{"id":2021932,"date":"2023-09-05T08:04:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T12:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-answer-to-closing-education-gaps-is-not-race-or-wealth-but-family-values\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T08:09:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T12:09:59","slug":"the-answer-to-closing-education-gaps-is-not-race-or-wealth-but-family-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-answer-to-closing-education-gaps-is-not-race-or-wealth-but-family-values\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing education gaps does not depend on race or wealth, but rather on family values."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-answer-to-closing-education-gaps-is-not-race-or-wealth-but-family-values%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2021932&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Study Reveals\u200b Culture\u200b as the Main Factor in Educational Disparities<\/h2>\n<p>Many education policymakers and equity\u200d advocates\u2064 on the \u200dleft\u200b have insisted that different\u2063 educational outcomes among various racial and ethnic student groups are \u200cmainly due to demographic factors, such as race and socioeconomic status. But a new\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/fordhaminstitute.org\/national\/research\/excellence-gaps-race-and-socioeconomic-status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> has \u2064shown that culture, rather than demographics, is mainly \u2062responsible for \u201cExcellence gaps,\u201d the disparities in advanced academic performance \u2064between different student groups.<\/p>\n<p>Two researchers \u200bfrom the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Meredith Coffey, Ph.D., and Adam Tyner, Ph.D., analyzed \u2063nearly two decades of assessment data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/latest-poll-and-projections-show-michigan-gov-whitmer-on-edge-of-defeat\/\" title=\"Latest Poll and Projections Show Michigan Gov. Whitmer on Edge of Defeat\">eighth-grade reading<\/a>, \u200dmath (from 2003 to 2022), and science (from 2009 to 2019). They defined \u201cexcellence\u201d\u200c as students who earned \u201cadvanced\u201d scores on math and \u200creadings of the NAEP assessment. They used the mother\u2019s education \u2062as \u2063a proxy for the student\u2019s socioeconomic status since the NAEP questionnaire collects such\u2063 data by\u200c asking test-takers to select\u200b from the following options: \u201cShe did not\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/larry-elder-and-rose-mcgowan-criticize-newsom-media\/\" title=\"Larry Elder and Rose McGowan criticize Newsom, media\">finish high school<\/a>,\u201d \u201cShe graduated from high school,\u201d \u201cShe\u200b had some \u200beducation after high school,\u201d \u201cShe graduated from college,\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d (the final group was \u200dexcluded from the\u2064 analyses).<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Some of the \u2063study\u2019s findings confirmed what was\u200d expected: within the same racial or ethnic group, socioeconomic status correlates to education outcomes because the share of students \u2064achieving at the advanced level declines as socioeconomic status decreases.\u2062 For example, \u2062the percentage of black \u2063students \u200bwho scored \u201cAdvanced\u201d in math dropped from 3 percent of the highest socioeconomic status (mothers who graduated from \u200dcollege) to 0.5 percent\u200d of\u200b the lowest socioeconomic status (mothers who\u2063 didn\u2019t finish high school). Across racial groups, \u200bblack\u200b students of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-answer-to-closing-education-gaps-is-not-race-or-wealth-but-family-values\/\" title=\"Closing education gaps does not depend on race or wealth, but rather on family values.\">highest\u200b socioeconomic status outperformed lowest-socioeconomic-status white \u2062students<\/a> whose mothers didn\u2019t finish high school (2.5 \u2063percent) in math.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But \u2063data from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students presented \u200da different picture. We already knew that Asian students outperformed all racial groups overall.\u200d But the Fordham researchers found that in \u200cmath, 13 percent \u200dof \u2062the lowest-socioeconomic status AAPI students (mothers didn\u2019t graduate\u200b from high school) achieved the Advanced level, outperforming the highest-socioeconomic\u2064 status black (3 percent) and Hispanic students (6.8 percent), surpassed only by the\u200b highest-socioeconomic status white students (16.3 percent) and Asian students \u200cof <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/zach-goldberg-the-very-bad-reason-white-democrats-want-to-defund-the-police\/\" title=\"Zach Goldberg: The Very Bad Reason White Democrats Want to Defund the Police\">higher socioeconomic status<\/a>. Reading scores demonstrate a similar\u2062 pattern, suggesting that poor social \u2063and economic conditions are not necessarily barriers\u2062 to academic achievement.<\/p>\n<p>Further,\u200c the \u2064study revealed that racial\/ethnic excellence gaps within the highest-socioeconomic status group (college-educated\u2063 mothers) are much wider than those in the lowest-socioeconomic status\u2064 group (mothers\u200d who didn\u2019t\u200d graduate from high school). \u2064For \u200dexample, the gap between AAPI and black students whose mothers graduated from college is 14.5 percentage points. Meanwhile, \u201cfor the two \u200clowest SES groups, the white-black and white-Hispanic excellence gaps are \u200dsmall, ranging from 0.3 to 2.0 percentage points. The researchers were\u200c surprised that wealth doesn\u2019t always guarantee better education outcomes because \u201cfewer black and Hispanic students from\u2062 the\u200c highest-SES group (those with college-educated mothers) \u2063are achieving at advanced levels \u2063than we would expect given their socioeconomic \u200dstatus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study also finds that advanced achievement for all racial\/ethnic and socioeconomic status groups has been trending higher between 2000 and \u20642019, and the most significant improvement came from Asian and Hispanic students. For \u2062example, the percentage\u200d of students scoring at the \u2064advanced level in\u2063 math increased \u200d100 percent from 2003 to 2022 for Hispanic students and 92 percent for Asian students. \u2062However, the trend was reversed in the last three years, and advanced\u2063 math\u200d and \u2062reading achievement\u2063 dropped\u2062 for all \u2064racial\/ethnic\u2062 groups, \u2064likely due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-overwhelming-support-for-school-choice-in-n-c\/\" title=\"Poll: Overwhelming support for school choice in N.C.