THE FIXED PIPELINE 1

The Fixed Pipeline:

Understanding and Reforming the Advanced Education System

Daniel Fox

Department of Education Graduate Program, The University of Alabama

CSE 530: Modern Secondary School Program

Dr. Shelly Melchior

November 11, 2021

THE FIXED PIPELINE 2

Introduction

Anyone around the world familiar with the United States and its culture should know

about the idea of the “American dream." Author James Truslow Adams created this term in

1931 to describe the cultural belief that the United States is a land of freedom and opportunity

where anyone could gain material wealth and emotional happiness if they work hard enough to

achieve their goals. Adams especially goes out of his way to emphasize that these gains can be

accomplished regardless of the circumstances of one's birth and position within society (Adams,

1931). Adams's message has reverberated throughout the societal fabric of the United States and

other western nations, work hard enough, and you will achieve success in life.

The ideology of the “American dream” has vastly permeated the educational system.

Renowned preschool programs test toddlers for various aptitudes both for acceptance into their

program and for measurement of the child’s academic success and potential. Federal law

provides that elementary schools across all states offer standardized testing for students

beginning in the third grade, and some states such as California even offer standardized testing

for students earlier than the third grade. Middle and high schools often use student test scores to

determine individual students’ academic tracks and curriculum. Colleges heavily rely upon

scores from the SAT and ACT to measure a student’s application for entry into their institution.

The entire educational system is a continuous network of test scores, grades, and other numbers

which define the students’ academic output, success, and potential.

Starting with preschool programs, a student enters a virtual domino effect of academic

placement and decisions made on their behalf based on their academic output. According to the

“American dream,” the effort a child makes in preschool directly influences their success and

subsequent academic placement in the next phase of their education and so on until the student
THE FIXED PIPELINE 3

finds employment in the workforce. However, the flaw in this ideology is that the concepts of

hard work, opportunity and success cannot be applied equally as a blanket statement to every

student. Students are unique and have numerous external and internal factors which contribute

to their academic output. These factors are frequently ignored elements of student output and

achievement and can be seen in the underrepresentation of numerous minority demographics in

advanced education.

Problem Statement and Hypothesis

The current established standards for entry into advanced education create a

discriminatory system that underrepresents minority students and limits their potential future

opportunities for higher education. Education has quickly become a meritocracy where students

with high scores are rewarded with placement into the advanced curriculum with access to better

resources and teachers throughout their schooling years (Ford, 1998). Numerous demographical

factors such as race, socioeconomic status, location, or native spoken language influence the

academic output for many students, especially during early childhood (Ford, 1998; Ricciardi &

Winsler, 2021; Yaluma & Tyner, 2021). In his novel The Tyranny of Merit, Michael Sandel

explains how those demographic factors create a ripple effect for a student's educational

experience culminating in the likelihood of that student having access to university-level

education. Families who are traditionally middle-upper income, suburban, and college education

often fight to ensure their child has access to the best school districts, teachers, and other

academic preparation programs (Carnevale, Schmidt, & Strohl, 2020). These parents understand

the importance of academic placement into advanced education and student test scores for their

child’s access to various opportunities to higher education and thus use their resources to provide

the best possible outcome for their child (Sandel, 2020).

THE FIXED PIPELINE 4

This paper will examine how the current structure for access to advanced education is a

flawed merit system established to benefit those born with natural privilege and advantages

while offering potential solutions for providing equal legitimate education for all students.

Advanced education has become a key cog in the inherent inequities that persist in the

educational system. Many parents of privilege highly covet placement into advanced education

as a resume builder that will make their child more likely to receive entry into higher education

and potentially earn scholarships to finance that education. The advanced education system is

defective and needs to be reevaluated to ensure equal opportunity for all students regardless of

their background and privilege. This paper proposes a simple but complex hypothesis for the

problem at hand. The elimination of advanced education by merging standard education classes

with advanced education classes will reduce the gap that persists in education by creating a more

collaborative and challenging learning environment for all students.

Key Terms

Current scholarship has seen the overlapping of numerous key terms and definitions

regarding various elements of advanced education and the underrepresentation of minority

students. For this work, advanced education will classify any academic program that provides a

different curriculum that separates them from general education classes. These kinds of

programs would include advanced placement (AP), pre-advanced placement (PAP), international

baccalaureate (IB), honors classes, gifted and talented (GT), and others. This work will use the

term "excellence gap" to refer to the underrepresentation of students in areas of advanced

education based on their demographic background (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021).

