Education Gap

The term ‘education gap’ or ‘achievement gap’ refers to the disparity in academic performance between students, taking into account the social economic level of the student’s family, race, background, and location of schools. Many researches have shown the correlation between students achievement gap and to race, income level, and family background. These gaps are also noticeable as a high school student. My high school was not poor, but it wasn’t rich either. Thinking back, I noticed that the smartest students from my class were all from high income families. The students that got low grades or often skip classes were from poorer neighborhoods, close to where I used to lived. It was also noticeable that the richer students had their own cars, participated in after school activities, and often led school events. Another group of students were the ones that rode bus to school, and some didn’t participate in school activities because of part time work.

I think these gaps are created by economic inequality. Rather that comparing blacks and whites and pointing towards racial inequality, the problem is that those issues such as racial inequality takes the form of economic inequality. To tackle the issue of achievement gap among students, poorer communities needs economic support to lessen the burdens of the families and help parents to focus more on their child’s education. The U.S. is also infamous for spending a tremendous amount of money on the military while spending adequate amount of money on education. The nation as a whole needs more support for education from the government.