Tests show racial achievement gap

State results shed new light on wealth vs. poverty debate.

Whether they are poor or rich, white students are scoring higher than their African American and Latino classmates on the state’s standardized tests, results released Wednesday show. And in some cases, the poorest white students are doing better than Latino and black students who come from middle class or wealthy families.

The so-called achievement gap — the difference in performance between groups of students — has long been chalked up to a difference in family income. It makes sense that — regardless of race — students whose parents have money and speak English would do better in school, on the whole, than students whose families struggle with employment, food and shelter.

But this year’s test scores show that the difference in academic achievement between ethnic groups is more than an issue of poverty vs. wealth.

Complete text linked below:

Source:
Tests show racial achievement gap
Sacramento Bee