THE FIXED PIPELINE 5

Literature Review

Current scholarship of the excellence gap that persists in advanced education is extensive.

Here an examination and review of the literature provides a greater understanding of the present

state of the excellence gap, examines the standards and prerequisites for entry into advanced

education, and potential solutions for reducing the excellence gap. However, considering the

excellence gap continues to be prevalent in the educational system, this work will also provide

gaps in the literature that deserve attention and research from the academic community.

Understanding the Excellence Gap

As referenced earlier, the excellence gap refers to the disproportionate

underrepresentation of students in advanced education courses (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021).

Advanced coursework frequently begins in elementary school, intended to prepare students to

take advanced courses in middle school and subsequently high school. These courses are

generally faster-paced and more detailed as they continuously prepare students for higher

education (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). The advanced curriculum these students experience

plays a significant role in determining their future. For example, students who take AP courses

are more likely to earn higher grades, score better on standardized tests, and enter higher

education (Flowers, 2008; Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). Specific advanced courses such as AP

classes can provide college credit and reduce higher education's financial burden and impact

(Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). Colleges readily look at student scores and participation in

advanced courses, which are frequently inflated numbers relative to the student's actual academic

ability (Hermanowicz, 2019). Looking further into the future, a student taking advanced

education courses directly correlates to their future income in the workforce (Flowers, 2008;

Glater, 2017).
THE FIXED PIPELINE 6

When examining the population of students enrolled in advanced education courses, it is

evident that many demographics are underrepresented in their enrollment. One of the groups

most significantly affected by underrepresentation is students of color (Elhoweris, Mutua,

Alsheikh, & Holloway, 2005; Ford, 1998; Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021; Yaluma & Tyner, 2021).

In 2013, Black students represented 14.5% of all high school graduates in the United States but

only accounted for 9.2% of students enrolled in AP classes, while Hispanic students represented

23.5% of graduates but only 18.8% of AP class enrollment (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). The

excellence gap for minority students is even more prevalent when evaluating student output. For

example, out of all students who score at a mastery level on an AP exam, only 3.5% were Black

(Wakelyn & National Governors Association Center, 2010). Similar underrepresentation for

students of color exists in other advanced courses such as GT education (Ford, 1998).

The underrepresentation of students of color in advanced courses in high school would

logically be assumed to be correlated to their academic competence in earlier education, such as

elementary school. Previous studies demonstrate that no significant gap existed between

minority and White students in elementary school competence (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021).

Therefore, statistically, a minority or white student demonstrating high elementary school

competence should have equal odds of entering advanced programs in high school. However,

despite demonstrating the same elementary school competence, minority students were far less

likely than white students to enroll in advanced classes in high school. Another factor

contributing to the excellence gap for students of color, specifically Black students, is the

cultural clash between higher academic achievement and stereotypical Black culture. Black

students have demonstrated hesitancy to enroll in advanced courses as some perceived high-
THE FIXED PIPELINE 7

quality academic output as acting "White" and can succumb to peer pressure by not pursuing

courses that would benefit their future (Ford, Granthan, & Whiting, 2008).

The other demographic which demonstrates significant underrepresentation in advanced

coursework are students from a lower socioeconomic status. A family’s socioeconomic status is

the most significant factor in differentiating students who take advanced coursework and

students who do not (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). An estimated 16% of students from a low-

income background have ever taken an AP or IB course compared to 51% of students from a

high-income background (Wakelyn & National Governors Association Center, 2010).

Socioeconomic status is somewhat unique within the educational system as nearly every school

will have at least some level of socioeconomic diversity in their student population. The poverty

experienced early in life especially has a direct impact on contributing to the underrepresentation

of the demographic in advanced education. A lack of resources and educational opportunities at

an early age reduces the probability of thriving academically (Burney & Beilke, 2008). Low-

income students arrive at school less prepared than high-income students, which creates a chain

reaction that makes them less likely to access advanced education courses and subsequent higher

education (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021).

