How well a student performs on a standardized test may have a direct correlation with race, ethnicity and geography, at least according to a new 2018 report by Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis.
According to the report, evidence suggests there are achievement gaps between Hispanic and Black students compared to their White counterparts. Some of the findings correlated those achievement gaps to socioeconomic status.
Achievement gaps between Black and White students are typically larger than Hispanics and White students. A four-decade analysis concluded these gaps may not be shrinking, at least in the Hispanic community.
“The strongest correlation of achievement gaps are racial/ethnic differences in parental education, racial/ethnic segregation and the overall level of parental education,” according to the report.
Achievement gaps between Black and White students are typically larger than Hispanics and White students. A four-decade analysis concluded these gaps may not be shrinking, at least in the Hispanic community.
At an education roundtable forum hosted by U.S. Congressional District 21 candidate Joseph Kopser, a group of leaders in public education came together to discuss some potential issues in public education, including the discrepancy between Hispanics and Whites in schools.
In attendance at the forum was Michael Sanchez, Hays CISD board trustee, who believed Hispanic students in the district might be subject to falling behind their peers based on cultural differences. In Hays County, 16.2 percent of residents live below the poverty line, with more than 70,000 minority residents in the county.
Young Hispanic men and women who do not come from a family of college attendees are less likely to receive motivation from their home environment to do well in school, he said.
“My experience tells me that kids from a home with lower socioeconomic status have more trouble in areas like standardized testing,” said Bruce Gearing, Dripping Springs ISD superintendent. “When a kid comes into the world, their ability to cope in situations is defined by the experiences they had before they enter formal schooling.”
Gearing said these experiences include the access to books, educational videos, a drive from parents to instill the importance of learning in a child.
“Number one, I don’t believe test scores are a good measure of learning. What will work is making sure the future of communities and nations of this world are in good hands, and that is accomplished through learning, not memorizing how to take a test,” Gearing said. “Additionally, we have complex problems developing rapidly at a global scale. If we continue to shove content down their throats to prep for a test, they won’t be ready.”
According to the report, differences in socioeconomic conditions are not fully separable from disparities in educational conditions. For example, communities with greater pools of state funding have more resources to help educate students.
Conversely, school systems may indirectly participate in segregation, the report reads. Children from low-income families are segregated into less demanding academic programs, hindering the ability to potentially climb the socioeconomic ladder post-pubic education.
Gearing said he was unsurprised by the study’s findings, which is a prevalent issue not only in U.S. schools, but also in his native South Africa and in the United Kingdom.
“The education system we designed 120 years ago is not suitable for the future of our kids. We have to redesign the system and adopt ways to ignite a passion for learning,” Gearing said.
