Achievement Gap

Learning is not simply understanding and memorizing the content of a textbook. Winston Churchill famously said, “My education was interrupted only by my schooling.”

The act of learning material is one important piece of becoming educated. But it is not the only component. An education necessitates the ability to share perspectives with classmates and to embrace the differences between peers.

Unfortunately, this is not possible for all students. Some might even see the lack of racial and financial diversity in certain classes as an interruption to their education.

The achievement gap is one of the greatest and most challenging issues looming over the school. An achievement gap is a measurable difference in academic performance between two compared demographics.

This gap can be between two financially or racially distinct groups. We currently have both.

This affects all students. The achievement gap segregates students based on their background and income, which prevents an environment where learning is derived from the sharing of different perspectives.

The uniformity among students in an honors English class can profoundly change the discussions. A perspective is clearly missing when a class is discussing the use of the N-word in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn without a proportional African-American voice.

One must learn to understand and take part in difficult conversations about diversity to become an educated person. Therefore, it is imperative that administrators, teachers and all community members join forces to shrink the achievement gap as quickly and effectively as possible.

Though the general academic environment is extremely welcoming, an effort to further the enrollment of students from all cultural and financial backgrounds in all classes must be made. No student should look around their classroom and feel that no one is similar to them. On the flip side, no student should look around their classroom and feel that they share the same background as everyone else present.

To be truly considered as a premier public high school, students of all backgrounds must access the same education. This means the demographics of standard, honors and Advanced Placement classes must be brought in line with those of the school as a whole.

Addressing the elimination of the achievement gap is a pressing yet daunting issue. Deborah Holman, the incoming headmaster, should take her time getting to know the school, but she must make eliminating the achievement gap a primary goal of her new administration.