Given the underrepresentation of students of color and low socioeconomic status in

advanced education, it should come as no surprise that the demographics are directly correlated.

In 2019, the United States Census Bureau estimated that 18.8% of Black persons and 15.7% of

Hispanic persons lived in poverty compared to only 7.3% of non-Hispanic White persons. The

theory that poverty is mainly endured by persons of color, which contributes to the excellence

gap for students of color, is entirely reasonable. Therefore, when evaluating implementation
THE FIXED PIPELINE 8

plans to reduce and eliminate the excellence gap, recognizing the intersection of students of color

with low socioeconomic status is paramount.

Current Prerequisites and Standards for Advanced Education

States and school districts have varying definitions of giftedness and apply those

definitions as a requirement for entry to an advanced academic program. Most programs solely

focus their definitions on the intellectually or academically gifted while ignoring other forms of

giftedness such as artistic or creative giftedness (Ford, 1998). For most academic gifted

definitions, arbitrary IQ scores, standardized tests, or aptitude tests are used as screening

measures for gifted programs. Historically, these measurements have proven problematic for

students of color who generally test poorly on these measurements compared to White students

(Ford, 1998). Numerous studies have been conducted regarding the testing gap between

minority and White students due to cultural deficits, disadvantaging a minority student. These

testing measurements handicap minority students through lower English proficiency, lack of

resources, and varied learning styles (Ford 1998).

Other school districts rely heavily upon recommendations and referrals from teachers,

administrators, and parents when determining if a student receives entry into an advanced course.

Teachers and counselors are often responsible for recommending students for gifted education,

but most either have no training on gifted education, have low expectations for minority students,

or maintain implicit biases about minority students and their capacity to learn (Ford, 1998). The

flawed teacher referral system can be seen by most teachers under-referring students of color for

advanced education courses and over-refer students of color for special education courses (Mid-

Atlantic Equity Center, 2009). One study revealed that a child's race significantly affected the

teachers' decision to refer the child for an advanced education program. Specifically, teachers
THE FIXED PIPELINE 9

from a control group that did not mention the child’s race were more likely to refer that student

for an advanced education program than the teachers who were informed that the student was

Black (Elhoweris, Mutua, Alsheikh, & Holloway, 2005). Parents also have the ability in many

states to nominate their children for advanced education courses. However, parent nomination

systems often prohibit minority parents from recommending their child due to the complicated

and time-intensive process. In contrast, other parents lack the recognition of the characteristics

necessary for their child to succeed in advanced education and potentially mislabel their child

(Ford, 1998).

Reducing the Excellence Gap

Educational research has offered numerous suggestions and possibilities of

implementation strategies intending to reduce the excellence gap. The first strategy involves

proper screening to identify students who qualify for advanced education programs. As

addressed earlier, most screening measures are ineffective and disadvantage minority students.

Reliable and valid instruments must be developed to remove human bias and objectively view

each student. The difficulty with developing a meaningful screening tool is that properly

assessing a student requires school personnel to interact with the student in a meaningful way.

However, when personnel is informed about a child's race, they are less likely to recommend

minority students for advanced education programs (Elhoweris, Mutua, Alsheikh, & Holloway,

2005). The best solution is to collect multiple types of information regarding the student to

remove the potential bias best and provide a holistic student profile before a collective decision

regarding the student's placement (Ford, 1998). These screening measures must be applied

universally and equally to every student who has proven to provide greater recognition of
THE FIXED PIPELINE 10

students who would be best served through placement into an advanced curriculum (Card &

Giuliano, 2016).

Another effective strategy found in the literature to reduce the excellence gap is to

provide early intervention support services and resources for underrepresented students in

advanced education. Most minority students come from low-income families and do not have

access to pre-education resources and support, leading to an increased likelihood of entering an

advanced education program (Ford, 1998). School districts should identify students as early as

possible to collaborate with parents regarding their child's academic future. Families who do not

have the time, finances, or other resources to implement any academic strategies or resources

should be provided with greater levels of support, including support personnel. However, there

is no substitute for family involvement in a child's education. Districts should regularly provide

informative classes and training for parents and families to help them implement meaningful

learning strategies for their children in their homes (Ford, 1998).

