The Challenge: The achievement gap is the difference among the academic performance of different ethnic groups. Even though schools are now desegregated, public education has failed to deliver the promise of a quality education to Hispanics.
The Solution: Attack the soft bigotry of low expectations and demand that schools close the achievement gap between Hispanics and whites.
HOW NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND WILL RAISE RESULTS FOR ALL
No Child Left Behind is an unprecedented commitment and focuses not on money,
but on results.
- For the first time in the history of the world, a society has said that we are going to educate every child. We will provide every American boy and girl with a quality education—regardless of ethnicity, income or background.
Educating every child is the greatest moral challenge of our time.
- Hispanic children often don't attend school until they reach mandatory school age.
- They have the highest dropout rates of any group in the country—more than 30 percent of Hispanic students drop out.
- On the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading assessment, 40 percent of white fourth graders scored at or above proficient, compared to only 16 percent of their Hispanic counterparts.
- In math, Hispanic achievement also lagged: 34 percent of white fourth graders scored at or above proficient. Just 10 percent of Hispanics scored as high achievers.
- The racial achievement gap is real.
- Just 10 percent of Hispanic students get a college education.
We must test all groups of students so we can target the achievement gap, define it and attack it with the full knowledge and support of our communities.
- The president is committed to eliminating the achievement gap, not hiding it within school or statewide averages. That's why he wants each school to examine achievement every year in third through eighth grades by race, ethnicity, economic background and disabilities. That way we won't leave any group or child behind.
- In addition, the president formed a Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans to develop a multi-year plan to close the educational achievement gap for Hispanic Americans through coordinated efforts among parents, community leaders, business leaders, educators and public officials. Significant research is currently examining the best ways to teach children who start school not speaking English.
Download this fact sheet. (It is in PDF format.)
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Official U.S. Department of Education web site.