Professional Documents
Culture Documents
De Pena-Ids801-Annotated Bibliografy Due 12-09-13
De Pena-Ids801-Annotated Bibliografy Due 12-09-13
De Pena-Ids801-Annotated Bibliografy Due 12-09-13
-Annotated Bibliography
What factors are affecting academic achievement among minority students in Davidson and
Williamson County public schools?
Annotated Bibliography
Ruben E. De Pena
Fort Hays State University
Annotated Bibliography
Epstein, J.L., Sanders, M.G., Sheldon, S.B., Simon, B.S., Clark, K., Rodriguez, N. Williams,
K.J. (2012). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (3rd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
In this work, the authors provide compelling evidence that school, family and community
partnerships are key factors toward students academic achievement. They argue that parents,
educators, and community members share responsibility for students learning and development.
They illustrate this concept through a six-component framework: Parenting, communicating,
volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. This
structure is based on the findings of many studies and backed by years of experience from
educators working with families in elementary, middle, and high schools
(p. 14). Once the framework process is properly implemented, studies show that students
respond very positively, yet differently, under each of the six types of components within the
framework such as improving attendance, gaining academic skills, and other attributes (p. 159).
This article highlights the decline of low-income schools in the annual recognition of
high performing or reward schools in Tennessee based on the Tennessee Comprehensive
Assessment Program (TCAP). This assessment is given every year to students in grades 3-8.
High school students are assessed through end-of course exams.
The article continues to say that while the achievement gap between minority and their
peers is closing, that is not the case between poor and affluent students, where the gap is actually
widening. Williamson County, for example, which is known for its affluent families, almost
tripled the number of reward schools. In contrast, Metro Nashville Public Schools where more
than 70% of students receive either free or reduced-priced meals, only a handful of schools made
the list.
Nieto, S. & Bode, P. (2008). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural
education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Throughout this work, the authors present theoretical analyses and action plans to help
close the achievement gap affecting minority students. In this regard, they present very intuitive
conclusions on the need to understand the sociopolitical context of multicultural education. They
also argue that poverty and other social barriers negatively affect learning and that schools alone
cannot tackle societal inequality and stratification. As a matter of fact David Berliner contends
that poverty alone places severe limits on what can be accomplished through educational reform
efforts, especially those associated with the No Child Left Behind Legislation (as cited by Nieto
and Bode, p. 14).
Reardon, S. (2012). Income inequality producing a new kind of achievement gap. American
Teacher. 96(5), 7-7. Retrieved from
http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.fhsu.edu:2048/ehost/detail?vid=24&sid=62d989e59384-4e41-aad8075e85c1ae22%40sessionmgr11&hid=16&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3
d#db=eax&AN=74483939
This article contends that, for decades, one of the big concerns in public education has
been reducing the achievement gap between white and minority students, especially AfricanAmerican students. While some positive outcomes have occurred in that regard, the problem is
the income inequality among these groups continues to widen. According to Reardon, a reason
for that is that affluent parents tend to invest more in resources that enhance their childrens
achievement opportunities including sports, music, tutoring, and other activities vs. their lowincome counterparts. Also, these high-income families are more likely to spend more time
involved in their childrens schools. A very striking piece of information is that according to
one estimate, by the time students from affluent families start elementary school, they will have
spent about 400 more hours than low-income children in literacy activities.
Reardon, S. F. (2013). The widening income achievement gap. Educational Leadership, 70(8),
10-16. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.fhsu.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN
=87529513&site=ehost-live
Rienties, B., Beausaert, S., Grohnert, T., Niemantsverdriet, S., & Kommers, P. (2012).
Understanding academic performance of international students: the role of
ethnicity, academic and social integration. Higher Education, 63(6), 685-700.
doi:10.1007/s10734-011-9468-1
Scanlan, M. (2011). Inclusin: How school leaders can accent inclusion for bilingual students,
families, & communities. Multilingual Education, 18(2), 5-9. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ951838.pdf
In this article, Scanlan highlights the simple fact that demographic shifts in the United
States are creating a more linguistically diverse population. This phenomenon is seen in many
school districts across the country. While schools can be welcoming and liberating, they can also
be alienating and confining in many facets. The author continues by saying that even though it is
officially illegal segregation by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, linguistic heritage,
disability, sexual orientation, family structure, and even religious affiliation still persists in
school (p.5). The solution is a conceptual framework for school leaders to create a welcoming
environment for linguistically diverse students. These educators need to first recognize both the
cultural and linguistic values these students and families can offer. Lastly, educators should
recognize the importance of engaging parents of these minority students and creating
mechanisms to do it on a regular basis toward academy victory (p.9).
Black: 22.9%
Black: 33.7%
Hispanic: 27.5%
Hispanic: 35.6%
White: 30.3%
White: 34.1%
Black: 9.2%
Black: 25.6%
Hispanic: 11.3%
Hispanic: 25.8%
White: 24.6%
White: 43.8%
United States Commission of Civil Rights. (2006). The benefits of racial and ethnic diversity in
elementary and secondary education a briefing before the United States Commission on
Civil Rights, held in Washington, D.C., July 28, 2006, Washington, D.C. : U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights. 1-117. Retrieved from
http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/112806diversity.pdf
This study was conducted by a group of experts on the issue and presented to the U.S.
Commissions on Civil Rights. It presents four core positive outcomes:
Enhanced Learning: African American students who moved from segregated to desegregated
settings with white peers experienced short-term gains in test scores.
Long-term educational and occupational gains: Studies of desegregation impacts have focused,
rather than test score improvement, have focused on college attendance and completion,
occupational attainment, or wages. Increased Social Interaction: Desegregated experiences for
African American students lead to increased interaction with members of other racial groups in
later years. Improved Attitudes and Citizenship: Recent studies on attitudes of students toward
their peers of other racial groups have found that students of all racial/ethnic groups who attend
more diverse schools have higher comfort levels with members of racial groups different than
their own, and experience an increased sense of civic engagement (p.79).
Weiher, G. R. & Tedin, K. L. (2006). Minority student achievement. Review of Policy Research.
23(5), 963-967.
doi: 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2006.00244.x
This article undoubtedly highlights the achievement gap between white students and
minority students. The basis for that is the amount of evidence that supports that primarily
African American and Hispanic/Latino students are the most likely to be trapped in lowperforming schools. Another issue is the controversial practice of addressing the needs of these
students by retaking them in grade. Many argue that this practice can be used to
disproportionally hold back minority students. Those who sustain that argument say that race,
instead of learning, play a major role in retention.
To address this issue, one of the most popular strategies school districts have used in
recent years is the creation or expansion of school choice programs. School choice advocates
contend that more school options are needed as minority student is depressed as a result of
shortage of high-quality educational options for minority students (p. 964).
Williams, A (2011). A call for change: Narrowing the achievement gap between white and
Minority students. The Clearing House, 84, 65-71.
doi: 10.1080/00098655.2010.511308
This work focuses on the need for educators to understand strategies that work and those
that dont toward closing the ongoing achievement gap between white and minority students.
Although research has shown a number of factors contributing to the issue, such as income level,
home language, parental involvement, and others, the only variable that consistently correlates
with achievement is socioeconomic status, but there is no consensus by all researchers (p.66).
There are school variables including teacher quality, teacher expectations, small class
sizes, standards-based (student-centered) strategies, and detracking that seem to work in reducing
the achievement gap according to many studies. Something that seems to work if for school
leaders to create a climate of positive student-teacher interactions and relationships. Teachers
need more time to adequately plan and collaborate with their coworkers. None of this, however,
can happen without fundamental changes in the beliefs and attitudes of educators (pp. 69-70).