STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES

VARIABLES AFFECTING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

In the United States, students from ethnic minority backgrounds have experienced varying levels of academic achievement in schools. The literature identifies many factors that might account for the variance in achievement including individual attributes as well as those of the school, home, community and society. Variables associated with each of these factors influence the academic achievement of all student populations. However, it is clear that their combined effect results in a significant disparity in the level of achievement among White, Asian, African American, Native American and Hispanic student population groups.

It is clear from research that with the exception of Asians, many minority students tend not to perform at the same level on achievement tests as White students. This disparity probably exists because of a variety of factors, some of which are presented in this section. While this list is not exhaustive, seven of the most common factors believed to affect student achievement as presented in the literature are discussed.

School Practices

School practices are consistently identified in the literature as affecting educational outcomes for minority students. Such practices as the assignment of teachers, teacher expectations, learning opportunities, disregard for learning styles and retention/suspensions have a profound impact on the academic achievement of minority students.

Teacher quality as determined by education, experience, expertise and licensure has been shown to be the single most significant factor contributing to student achievement. Research dating from the early 1990s reveal that teachers' expertise-as measured by scores on licensing examinations, higher-level degrees, and experience-account for a significant proportion of the measured variance in students' reading and mathematics achievement scores. Other research on the impact of teacher quality on student achievement revealed that students' exposure to successive years of poorly qualified teachers during the formative educational stages impacts achievement long-term. Yet, the research also shows that students from low-income and minority communities are often served by the least qualified teachers (Ferguson, 1998; Sanders & Rivers, and the Education Trust, 1998).

Teachers' expectations have been found to have a significant impact on student achievement. According to this theory, low teacher expectations of minority students results in a self-fulfilling prophecy, contributing to significant achievement gaps between minority and non-minority students (Ferguson, 1998; Goode, 1981; Goodlad, 1984; Ladson-Billings, 1994).

A number of researchers find that students not exposed to rigorous course work tend not to perform as well in school as those with such exposure. In general, minority students tend to be under represented in advanced placement courses and over represented in special education programs. This trend starts in elementary school and continues through high school (Castellino, Darity and Tyson 2001). Several researchers have theorized that schools might inadvertly contribute to the achievement gap as illustrated by those serving large numbers of minority students placing more emphasis on multicultural curriculums than preparing students for enrollment in advanced courses. In the same context, a decline in leisure reading among minority students during the last two decades has been accompanied by a decline in reading scores (Ferguson, 1998; Osborne, 1998).

Preschool Education

The literature has identified the lack of quality preschool education for minority children as a factor contributing to the achievement gaps between ethnic minority and White students. Based on evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1998), many minority children start school with academic preparation that lags behind their White counterparts. In an analysis of data from this survey, a comparison of the level of readiness between African American and White students found that the two groups were very similar when compared on motor/social and verbal memory skills. However, there was a significant difference between the two groups on a measure of vocabulary skills. According to some estimates, only about 63 percent of African American and 37 percent of Hispanic children participate in preschool programs staffed by early childhood professionals.

Summer Effect

Studies have shown that the lack of academic engagement during the summer negatively impacts educational outcomes for poor children. Children from more affluent backgrounds continue to be engaged in learning activities (vacations, camps etc.) during the summer months, while for poor children this tends to be a time of academic disengagement. Overtime, the lack of learning opportunities resulting from the summer effect can be substantial (Alexander, 1987).

Parental Expectations

A number of researchers have identified parental expectations as significant to student performance in school and critical to student academic achievement. High expectations from parents are generally associated with higher levels of educational attainment. Effective parenting practices associated with high levels of academic achievement include expectations that children earn high numerical grades on schoolwork. In addition, the research suggests that child rearing beliefs, provisions for academically enriching home environments, and standards of acceptable behavior in and out of school are equally important to academic achievement (Jencks and Phillips, 1998; Okagaki and Frensch, 1998, Wong, 1990).

Parental Education and Socioeconomic Status

Parental education and social economic status have an impact on student achievement, although the exact nature is not clear. Phillips (1998) found that parental education and family socioeconomic status alone are not good predictors of student academic achievement. Ferguson (1991) posited that parental education accounted for about twenty-four percent of the variance in students test scores, while socioeconomic status accounts for about twenty-six percent. Other researchers contend that dysfunctional home environments, low parental expectations, ineffective parenting, language differences and high levels of mobility might account for lower levels of academic achievement among students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (Frymier and Gansneder, 1989; Laosa, 1978).

