Strategies for Narrowing the Achievement Gap
A new report entitled "All Students Reaching the Top: Strategies for Closing Achievement Gaps" aims to guide educators and policymakers in helping raise the performance of minority students. "I don't think testing is the place you begin," said Dr. Edmund W. Gordon, chairman of the National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of Academic Ability that developed the report. The group advocates an approach that includes supplementary learning opportunities for children, teacher training, and building students' trust in their schools and teachers. "You begin with these kinds of things in our report and, two, three, four, five years down the road you can expect to see results reflected in the tests," said Gordon.
Gordon, a professor emeritus of psychology and education from TC, led a similar panel in 1999 whose report drew national attention to the achievement gap. The 2004 report was funded in-part by the College.
The article, entitled "Panel Outlines Strategy for Raising Minority Achievement," appeared in the October 6 edition of Education Week.