The achievement gap between white and non-white students: a conceptual  (Page 14/19)

Rothstein and Miles (1995), though recognizing that overall school spending had increased, contended that school expenditures in regular classroom instruction had actually decreased, from 80% of monies to 59% of monies. The decrease in regular classroom expenditures was due to increased spending in special education that had risen by 38%. Rothstein and Miles (1995) suggested that policy makers should examine all areas of school spending (e.g., student health nutrition, bilingual education, and training for disabled) to determine whether taxpayer’s money was being utilized effectively.

Achievement gap among whites, non-whites, or students with lep

Researchers have established that minority students exhibit setbacks in literacy during the summer months (Allington&McGill-Franzen, 2003). These setbacks can have consequential effects for minority students on their passing rates in math achievement. Entswisle and Alexander (1992) examined the difficulties that minority students face during the summer months when race, poverty, and school composition were used as variables in academic achievement. Entswisle and Alexander analyzed the characteristics and test scores of 790 first grade students by ethnicity, whether they attended segregated or integrated schools, and their family’s socio-economic status in relation to their math test scores on the California Achievement test (CAT). The researchers concluded that upon beginning first grade, White students had a 6-point advantage over Black students. By the third grade, White students outperformed Black students by 14 points in math. They also indicated that White students who were segregated achieved the most points (93.4), compared to segregated Black students (79.3) who gained the least amount of points on the CAT. Black students in both integrated and segregated schools gained the same amount of points, but they also lost the most points during the summer months. Findings over a 24-month period indicated that socio-economic status (i.e., meal subsidy status) had a negative effect for all students. Black students who attended segregated schools were at a disadvantage, compared to White students in segregated schools.

Ivory (1993) analyzed the exit-level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills math passing rate of 18,290 eleventh grade Hispanic, Black, and White students in Texas. Ivory concluded that Black students’ passing rate was 39% less than Hispanic students’ passing rate, and Hispanic students’ passing rate was 31% less than the passing rate of White students. In regard to Texas Assessment of Academic Skills passing rates and grade point average, all ethnic groups had higher passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test if their grade point averages were above average in their course work.

Bankston and Caldas (2001) examined the scores of White students who were enrolled in public and private schools and the association to academic achievement among minority students. Data analyzed were from the 1990 U. S. Census of population and Housing, the 1990 Annual Statistical and Financial Report from the Louisiana Department of Education, and the 1990 Louisiana Graduation Exit Examination. Research findings were that a greater number of minority students were present in public schools if a large percentage of White students were enrolled in nonpublic schools. Moreover, test scores were lower for minority students, when a large percentage of White students were enrolled in nonpublic schools. Furthermore, Bankston and Caldas (2001) reported the achievement gap was greater between White students and minority students in school districts when larger number of White students were enrolled in nonpublic schools. As such, these findings are reflective of White flight from public schools and its resulting negative effects on the achievement gap.