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Essay on Achievement Gaps in Math and Science Achievement Scores
The growing numbers and percentage of our citizens who come from racial/ethnic minority groups, combined with gaps in achievement between majority and minority students, pose serious challenges to our schools. To counter these challenges, we must resolve to improve science programs at all levels if we hope to be able to supply professionals who are literate in those topics of science, technology, and mathematics so critical to our need for an expanding work force in the fields of science and engineering. In the next decade, the total U.S. work force is projected to expand by 12.3%; minorities will account for more than 40% of these new participants in the labor force (Vasquez, Mulugheta,Schicht, 2003) To increase the achievement levels of minority and low-income students, we need to focus on what really matters: high standards, a challenging curriculum, and good teachers. (Haycock, 2005) Many studies and evaluations have been done and are under process but still the field demands a lot more than what has been done.
Molnar et al (1999), in their evaluation of Wisconsin’s SAGE, also assessed the achievement gains of African American students. Results for grades 2-3 showed that African American students in SAGE classrooms performed higher on all subtests of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) (i.e., reading, language arts, and mathematics) than African American students in comparison schools. African American SAGE students in grades 1-3 also achieved greater gains than white SAGE students on the total score from the pre-test to post-test, closing the achievement gap.
Nye (2000) analyzed Project STAR data to determine if certain subgroups of students had greater gains in achievement when placed in small classes. The researchers found that minority students participating in small classes had larger gains in achievement than white students in small classes for both reading and mathematics in grades K-3...............
