Study explains reason behind science achievement gap
By Rebecca Klein, Huffington Post
The seeds of the achievement gap in science are planted before a child has ever set foot in an elementary school, according to a new study.
The new report out this month looks to explain why white, upper-class eighth-graders tend to perform much better in science than their low-income and minority peers.
Unfortunately, the answer involves a series of factors beyond any child’s control. By the time they enter kindergarten, white, affluent students already have a much larger general knowledge of science than their minority classmates, the study shows. This gap follows white and black students beyond elementary school to middle school, where more affluent students substantially outperform their peers on measures of science achievement.
