The Education Gap: Does It Really Matter?

In preparation for an interview for a program that will change my life and get me on the track to becoming a teacher (which is probably why I'm so nervous for it), I had to read a November 2010 article about the education/achievement gap between students of color and Asian and white students. This is not a problem lost on me, just a problem that I feel has received too much misguided attention and thought.

Yes, there is a problem, especially when you consider that the gap was widened over the years. Access should be at an all-time high and rising, but one group is improving while the other plateaus or even regresses. However, back to the article; it discussed potential race- and ethnicity-conscious strategies that, when implemented, would help alievate the achievement gap. And I thought most of it was nonsense. It is important to acknowledge the achievement gap and to brainstorm ideas and methodologies to close this gap, but concentrating on the gap and. Of the students that make up this gap does these students a disservice. That being said, before these race- and ethnicity-conscious strategies can be developed, tested and implememnted, it is more imperative that both educators and administrators identify their own personal biases.

As a person of color that has had success in academics, I find myself in an odd position. Though I cannot relate to these students of color in their academic struggles, I can identify in the obstacles that exist for students of color in academia.