Blogo 5: Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Say, Deborah Faircloth

Blog 5:Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Say

     This article reports on the studies that found that there is a wide and growing achievement gap between rich and poor children. It reveals the fact that this gap is not widely recognized yet. The achievement gap between black and white students has received much more attention from the government in the past. It is important to note that the racial gap for student achievement has narrowed significantly since the 1960s. Sean F. Reardon performed the study that showed that the gap of test scores between rich and poor students had grown 40 percent, and that gap is now twice the gap of whites and blacks. There was also a study done which revealed that the difference between rich and poor children who complete college has increased by about 50 percent since the 1980s. College is now considered to be “the single most important predictor of success in the work force”. These results are finally being looked at by more people because the election theme has a focus on income inequality. An explanation for this increasing achievement gap is that it appears that more affluent parents have the extra time and money to invest in their children’s education, while poorer parents tend to be single parents without similar abilities to help their children. An economist, James J. Heckman, mentions how important parenting is in helping their children’s success in school and especially the preschool years. There was a survey that reported the more fortunate children spent about 400 more hours than poor children in reading and writing activities before the age of 6. This problem seems to be complicated. One aspect is that in wealthier families, there is the two-earner income difference. The answer does not appear to be in sight.

     I found it interesting that the education gap has increased between higher and lower income families, but this gap has decreased between black and white families. This addresses the problem of the gap between social ideals and social reality. There are those who think that the ideal situation is where all children receive the same opportunities and benefits from an education. Then, there is the reality of the lives of these children living with a single parent who is stretched for time and money. It is easy for an upper class parent to say, you just need to spend more time reading to your child at home, when that person probably has no idea what it is like to figure out how to put food on the table many days. I feel that this election year being focused on income inequality will hopefully be a catalyst in bringing out this educational gap that goes along with it. Maybe instead of Occupy, or in addition to, we should have a demonstration for the narrowing of this educational gap and call it Supply…

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/education/education-gap-grows-between-rich-and-poor-studies-show.html?pagewanted=2&ref=education