What's being done to Bridge the Education Gap

Schools, colleges, and universities in the United States have tried numerous measures over the years aimed at closing the education gap. Some of these have been successful, while others have not. In this article we look at some of the methods that have been used in a bid to bridge the education gap and what we should be aiming for in the future.

In general, these measures are aimed at increasing the level of educational attainment of ethnic minorities and the socially disadvantaged. On closer examination it can be seen that this is an extremely complex area. Not only are there any number of measures that can be put in place, the stage of education (secondary, third-level, or in transition) will also have a significant bearing on how effective it is.

Also, there is no one measure that is sure to be effective in every locality or educational institution. However, popular measures include programs aimed at keeping students in school, encouraging students from minorities to advance to third level education while others focus on giving students who are at a disadvantage ongoing encouragement and support.

Depending on their goal, these measures can be implemented at high school level, or at college or university level, or even in between.

In their excellent book, Closing the Education Gap: Benefits and Costs, Georges Vernez, Richard A. Krop and C. Peter Rydell identify four education gap goals. They are as follows:

Equalize high school graduation rates - Basically, this mean that the same proportion of Blacks, Hispanics, Whites and Asians should graduate from high school. The number of Blacks and Hispanics graduating from high school is still lagging behind, but it has improved dramatically in the last few decades.

Equalize high school graduation and first year college going rates - While progress has been made to equalize high school graduation rates, the gap between the proportion of Whites and Asians who go on to college or university, and the number of Blacks and Hispanics who progress continues to widen.

Equalize college retention rates - Of the Black and Hispanic students that do go onto college or university, a much higher proportion leave before graduating with a degree when compared to their White and Asian counterparts. This needs to be addressed.

Equalize all transition rates in and out of school - The book refers to this as 'full equalization' and this must be the ultimate goal. Basically, the aim here is that all native-born ethnic groups graduate from high school and go on to graduate with a degree from college or university at the same rate. If this is achieved, the education gap will truly have been closed.

 

 

Written by: Frank J Klein - CIO

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