The least effective strategy for reducing the excellence gap is to increase multiculturalism

across all fabrics of the education system. Teachers and other school personnel must be

adequately trained and informed on the best teaching practices to effectively reach students from

different cultural backgrounds than their own (Davis, Anderson, & Parker, 2019). Cultural

differences between parents and educators amongst minority families have created barriers to

having a truly collaborative learning experience for their children. These training experiences

should reduce the cultural deficit that leads to the implicit biases that limit minority students'

placement into advanced education programs (Ford, 1998). One major factor in helping to

increase the multiculturalism of the educational system is providing for more significant minority

representation amongst teachers and administration. Minority students who are allowed to have
THE FIXED PIPELINE 11

a meaningful academic experience with a teacher who looks like them will have a meaningful

impact on their lives by providing a more significant avenue for student-teacher connectivity and

inspiration (Davis, Anderson, & Parker, 2019).

Gaps in the Literature

The current academic literature of the excellence gap that persists in education for low-

income and minority students is extensive. However, the literature has yet to implement a

meaningful research experiment to test the multiple implementation strategies suggested

throughout academia properly. All proposed solutions to reduce the excellence gap are entirely

theoretical. The theoretical nature of the proposals could explain why the gap has not

significantly narrowed over the previous decades of established research (Yaluma & Tyner,

2021). There has also been no meaningful literature on eliminating the segregation that occurs

from providing advanced education by merging general education and advanced education into

one curriculum. Specifically, whether doing so would increase academic output from low-

income and minority students while maintaining academic output for students who otherwise

traditionally would be placed into advanced education.

Reforming the Excellence Gap

Scholarship consistently recognizes that the excellence gap persists throughout the

educational system even though numerous attempts have been made to reform the educational

system to reduce that gap. However, the more concerning fact regarding the excellence gap is

that the gap is increasing despite previous recommendations made throughout the literature on

methods to reduce the gap. From the mid-1990s to 2017, the excellence gap increased by an

estimated 333% for 8th-grade math scores and 100% for 8th-grade reading scores (Jack Kent

Cooke Foundation, 2017). Therefore, it is evident that prior reform efforts either have not been
THE FIXED PIPELINE 12

implemented or have failed despite their implementation. The entire educational system must

prioritize creating methods of reform to reduce the excellence gap due to the hazards and

consequences the gap creates for millions of students. This section will discuss why the entire

system, including politicians, school personnel, and parents, should prioritize reforming the

excellence gap.

The Hazards of the Merit System

Identifying students by their merit forgoes understanding the context in which they

gained access to that label. Students with merit can quickly be placed into advanced education

programs and classes that offer them an attractive label to add to their academic resumes. These

labels can distinguish the student from their counterparts, thereby helping them gain access to

any future academic or professional opportunities. However, the excellence gaps within the

educational system that particularly disadvantage minority students and students from lower

socioeconomic backgrounds prove that solely basing decisions on the perceived academic merit

of students widens the gap. Therefore, the concept of identifying students based on their merit

creates inherent advantages for privileged students at the expense of creating a hazard for the

underprivileged students.

The starting point for the excellence gap is in elementary school, when students are first

identified and segmented according to their academic competence and merit. However, there is

no statistical evidence in elementary school that any excellence gap exists for students based on

their race (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). Only once a child is identified and segmented based on

their academic merit in elementary school, we see the excellence gap begin to form and widen as

the student progresses through future grades until high school graduation. The origins of the

merit system starting in elementary school set students down their pre-determined pipeline
THE FIXED PIPELINE 13

towards receiving the benefits of the merit system. These students receive greater access to

resources, better teachers, and more opportunities throughout grade school to improve their

chances at achieving access to higher education leading to an increase in future professional

opportunities and income (Glater, 2017). On the opposite side, students who do not achieve

entry into advanced courses at an early age do not receive the benefits of those with merit. The

pipeline these students experience provides less access to the resources advanced education

students receive, making it increasingly difficult as students progress throughout their education

to exit the pipeline and gain entry to advanced education.

Understanding the Socioeconomic and Advanced Education Correlation

The primary determinate for the origins of the excellence gap in elementary schools is a

family's socioeconomic status (Ford, 1998; Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021; Yaluma & Tyner, 2021).

