by Taye Foster Bradshaw

Created on: February 18, 2009

There are several pro-active steps that can be taken to close the achievement gap. These things vary according to age and grade level but all require commitment. The parents, the community, the school, and the government (local, state, and federal) must make the education of ALL of the country's children a top priority.

The best place to start is with the pre-school segment of the population. A foundation for learning must be set in order to set the stage for learning. The local libraries have story time and can engage in public relations efforts in predominately black communities to encourage more parents to utilize the free resources. The many charities that give to the hospitals can make literacy the best new baby present to give. Each baby should be sent home with some classic literature such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Good Night Moon. There are national efforts to increase literacy in the black community through the Mocha Moms, Inc. national efforts with their Boys Booked on Barbershops and Girls Booked on Beauty Shops effort to place reading nooks in these frequented establishments. If a child is surrounded by books, their natural curiousity will take over and they will develop a lifelong love for the written word.

It is important to note that parental responsibility and involvement is imperative. It is also important to note that the black and white achievement gap is also reflective in the middle and lower income achievement gap (take Appalachia for example) as well as the hispanic and white achievement gap. The learning gap is universal with middle to upper middle children, regardless of race, performing better than lower income children, regardless of race. All things being equal, the black and white achievement gap can also be reflective of course choices, outside tutoring, access to extra-learning programs, condition of schools, access to technology, and teacher actions.

One of the things that have stood out is that if black and white children are of the same economic class, same level of parental involvement, same set of skills entering school, and same access to educational stimuli, the achievement is similar until higher middle school. For example, there was a black son of upper middle class parents in a Missouri suburb who was academically advanced. This particular school district began steering white elementary students to take preparatory math classes at the sixth grade that would lead to pre-algebra in the seventh grade. The parents

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