How Culture and Socio-Economic Status Contribute to Achievement Gaps

How Culture and Socio-Economic Status Contribute to Achievement Gaps

Culture

Tomasson (2000) observed that differences in the accomplishments of different segments of U.S. society would always exist.  In a fluid society like the U.S., ethnic categories change form and fluctuate, but differences always exist.

The level of high achievement is an ethnic category in the U.S. dependent on the culture of origin, sector, length of time in the U. S. and rate of assimilation. Huge differences exist in levels of high achievement among different ethnic groups.  Current standardized tests are based on “what Caucasian people think high achievement should look like” (p. 44).

Most African Americans see the importance of education and obtaining superior grades just as much as Caucasian. Lee and Slaughter-Defoe (2004) studied the correlation between youth culture and academic achievement.  According to the data gathered, the correlation was low.  Youth culture most likely influences both minority and Caucasian academic growth, and thus has an indirect impact on student academic achievement.  Some studies suggest that the social costs and benefits of academic success are about the same for African Americans as for Caucasians, thus casting doubt on the negative peer pressure theory, which asserts that, for a variety of reasons, Black student culture is averse to high academic achievement.

Singham (2003) suggested that racial differences are also found to be negligible for skipping school. It appears that the achievement gap between African Americans and Caucasians is sometimes caused by African American student’s uncertainties about succeeding in school and being labeled as acting white.  Neal-Barnett, (2001) conducted a study on the phenomenon known as acting white, and wrote her findings in a book titled, Forging Links: African American Children Clinical Developmental Perspectives.
Neal-Barnett concluded that the psychosomatic allegations for being known as acting white are explicit to each individual.  Among the African American high school students that participated in the study many spoke about their anxiety and anger for being labeled by their African American peers as acting white.   

Socio-Economic Status

Lubienski (2002) found that socio-economic status (SES) influenced student achievement, as students from higher SES families tended to have higher achievement compared to students with lower SES.  First, gaps appeared to be more closely tied to SES than race.  Students from wealthier backgrounds tended to have better access to computers and to learning tools, such as calculators.  Teachers were able to provide better assessments for students with high SES to improve learning achievement than for students with low SES.  Many students who do not have easy access to better learning tools strongly believed that mathematics learning simply involves memorizing facts and also of the view that there is only a single correct mode of solving math related problems  which adds to low achievement.

Lubienski also found that African American students moved away from this belief about mathematics as they were more deeply involved in a mathematics curriculum.  Lubienski recommended that teachers should be aware of these perceptions and attitudes and be more effective with teaching methods that assist African American students to become critical thinkers, not just answer seekers.

English (2002) found that nearly 50% of the variance in test-passing rates was determined by demographic opportunity structures such as financial capital, human capital level of parental education, cultural status, expectancy, and geographic capital level of urban influence.  Existing economic power in the community strongly influences how students learn.  English suggested that providing fair learning opportunities to different populations would help narrow the achievement gap.  A fair learning opportunity would include learning opportunities about other cultures and languages.