Therefore, reforming the excellence gap requires understanding and focusing on the

socioeconomic inequalities that begin before entering the school system. Students from lower-

income families lack the resources to help them prepare for entry into the school system

beginning in kindergarten. As mentioned earlier, these students then perform and test at lower

levels than their classmates, which immediately makes them less likely to earn access and entry

into an advanced education program. Since 1997, the excellence gap between students from

lower-socioeconomic backgrounds and higher-socioeconomic backgrounds has increased nearly

200% in math (Plucker, Burroughs, & Song, 2010).

The problem prevalent in most scholarship is that most solutions recommended by

academia to reduce the excellence gap focus entirely on efforts within the current system to

reform admission standards or provide more excellent opportunities for students to access

advanced education. The AP program has significantly emphasized creating greater access to its
THE FIXED PIPELINE 14

program for students from lower-socioeconomic backgrounds. This program has been successful

in increasing AP participation for those students but has failed in that the performance of those

students on AP exams has not equaled their fellow students from high socioeconomic

backgrounds. On the 2014 AP exams, only 48% of low-income students passed compared to

65% of non-low-income students (Finn, Scanlan Jr., & Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 2020).

The goal for increasing AP participation amongst low-socioeconomic students has

simultaneously succeeded and failed because these students lacked the resources starting in

elementary school to be prepared for the challenges of the AP program. Although the AP

program champions their success to break through the socioeconomic barrier through examples

like teacher Jaime Escalante who used AP Calculus to drastically improve academic performance

for low-income students from East Los Angeles and was immortalized in the 1988 film Stand

and Deliver, the data demonstrates that Mr. Escalante’s success is the exception to the norm

(Finn, Scanlan Jr., & Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 2020).

Ensuring Equal Opportunity

Current trends in academia have been hesitant to label students with special needs to

provide equal opportunity through a more collaborative and inclusive environment. Ironically,

the exact opposite is the case for students who demonstrate any potential for academic

giftedness. These students are labeled as “gifted” or “advanced” and are subsequently separated

from the rest in favor of an environment that best meets their needs. Students placed into the

advanced education pipeline gain greater access to resources than their fellow students, which

contributes to the expansion of the excellence gap as the student progresses through their

education. Reforming the excellence gap requires that all students have an equal opportunity to

achieve academic success. Equality of opportunity does not necessarily mean equality of
THE FIXED PIPELINE 15

outcome, but rather allowing students from the more disadvantaged demographics represented in

the excellence gap to have the resources necessary to achieve their maximum academic potential.

The Benefits of Merging Advanced Education with Standard Education

All prior recommendations for reducing the excellence gap have either failed or have not

been implemented, given that the gap continues to increase (Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, 2017).

After evaluating current scholarship, I believe that the recommendations have failed mainly

because they primarily focus on improving the screening measures for access to advanced

education and providing resources to students who are minorities or are from lower

socioeconomic backgrounds. The problem with these recommendations is that they fail to

address the heart of the problem. The current format of the advanced education system is

established to reflect the unequal access to resources for children from lower-socioeconomic or

minority backgrounds before they even enter the school system.

Therefore, the proposition of the real problem of the excellence gap presents a dilemma:

how can the educational system reform the excellence gap when they essentially have no control

over it? This lack of control is faithful in that the best solutions to reducing the excellence gap

must be done on a national legislative level through laws designed to help provide the necessary

resources to low-income and minority families (Plucker, Burroughs, & Song, 2010). Families

can then utilize those resources to ensure their children enter and continue through the

educational system on the same playing field as children from different backgrounds.

However, I propose an additional solution that can be directly controlled by the

educational system and easily implemented by schools around the nation. The solution may

appear somewhat drastic and extreme but could create a meaningful academic experience for all

students while eliminating the inequities that exist through the merit system. I hypothesize that
THE FIXED PIPELINE 16

eliminating segmenting students according to academic ability through the margining of

advanced education courses with standard education courses would reduce the excellence gap by

improving academic achievement for all students, creating a more challenging learning

environment, and creating a culture of collaborative learning within the classroom.