\">extended school closures<\/a> and ineffective remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Based on their findings, the researchers recommended policymakers and practitioners take \u2062steps to\u2062 boost advanced achievement for all student groups while narrowing excellence\u200b gaps. Interestingly, some recommendations contradict policies popularized by the woke left in the name\u200d of \u201cequity.\u201d For example, woke school boards and politicians have been getting rid of \u2064gifted and talented programs at K\u201312 \u2064schools nationwide, claiming such programs are exacerbating\u200c the school system\u2019s already stark racial and economic segregation. But based on their study, the researchers\u2064 at\u200b Fordham suggest that \u201cmaking \u200bsure that every elementary school in the country, including \u200bhigh-poverty Title I schools, has a robust gifted program in place \u200bshould dramatically increase \u200cthe number of black, Hispanic, and lower-SES\u200c students entering the pipeline \u200bof advanced learning opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Drawing from AAPI students\u2019 academic success, especially those from the\u2062 lowest SES, the researchers recommend: \u201cWe need to learn from the success of AAPI students and their families\u2014not be threatened by\u2064 it or seek\u2063 to depress their chances of gaining\u2063 admission to prestigious \u2063institutions,\u201d\u200c a subtle swipe at the woke left\u2019s ongoing efforts to\u2064 limit\u2062 Asian \u200cstudents enrollment at some of the nation\u2019s most selective high schools and elite colleges to \u200dachieve so-called \u200d\u201cdiversity\u201d and \u201cequity. Rather than insisting \u201cthere are too many Asian students\u201d \u200cin certain programs and education institutions, the researchers suggest, \u201cAt the national, \u2063state, and local levels, policymakers and educators should ask: Are \u2062there observable practices among Asian students that could apply more broadly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u2063 researchers didn\u2019t go \u2063into any details about what these observable practices are. As \u2064an Asian American, I can \u2063attest \u2064that cultural factors have significantly impacted Asian students\u2019 overall academic success. \u200dAsian\u200d American cultures place high values on work ethics and learning. Parents instill in their\u200d children\u2064 from \u200ca young age that education is their only path to social \u200band\u200c economic mobility. Thus, most Asian students are motivated to work hard\u200b and get \u2062good grades at school. \u200cThey are\u200d more likely to take advanced classes and\u200b participate\u200d in academic competitions. Asian parents, even those less educated and struggling economically, generally foster a supportive learning environment at home and \u200bare\u2064 willing to back \u200btheir children\u2019s learning needs with all the resources they \u200dcan muster because they regard money spent\u200d on their children\u2019s education as the best investment.<\/p>\n<p>But the most\u200b important aspect \u200dof\u200d Asian\u200d American culture\u2063 is the emphasis on family and marriage. Eighty-two percent of Asian and Pacific\u200b Islander children under 18 in the \u200bU.S.\u200d live with \u200cboth of their parents, while only 34\u200c percent of black children live\u2064 in \u2063a two-parent\u200d household. Plenty of research has shown that regardless of race and parents\u2019 education attainment, \u2064\u201cchildren are \u200bsignificantly more likely to avoid poverty and prison \u200cand to graduate from college if they are \u2062raised in an intact two-parent family. In his book, <em>Agency<\/em>, educator\u200b Ian\u2064 Rowe wrote, \u201cIf we truly \u200cwant \u200dto improve outcomes for children,\u200b we must have the moral courage to measure student achievement \u200coutcomes by family structure groups as routinely as we already do by race, class, and gender. We\u200d must overcome our inattentional\u2014 or perhaps intentional \u2014 blindness.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The left\u2019s obsession with\u200c using race and wealth to explain away disparity in education outcomes and their\u2062 equity-driven policies, from canceling the\u2062 gifted and talented programs to\u200b delaying teaching algebra, have only widened achievement gaps among students of different racial and ethnic groups, hurting black and Hispanic students while unfairly penalizing high-achieving Asian students. The Fordham study is a reminder \u2062that\u200b anyone who is\u2062 serious about narrowing the achievement gap may want to \u2064learn \u2062from\u200c Asian community and apply cultural practices such as\u2064 valuing marriage, hard \u200cwork,\u200b and learning \u2062in\u2064 their families\u200b and communities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>educational achievement. This challenges the prevailing belief and highlights the significance of cultural factors in shaping educational outcomes. The study suggests that addressing cultural barriers and promoting inclusivity can help bridge the excellence gaps among different racial and ethnic student groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":536,"featured_media":2021933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2021932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2021932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2021933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2021932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2021932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2021932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}