Black-White Achievement Gap Definition

The black-white achievement gap is a term that describes differences in academic performance between African American (black) and European American (white) students. These differences can be seen in standardized test scores, average grade point averages, high school and college enlistment rates, and graduation completion rates. White pupils generally outperform their black counterparts on each of these metrics. This is a significant area of sociological study in which achievement disparity between black and white students is emphasized. 

Explanation

Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray’s contentious book The Bell Curve, published in 1994, made the controversial claim that racial genetic disparities were to blame for the divide. Research pointing out several methodological faults in such work and highlighting how the absence of systematic genetic diversity across racial groups weakens such claims has successfully refuted genetic theories. Additional justifications concentrate on the psychological and cultural factors that contribute to the difference.

According to statistics, parents of Black and Hispanic children in the US often earn less money and have lower levels of education than parents of white children. A state’s social and educational policies and patterns of residential and school segregation may also play a part in the extent of performance discrepancies.

Finally, despite the absence of a scientific agreement, some evidence implies that schools, as institutions, support and reward white students’ cultural styles while devaluing black students, potentially widening the disparity.

Black-White Achievement Gap Example

The achievement gap between Blacks and Whites in the United States is caused mainly by this distinction.