Severing the Achievement Gap in the Education of Students contains powerful learning activities and successful research-based strategies for the classroom, the school, and the district level. This work is one of several learning outcomes of the SAGES Summer Academy 2006. The SAGES Initiative represents everyone and every effort that justly "severs" an achievement gap in student education. The heart of the Academy was empowerment. The SAGES Summer Academy provided students with life-changing experiences through the following five components: university exposure, academic goal setting, student empowerment, mentorship and career exploration, and academic enrichment. The attendees learned about life's journey with the various needs, supporters, hindrances, and greatness; saw their society and themselves. In an attempt to let their light shine in society, they shared perspectives and their hearts, heads, and hands collaborating to achieve our goals. All proceeds from this book will go to the Rockwood VICC Foundation to assist the student SAGES with college scholarships, supplies, and supplemental services as they work to fulfill their path and promise. To learn more about the Rockwood VICC Foundation please call: 636-938-2200, or visit http: //www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/departments/vicc/VICCFoundation.htm

The achievement gap is one of the most talked about issues in U.S. education. It shows up in grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college completion. This book argues that the focus on the gap is misplaced. Today, we need to look at the societal factors that have accumulated over time and have resulted in poverty level pay for teachers, lack of resources in out poorest schools and an abundance of children entering our schools unprepared. Dr. Wages has written a detailed, well documented book that can serve as an informative resource to create an awareness of the multidimensional and complex issues of poverty.

" The test score gap between blacks and whites—on vocabulary, reading, and math tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence--is large enough to have far-reaching social and economic consequences. In their introduction to this book, Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips argue that eliminating the disparity would dramatically reduce economic and educational inequality between blacks and whites. Indeed, they think that closing the gap would do more to promote racial equality than any other strategy now under serious discussion. The book offers a comprehensive look at the factors that contribute to the test score gap and discusses options for substantially reducing it. Although significant attempts have been made over the past three decades to shrink the test score gap, including increased funding for predominantly black schools, desegregation of southern schools, and programs to alleviate poverty, the median black American still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. The book brings together recent evidence on some of the most controversial and puzzling aspects of the test score debate, including the role of test bias, heredity, and family background. It also looks at how and why the gap has changed over the past generation, reviews the educational, psychological, and cultural explanations for the gap, and analyzes its educational and economic consequences. The authors demonstrate that traditional explanations account for only a small part of the black-white test score gap. They argue that this is partly because traditional explanations have put too much emphasis on racial disparities in economic resources, both in homes and in schools, and on demographic factors like family structure. They say that successful theories will put more emphasis on psychological and cultural factors, such as the way black and white parents teach their children to deal with things they do not know or understand, and the way black and white children respond to the same classroom experiences. Finally, they call for large-scale experiments to determine the effects of schools' racial mix, class size, ability grouping, and other policies. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Claude Steele, Ronald Ferguson, William G. Bowen, Philip Cook, and William Julius Wilson. "

"With the spotlight on schools and the achievement of subgroups of students, educators need to read this book and reflect on the guiding questions. Then we need to take the challenge and do what we know is right so we are doubling student performance and closing achievement gaps." —Leslie Standerfer, Principal Estrella Foothills High School, Goodyear, AZ "This text is the product of considerable research and disciplined reflection on closing the student achievement gap in schools, unquestionably the most important challenge facing schools. The book offers a wealth of well-illustrated advice about how to address this challenge and should be required reading for every principal and superintendent." —Kenneth Leithwood, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto The keys to closing achievement gaps from principals who have been there! What does it take to reach across cultural and socioeconomic barriers to bridge student achievement gaps? Drawing on five years of nationwide research, the authors present Learning First, an integrated schoolwide framework of collaborative leadership that helps school leaders advance learning for all students. Using case examples that illustrate how Learning First works in action and providing worksheets, checklists, and rubrics to support implementation, the book shows principals how to apply this field-tested model to four critical dimensions of leadership: Advancing equity and excellence in student learning Developing teachers′ instructional capacity Managing and aligning resources Building and engaging community Learning First! offers an approach that strengthens principals′ leadership skills, delineates shared goals for professional communities, and helps educators keep their eyes on the prize—closing the achievement gap in their schools.

'Beginning with a remarkably comprehensive and accessible analysis of the gap's causes, the book offers a refreshingly balanced, evidence-based, state-of-the-art outline of productive solutions that should inform the work of all educational stakeholders' - Ken Leithwood, Professor, OISE/University of Toronto 'No one is better positioned than Joseph Murphy to provide lessons for education leaders on this important topic' - Andrew Porter, George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education , University of Pennsylvania 'For too long, the achievement gap has been proclaimed, discussed, and then dismissed as a subject of despair. Seldom has it been systematically defined, placed in historical perspective, or positively addressed. Through thorough scholarship, comprehensive knowledge, and creativity, this book fills that void' - James W. Guthrie, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Educational Leadership and Public Policy, Vanderbilt University 'While offering no simple pathway to progress, this book reminds us how much more we can do to close achievement gaps' - Michael S. Knapp, Director Center for the Study of Teaching & Policy, University of Washington Distinguished researcher Joseph F. Murphy has gathered and analyzed the most up-to-date research and data to help headteachers understand what the achievement gap is, why it persists, and what teachers can do about it. This comprehensive handbook: - Examines external factors that contribute to achievement gaps, such as socioeconomic status, family environment, racism, and individual differences - Covers internal factors such as instruction, school culture, and school support - Provides strategies for addressing both internal and external factors to make an impact.

The Second Edition of Bridging the Achievement Gap: What Successful Educators and Parents Do includes 11 examples ofK-12 high performing public schools which serve mostly African American students. The book argues that school district leaders with low performing schools should consider what these high performing schools do in their planning to reverse the on-going trend of relatively low academic performance of African American students. Included in the Solution Chapter is the rationale for state legislation to provide funding for students who are low performing, but may not qualify for current funding for low income students. Also included in that chapter is the actual legislative language currently under consideration by the California State Legislature. The book contains other supporting research on this topic.

The achievement gap between white students and African American and Hispanic students has been debated by scholars and lamented by policymakers since it was first documented in 1966. The average black or Hispanic secondary school student currently achieves at about the same level as the average white student in the lowest quartile of white achievement. Black and Hispanic students are much less likely than white students to graduate from high school, acquire a college or advanced degree, or earn a middle-class living. They are also much more likely than whites to suffer social problems that often accompany low income. While educators have gained an understanding of the causes and effects of the education achievement gap, they have been less successful in finding ways to eliminate it—until now. This book provides, for the first time in one place, evidence that the achievement gap can be bridged. A variety of schools and school reforms are boosting the achievement of black and Hispanic students to levels nearing those of whites. Bridging the Achievement Gap brings together the findings of renowned education scholars who show how various states, school districts, and individual schools have lifted the achievement levels of poor and minority students. The most promising strategies include focusing on core academic skills, reducing class size, enrolling students in more challenging courses, administering annual achievement assessment tests, creating schools with a culture of competition and success, and offering vouchers in big-city school districts. While implementing new educational programs on a large scale is fraught with difficulties, these successful reform efforts offer what could be the start of widespread effective solutions for bridging the achievement gap.