Growth in Student Academic Achievement

The first theoretical reason merging advanced and standard education courses into a

singular curriculum is beneficial is that it would help reduce the excellence gap. The

justification, for this reason, exists from the evidence that the excellence gap only begins for

most demographics once students become identified as advanced and segmented into separate

curriculums in elementary school (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). Recall that data demonstrates

that students from high-income families are most likely to be placed into advanced courses

regardless of other demographic factors (Ford, 1998; Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021; Yaluma &

Tyner, 2021). Therefore, students with access to resources, especially at home, are separated

from students without access to similar resources. At such an early age, students who have

access to resources will gain access to better resources through the inherent advantages of being

a part of an advanced education program. Simply put, the rich get richer.

Merging advanced and standard education courses into one singular curriculum allows all

students to share the resources available to them through their school system. The best and most

qualified teachers would be teaching students from a variety of backgrounds. About 57% of all

teachers in the nation hold a master’s degree or higher compared with 69% of AP teachers

(National Center for Education Statistics, 2018). When evaluating those percentages, the

overrepresentation of higher qualified teachers in advanced education is evident. Thus, the

pattern of the students who have greater natural access to resources gaining access to better
THE FIXED PIPELINE 17

quality resources because of their placement continues. Students must have equal opportunity to

have access to the best educators as there is a direct correlation between the teacher's quality and

the student's academic performance (Fitchett & Heafner, 2018).

Growth in Academic Standards and Curriculum

I imagine that the most vocal disapproval of the proposed solution to eliminate the

excellence gap would come from students' families in advanced education programs. From their

perspective, it would be logical to reason that their child's academic experience would suffer as

they would not be receiving the educational curriculum that meets their high academic abilities.

One common complaint from educators regarding the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was

that they felt it made the curriculum content too simple so that low-achieving students could

make progress at the expense of high-achieving students (Plucker, Burroughs, & Song, 2010).

However, this proposal does not advocate for the watering-down of the advanced education

curriculum but rather the elevation of the standard curriculum to a more advanced level.

Setting higher academic standards and curriculum for all students will be challenging for

students who would be relegated to standard education in the current system. However, it is the

educational system's responsibility to equip those students with the resources and support

services they need to succeed in this new environment. Resources and personnel that otherwise

would have been directed towards advanced education can be redirected to meet the needs of

those students both inside and outside of school. Access to support and resources ensure that all

students are treated fairly and equally within the system, which helps provide an accurate

assessment of student performance apart from the current flawed merit system. These support

services will have a direct impact on helping the previously underrepresented student acquire
THE FIXED PIPELINE 18

significant present and future benefits that will allow them to rise to the challenge of a more

challenging curriculum (Bowden, Shand, Levin, Muroga, & Wang, 2020).

Finally, the proposed hypothesis to eliminate the excellence gap will not be possible

without teachers being onboard and embracing change. Teachers must play an integral role in

helping all their students in the new curriculum aim high and maintain a growth mindset, as

doing so has a direct connection with the development of student growth and high achievement

(Mesler, Corbin, & Martin, 2021). School administrators should ensure that all students have

equal access to the best educators while creating an enticing work environment to improve

teacher retention and reduce turnover. Schools must also seek to improve the representation of

minority educators within this system. Considering Black and Latino students were most

underrepresented in advanced education, they would be the most significant demographic to

transition to a more elevated curriculum. Minority students with a highly qualified teacher who

looks like them will be far more likely to produce higher academic output (Ford, Granthan, &

Whiting, 2008).

Growth in Student-to-Student Collaborative Learning

The other underrated benefit of merging advanced and standard education into a singular

curriculum is the ability of students from different backgrounds to collaborate, form

relationships, and aid one another towards high academic achievement. The current system of

segmenting students based on advanced or standard courses creates a largely heterogeneous

classroom surrounded by similar classmates. This can be evident through the lack of racial or

socioeconomic diversity in the classroom from demographics being overrepresented in standard

education classes and underrepresented in advanced education classes, specifically low-income,

Black, or Latino students (Ricciardi & Winsler, 2021). The new proposal allows students from
THE FIXED PIPELINE 19

all backgrounds and academic abilities to interact within a collaborative learning environment.

Students who would have traditionally been placed in advanced education separate from other

students now can use their resources and ability to help their classmates. Even though the

positive effects of collaborative learning can be felt in any academic structure, I expect the

effects to be amplified given the diverse classroom environment this proposal would create for

students.

