Prudence L. Carter and Kevin G. Welner (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199982981
- eISBN:
- 9780199346219
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199982981.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
While the achievement gap has dominated policy discussions over the past two decades, relatively little attention has been paid to a gap that is even more at odds with American ideals: the ...
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While the achievement gap has dominated policy discussions over the past two decades, relatively little attention has been paid to a gap that is even more at odds with American ideals: the opportunity gap. Opportunity and achievement, while inextricably connected, are very different goals. Every American will not go to college. But every American should be given fair opportunities to be prepared for college. By treating opportunity as an afterthought and obsessively focusing on measuring achievement, the nation’s policymakers have made little progress in measuring or addressing inequitable opportunities. Policy has therefore failed to engage with these challenges or with the supports and resources that lead to improvements in student learning. The achievement gap has not arisen by coincidence; children learn when they have opportunities to learn, and gaps in opportunities have led to gaps in achievement. Moreover, students’ learning experiences and outcomes are deeply affected by many factors outside the immediate control of schools.Closing the Opportunity Gap brings together top experts who offer evidence-based essays that paint a powerful and shocking picture of denied opportunities. They also describe sensible, research-based policy approaches that will enhance opportunities. They highlight the discrepancies that exist in our society and in our public schools, focusing on how policy decisions and broader circumstances conspire to create the opportunity gap that leads inexorably to the outcome differences that have become so stark.Less
While the achievement gap has dominated policy discussions over the past two decades, relatively little attention has been paid to a gap that is even more at odds with American ideals: the opportunity gap. Opportunity and achievement, while inextricably connected, are very different goals. Every American will not go to college. But every American should be given fair opportunities to be prepared for college. By treating opportunity as an afterthought and obsessively focusing on measuring achievement, the nation’s policymakers have made little progress in measuring or addressing inequitable opportunities. Policy has therefore failed to engage with these challenges or with the supports and resources that lead to improvements in student learning. The achievement gap has not arisen by coincidence; children learn when they have opportunities to learn, and gaps in opportunities have led to gaps in achievement. Moreover, students’ learning experiences and outcomes are deeply affected by many factors outside the immediate control of schools.Closing the Opportunity Gap brings together top experts who offer evidence-based essays that paint a powerful and shocking picture of denied opportunities. They also describe sensible, research-based policy approaches that will enhance opportunities. They highlight the discrepancies that exist in our society and in our public schools, focusing on how policy decisions and broader circumstances conspire to create the opportunity gap that leads inexorably to the outcome differences that have become so stark.
Kevin G. Welner and Prudence L. Carter
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199982981
- eISBN:
- 9780199346219
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199982981.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
Kevin Welner and Prudence Carter explain why it is important to shift the nation’s focus back toward an “opportunity gap” framing of educational inequity. Thinking about inputs helps us to focus on ...
More
Kevin Welner and Prudence Carter explain why it is important to shift the nation’s focus back toward an “opportunity gap” framing of educational inequity. Thinking about inputs helps us to focus on the deficiencies in the foundational components of societies, schools, and communities that produce significant differences in educational—and ultimately socioeconomic—outcomes. Thinking in terms of “achievement gaps” emphasizes the symptoms; thinking about unequal opportunity highlights the causes.Importantly, discussions of both achievement and opportunity gaps sensibly begin with the premise that we as a nation must act to redress the serious inequities that exist between and within schools, as well as among different people, groups, and communities across the country. Both discussions include an understanding that outcomes should be measured, analyzed, and addressed. Welner and Carter argue thattest-score and attainment differences will not disappear until policy is dedicated to changing the conditions that shape and impede achievement.Less
Kevin Welner and Prudence Carter explain why it is important to shift the nation’s focus back toward an “opportunity gap” framing of educational inequity. Thinking about inputs helps us to focus on the deficiencies in the foundational components of societies, schools, and communities that produce significant differences in educational—and ultimately socioeconomic—outcomes. Thinking in terms of “achievement gaps” emphasizes the symptoms; thinking about unequal opportunity highlights the causes.Importantly, discussions of both achievement and opportunity gaps sensibly begin with the premise that we as a nation must act to redress the serious inequities that exist between and within schools, as well as among different people, groups, and communities across the country. Both discussions include an understanding that outcomes should be measured, analyzed, and addressed. Welner and Carter argue thattest-score and attainment differences will not disappear until policy is dedicated to changing the conditions that shape and impede achievement.
Prudence L. Carter and Kevin G. Welner
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199982981
- eISBN:
- 9780199346219
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199982981.003.0016
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
Carter and Welner bring together the evidence compiled by the book’s authors, describing a wide and deep opportunity gap arising from the accumulated impact of many factors: segregation in housing in ...
More
Carter and Welner bring together the evidence compiled by the book’s authors, describing a wide and deep opportunity gap arising from the accumulated impact of many factors: segregation in housing in schooling; differences in resources between poor and wealthier children; differences in access to high-quality preschool; between-school differences in teacher training, teacher experience, and teacher quality, as well as in other resources, such as technology, safe buildings with heating and air conditioning, textbooks, working bathrooms, and class size; differences in the provision of engaging, deep, project-based learning versus instruction focused on raising testscores; stratified school opportunities arising from school choice policies; the widespread provision of culturally unresponsive curriculum and instruction; and the failure to value and build on the strengths of language minority children. The authors offer a summary of policy recommendations that their volume collaborators and they argue would help the United States create a fair and equitable system for its millions of school-aged youth.Less
Carter and Welner bring together the evidence compiled by the book’s authors, describing a wide and deep opportunity gap arising from the accumulated impact of many factors: segregation in housing in schooling; differences in resources between poor and wealthier children; differences in access to high-quality preschool; between-school differences in teacher training, teacher experience, and teacher quality, as well as in other resources, such as technology, safe buildings with heating and air conditioning, textbooks, working bathrooms, and class size; differences in the provision of engaging, deep, project-based learning versus instruction focused on raising testscores; stratified school opportunities arising from school choice policies; the widespread provision of culturally unresponsive curriculum and instruction; and the failure to value and build on the strengths of language minority children. The authors offer a summary of policy recommendations that their volume collaborators and they argue would help the United States create a fair and equitable system for its millions of school-aged youth.
