On the Intractability of the Achievement Gap in Urban Schools and the Discursive Practice of Continuing Racial Discrimination

In: Education and urban society, Band 34, Heft 3, S. 298-311

Abstract

The "achievement gap" between African American and Latino students and those of their White counterparts continues to evoke national cries of consternation and condemnation of the public schools, particularly those in urban areas. This article posits that the achievement gap will never be resolved because it is an artifact of the process of measurement in which flawed tests have been used to assess pupil progress. In particular, IQ and its derivative achievement tests cousins have always shown that socioeconomic status (SES) is a crucial variable in explaining test score variance. SES is part of the concept of cultural capital, and this form of capital is a potent predictor of student success.