Creating a diverse collaborative student-to-student learning environment has numerous

benefits which should increase student performance. Collaborative learning is well-accepted

classroom practice and promotes extraordinary critical thinking skills, problem-solving, student

engagement, and student motivation (Laal & Ghodsi, 2012). There are also aspects of

collaborative learning which improve student mental health, such as improved self-esteem,

reduced levels of anxiety, and positive attitudes and mentalities towards teachers and classmates

(Laal & Ghodsi, 2012). Collaborative learning also helps develop student-to-student support

systems, develops community, and establishes a positive environment. These positive benefits

are expected to be amplified considering the increase in classroom diversity the proposal will

create for all students. Students who engage in collaborative learning within a diverse

environment become open to diversity regardless of their background through more significant

interaction with students who are different from themselves (Loes, Culver, & Trolian, 2018).

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

In proposing the solution of merging advanced and standard education into one singular

curriculum, I realize that there are limitations to the proposal. One primary limitation is that

schools from lower socioeconomic, high minority areas traditionally struggle to acquire and keep

high-quality teachers on staff. Therefore, the ability for all students to equally benefit from the
THE FIXED PIPELINE 20

most qualified teachers may not be a possibility if the ratio of students to quality teachers is too

high and therefore not practical to implement. I also understand that those same schools suffer

from less access to financial resources to equip their students with the materials and resources

they need to be successful. These limitations must be addressed legislatively at the federal, state,

or local level to best ensure all students in the nation have equal opportunities to succeed

academically.

A proper research experiment and study is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of this

proposal. It would be recommended that multiple schools with various geographic locations and

student demographics participate in the experiment that begins tracking students in kindergarten

through high school graduation. The study would need to be controlled to exclude any student

who moves in or out of the school throughout the study while using a consistent assessment of

student performance that can be applied uniformly across all subjects. Other schools with

similar student populations that did not participate in the study could be used to compare the

results. I would recommend the following research questions.

1. Does maintaining all students in a single more advanced curriculum improve

performance for previously underrepresented students from lower socioeconomic

backgrounds?

2. Does maintaining all students in a single more advanced curriculum improve

performance for previously underrepresented students who are Black and Latino?

3. Does maintaining all students in a single more advanced curriculum improve

performance for students who were previously placed in advanced education?

THE FIXED PIPELINE 21

Conclusion

Students who participate in advanced courses throughout their education receive

numerous benefits which set them up for success in higher education and future employment.

However, the current advanced education system is established to benefit students from families

with greater access to resources due to the standards for entry into advanced programs that begin

in elementary school. These students who travel through the fixed pipeline of advanced

education are perceived to be more qualified by society through their merit and therefore worthy

of any rewards or achievements they earn through their education. Students from lower

socioeconomic backgrounds, primarily minority students, miss the opportunity to enter the fixed

pipeline in elementary school due to not having equal access to resources before entering the

school system. Each group of students continues through the educational system primarily stuck

in their prospective pipeline, with the end of one pipeline far more likely to end in long-term

success than the other.

The excellence gap represented in the difference in the representation of students from

lower socioeconomic backgrounds and Black and Latino students is a prominent injustice within

the educational system. Numerous research studies and articles have examined the excellence

gap, but none have successfully generated a movement leading to meaningful change through the

reduction or elimination of the gap. The excellence gap continues to grow. Eliminating the

division created by separating students into advanced courses and standard courses by merging

the two into one singular curriculum should be seen as an extreme solution, but drastic times

often call for drastic measures. Creating an inclusive, singular curriculum that benefits all

students will improve student performance across the board and create a diverse collaborative

learning environment where students will learn from and benefit one another.
THE FIXED PIPELINE 22

References

Adams, J. T. (1931). The Epic of America. Simon Publications.

Bowden, A. B., Shand, R., Levin, H. M., Muroga, A., & Wang, A. (2020). An Economic

Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of Providing Comprehensive Supports to Students in

Elementary School. Prevention Science, 21(8), 1126-1135.

Burney, V. H. & Beilke, J. R. (2008). The constraints of poverty on high achievement. Journal

for the Education of the Gifted, 31, 171-197.

Card, D. & Giuliano, L. (2016). Universal screening increases the representation of low-income

and minority students in gifted education. Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences, 113, 13678–13683.

