types of extended-response standardized assessment items. And, the continued investigation of evidenced-based instructional practices that focus on developing students' literacy skills in US history as well as culturally responsive instructional practices.Practical implicationsThe knowledge and implementation of literacy instruction and culturally responsive instruction in US history classrooms as well as in preservice teacher education programs and in-service professional development programs.Originality/valueThe current study is one of the first large-scale investigations into the racial achievement gap on US history written-response standardized assessment items and in identifying a literacy gap between students of color and White students on US history written-response state assessment items.

A Diversity Ideology Intervention: Multiculturalism Reduces the Racial Achievement Gap

In the United States, underrepresented racial minority (URM) students continue to face psychological barriers that undermine their achievement and fuel disparities in academic outcomes. In the current research, we tested whether a multicultural ideology intervention could improve URM students’ grade point averages (GPAs) during the first 2 years of college and thereby reduce the racial achievement gap. Specifically, first-year college students ( N = 407) read a diversity statement that represented the schools’ diversity ideology in terms of either multiculturalism or colorblindness. URM students who read a multicultural diversity statement earned higher GPAs 2 years later compared to those who read a colorblind diversity statement. Furthermore, they earned higher GPAs compared to a nonparticipant campus-wide control group. The current study is the first to demonstrate that multiculturalism can increase the long-term academic outcomes of URM students in college.

Heat and Learning

We demonstrate that heat inhibits learning and that school air conditioning may mitigate this effect. Student fixed effects models using students who retook the PSATs show that hotter school days in the years before the test was taken reduce scores, with extreme heat being particularly damaging. Weekend and summer temperatures have little impact, suggesting heat directly disrupts learning time. New nationwide, school-level measures of air conditioning penetration suggest patterns consistent with such infrastructure largely offsetting heat’s effects. Without air conditioning, a 1°F hotter school year reduces that year’s learning by 1 percent. Hot school days disproportionately impact minority students, accounting for roughly 5 percent of the racial achievement gap. (JEL I21, I24, J15, Q54)

“Achievement Gap” Language Affects Teachers’ Issue Prioritization

The term “achievement gap” is regularly used to describe between-group differences in educational outcomes. However, critics of the term argue that it implies the problem is merely one of student performance and may depress support for policies aimed at structural solutions. We hypothesized that the phrase “racial achievement gap” would elicit lower levels of issue prioritization than the phrase “racial inequality in educational outcomes” due to the latter’s connotations of social justice. In a randomized survey experiment with a national teacher sample ( N = 1,549), our hypothesis was confirmed. However, language did not affect teachers’ explanations for existing academic outcome disparities.

To Heal Our World, We Must First Heal Our Girls: Examining Black Girl Achievement

The racial achievement gap is one of the most persistent and pervasive issues in educational research. Unfortunately, the current research on Black student achievement lacks empirical studies that address the academic strengths and challenges facing Black girls. Specifically, there is a dearth of resources in the form of books, articles, and policies to support the learning of Black girls. Therefore studies that isolate gender as a contributing factor are warranted. The author presents an argument to explicate why the dearth of research supporting the achievement of Black girls is unjustified. Three research and data integrity considerations are presented to support this argument.

Evaluation of a New Theory of the Racial Achievement Gap

Background Although various hypotheses have been offered to explain the racial achievement gap between White and Black students, conventional theories that focus on the quality of schools, teachers, or a child's home environment are unsatisfactory. Instead, the available evidence points to a new theory. Purpose The purpose of the study was to evaluate the new theory against this evidence and to compare the explanatory capacity of this theory with the explanatory capacity of three conventional theories of the racial achievement gap. Sample/Design/Analysis Analyses of data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of the Kindergarten Class of 1998 (ECLS-K) were combined with results from studies that suggest how the hypothesized mechanism operates to maintain and perpetuate differences in achievement that exist at entry into kindergarten, plus results from randomized experiments that test hypothesized theoretical relationships. Results The results suggest a pattern of puzzling empirical results that are difficult to reconcile except in terms of the new theory. Conclusion The evidence points away from conventional theories regarding the achievement gap and toward the new theory.

Roland Fryer: 2015 John Bates Clark Medalist

Roland Fryer is an extraordinary applied microeconomist whose research output related to racial inequality, the US racial achievement gap, and the design and evaluation of educational policies make him a worthy recipient of the 2015 John Bates Clark Medal. I will divide this survey of Roland’s research into five categories: the racial achievement gap, education policies and reforms, economics of social interactions, the economics of discrimination and anti-discrimination policies, and further topics involving the black–white racial divide.

RACE, JUSTICE, AND DESEGREGATION1

In this essay we argue that the ideology of colorblind justice has made resisting the retreat from public school desegregation a hard sell in postracial America. We do not believe that desegregation is the silver bullet for solving all the problems with public education. Nor do we believe that it alone can close the racial achievement gap. Yet there is convincing evidence regarding the potential benefits of desegregation and evidence on its negative consequences is weak. Therefore we believe that it is a policy still worth pursuing. Our hope is that by casting light on the anatomy of colorblind justice and its limits we can contribute to ongoing efforts to ensure that desegregation remains in the conversation about how to address the unfinished business of racial justice.