Lack of Congruence between Home and School Culture

Congruence between home and school culture is a good predictor of student academic achievement. Students tend to be more successful when their home and school cultures are similar. Conversely, they tend to be less successful when there is a disconnection between the home and the school culture. The movement from the familiar environment of the home to the unfamiliar environment of the school can result in a disconnection for many minority and low-income students. The way to minimize or eliminate this disconnection is for schools to work with students and their families in adapting to the school culture (Delgdo-Gaitan, 1992; Trueba, 1988; Wells, 1990).

Societal Discriminatory Practices

Societal discrimination against minority groups may have contributed to the emergence of an oppositional paradigm that does not accept the traditional concept of achievement. Steele (1997) theorized that African American students might not perform well on standardized tests due to stereotype threat. This is a phenomenon whereby a student's test performance is believed to be impaired out of fear of confirming a negative racial stereotype. White and Johnson (1994) note that early in their lives minority youth become aware of the fact that they do not inherit the same educational and career choices as non-minority students. This results in these youth not identifying with academics and seeking other means of demonstrating competency and achievement (Osborne, 1999).

Several researchers point to the rise of "Hip-Hop," which tends not to emphasize traditional academic achievement, as a form of cultural identify among African American youth as evidence of this paradigm. Other researchers theorize that African American, and to some degree many students from involuntary minority groups, tend not to identify with academic achievement out of concern for being accused of "acting white". From this view, doing well in school is seen as something that only whites do and questions ones identify as a member of the black community. Minority students from low-income backgrounds may perceive the school culture as being designed to make them assimilate into to mainstream culture. According to the theory, assimilation is not desirable and viewed as insulting because it is perceived as rejecting ones' cultural identify. Therefore, academic achievement is not emphasized. (Ferguson, 1998; Ogbu and Fordham, 1986).

References

Alexander, K. (1987). Achievement in the first two years of school: Patterns and processes. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 53, 157.

Castellino, D. Darity, W. and Tyson, K. (2001). Increasing Opportunity to Learn via Access to Rigorous Courses and Programs: One Strategy for Closing the Achievement Gap for At-Risk and Ethnic Minority Students. Report commissioned by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Delado-Gaitan, C. (1992). School matters in the Mexican-American home. American Educational Research Journal, 29, 495-513.

National Data Book on Achievement in America (1998). The Education Trust Inc, Washington, D.C.

Ferguson, R. (1991). Paying for Public Education: New Evidence of How and Why Money Matters," Harvard Journal on Legislation 28 (summer 1991): 465-98.

Ferguson, R. (1998). Test Score Trends along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards. 348-390. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences, vol.1. National Research Council, Washington, D.C., National Academy Press.

Frymier J. and Gansneder B., (1989). The Phi Delta Kappa Study of Students at Risk. Phi Delta Kappan, 71, 142-146

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Goodlad, J. (1984). A Place Called School:Prospects for the Future. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Jencks, C. and Phillips, M. (1998). The Black-White Test Score Gap: An Introduction 1-51. The Black-White Test Score Gap, Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution Press.

Landson-Billings, G. (1994). The DreamKeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Publishers

Laosa, L.M. (1978). Maternal teaching strategies in Chicano families of varied educational and socioeconomic levels. Child Development, 49, 1129-1135.

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, (1998), United State Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Washington, D.C.

Ogbu, J. and Fordham, S. (1986). African American students' school success: Coping with the burden of "acting White." Urban Review, 18, 176-206.

Okagaki, L. and Frensch, P.A. (1998). Parenting and Children's School Achievement: A Multiethnic Perspective. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 123-144.

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Phillips, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G.J., Klebanov, P., and Crane, J. (1998). Family Background, Parenting Practices, and the Black-White Test Score Gap. The Black-White Test Score Gap, Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution Press.

Sanders, W. and Rivers, J. (1997). Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Student Achievement. University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Steele, C. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual test performance. American Psychologist, 52, 613-629.

Trueba, H.T. (1988). Culturally based explanations of minority students' academic achievement. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 19, 270-287.

Wells, S.E. (1990). At-risk Youth: Identification Programs, and Recommendations. Englewood, Colorado: Teacher Idea Press.

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Wong, M.G. (1990). The education of White, Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese students: A look at "High School and Beyond". Sociological Perspectives, 33, 355-374.