Carnevale, A. P., Schmidt, P., & Strohl, J. (2020). The Merit Myth: How Our Colleges Favor the

Rich and Divide America. The New Press.

Creamer, J. (2020). Inequalities Persist Despite Decline in Poverty for All Major Race and

Hispanic Origin Groups. The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/poverty-rates-for-blacks-and-hispanics-

reached-historic-lows-in-2019.html

Davis, J., Anderson, C., & Parker, W. (2019). Identifying and Supporting Black Male Students in

Advanced Mathematics Course Throughout the K-12 Pipeline. Gifted Child Today, 42(3),

140-149.

Elhoweris, H., Mutua, K., Alsheikh, N., & Holloway, P. (2005). Effect of Children’s Ethnicity

on Teachers’ Referral and Recommendation Decisions in Gifted and Talented Programs.

Remedial and Special Education, 26(1), 25-31.

THE FIXED PIPELINE 23

Finn, C. E., Scanlan Jr., A. E., & Thomas B. Fordham Institute. (2020). The Role of Advanced

Placement in Bridging Excellence Gaps. Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Fitchett, P. G. & Heafner, T. L. (2018). Teacher Quality or Quality Teaching? Eighth Grade

Social Studies Teachers’ Professional Characteristics and Classroom Instruction as

Predictors of U.S. History Achievement. Research in Middle Level Education Online,

41(9), 1-17.

Flowers, L. A. (2008). Racial differences in the impact of participating in Advanced Placement

programs on educational and labor market outcomes. The Journal of Educational

Foundations, 22(5), 121–132.

Ford, D. Y. (1998). The Underrepresentation of Minority Students in Gifted Education: Problems

and Promises in Recruitment and Retention. The Journal of Special Education, 32(1), 4-

14.

Ford, D. Y., Granthan, T. C., & Whiting, G. W. (2008). Another Look at the Achievement Gap:

Learning from the Experiences of Gifted Black Students. Urban Education 43(2), 216-

239.

Glater, J. D. (2017). To the rich go the spoils: Merit, money, and access to higher education.

Journal of College and University Law, 43(2), 195-226.

Hermanowicz, J. C. (2019). The Degradation of Merit. Society, 56(4), 340-347.

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. (2017). The Excellence Gap is Growing. Retrieved from

https://www.jkcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Excellence-Gap-is-Growing.pdf

Laal, M. & Ghodsi, S. M. (2012). Benefits of collaborative learning. Social and Behavioral

Sciences, 31, 486-490.

THE FIXED PIPELINE 24

Loes, C. N., Culver, K. C., & Trolian, T. L. (2018). How Collaborative Learning Enhances

Students’ Openness to Diversity. Journal of Higher Education, 89(6), 935-960.

Mesler, R. M., Corbin, C. M., & Martin, B. H. (2021). Teacher mindset is associated with the

development of students' growth mindset. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,

76.

Mid-Atlantic Equity Center. (2009). The Over-Representation and Under-Representation of

Minority Students in Special Education and Gifted and Talented Programs. Information

Brief. The George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education.

Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED543517.pdf

National Center for Education Statistics. (2018). National Teacher and Principal Survey. U.S.

Department of Education. Retrieved from

https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/tables/ntps1718_fltable04_t1s.asp

Plucker, J. A., Burroughs, N., & Song, R. (2010). Mind the (Other) Gap! The Growing

Excellence Gap in K-12 Education. Center for Evaluation & Education Policy.

Ricciardi, C. & Winsler, A. (2021). Selection into Advanced Courses in Middle and High School

Among Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse Youth. Journal of Advanced Academics, 32(3),

291-323.

Sandel, M. (2020). The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? Farrar, Straus

and Giroux Publishing.

Wakelyn, D. & National Governors Association Center. (2010). Raising rigor, getting results:

Lesson learned from AP expansion. NGA Center for Best Practices. Retrieved from

www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED507635.pdf
THE FIXED PIPELINE 25

Yaluma, C. B. & Tyner, A. (2021). Are U.S. Schools Closing the “Gifted Gap”? Analyzing

Elementary and Middle Schools’ Gifted Participation and Representation Trends (2012-

2016). Journal of Advanced Academics, 32(1), 28-53.