Why I Am No Longer Using the Phrase “Achievement Gap”: Perspective from an Educator and Developmental Psychologist
Edited by Stephen Braren & Rose Perry, Ph.D.
The COVID-19 pandemic has produced an education crisis of unparalleled scale. Nationwide school closures have impacted nearly 60 million students in the U.S., spurring widespread concern over the impacts on children’s academic growth. These concerns are being realized with recent data on learning loss indicating that students from low-income and racially/ethnically marginalized communities are falling even further behind their higher-income and White peers in meeting literacy and mathematics expectations. The “achievement gap widens,” headlines report, using the prevailing term for the long-standing disparity in academic performance between lower-income and higher-income students, and between Black/Latinx/Indigenous and White/Asian students.
Indeed, throughout the months of this pandemic, I’ve noticed an increase in news articles reporting on the “achievement gap,” as well as the similar “homework gap” — referring to the inability for students who lack reliable access to the internet or a computer to complete their schoolwork, compared to students who have access. As I read these articles and parsed through the alarming statistics and stories of families facing insurmountable education barriers, I was vividly reminded why I—as an educator and researcher—am no longer using the phrases achievement gap or homework gap—and why you shouldn’t either.
I read that the same children from low-income and racially/ethnically marginalized communities who are falling increasingly behind in grades, standardized test scores, and other measures of academic success—all commonly presented as evidence for the achievement gap—are from households that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. These same students are also more likely to face financial burden, food insecurity, unstable housing, or have caregivers who work outside of the home, greatly reducing the feasibility of homeschooling. Furthermore, low-income and racially/ethnically marginalized students are far less likely to have learning devices and internet access, limiting their ability to engage in online schooling. In other words, the impacts of school closures on student learning outcomes appear to be unequally distributed not because of differences in a child’s ability to achieve, but because of differences in opportunities that they have to even engage—not to mention succeed—in their education.
If the root of these academic disparities is the inability for low-income children to access basic resources needed to participate in learning, why are we labeling the problem an issue of achievement, rather than opportunity?
It is for this reason that I—and other educators and researchers—have become an advocate for replacing the use of achievement gap with a term that highlights the root of long-standing disparities in educational resources and access: the opportunity gap.
Although the focus on terminology may seem pedantic, this small change shifts the blame from students to the economic, educational, and political systems that have created these gaps. An emphasis on achievement outcomes, rather than the conditions that impact these outcomes, can lead to damaging consequences. It can perpetuate the idea that students are achieving at a lower level because something is wrong with them, falsely placing the blame on a student’s mindset or effort, rather than the years of setbacks they have faced due to socioeconomic disparities [1]. As a 2011 Teach for America corps member, I and my fellow corps members were trained to wage an ongoing battle to close the “achievement gap.” Our tools in this fight were relentless data collection, student grade tracking, and emphasizing the importance of “grit” to our students. The focus on addressing the achievement gap unsettled many in the organization, myself included. It centered the blame on students’ own motivations and lack of grit, and the tunnel vision towards closing the achievement gap seemed to imply that once this task was completed, racial and economic inequity would also cease to exist.
The use of the term “achievement gap” also perpetuates negative stereotypes that low-income learners and students of color are less competent than their higher-income and White peers. In fact, a recent randomized survey revealed that teachers are more likely to rank eliminating racial educational disparities as a lesser priority if the survey question referred to these disparities as the “racial achievement gap,” rather than “racial inequality in educational outcomes.” Wording matters, and psychologists have long been familiar with the subtle ways in which labels can influence our interactions with and beliefs about others.
When we choose to use the phrase “opportunity gap” rather than “achievement gap,” it sends a clearer message that these gaps do not exist because of a child’s own capability or character, but because of systemic injustices. A student from a low-income family is no longer “at-risk” of poor achievement; this student has not been given adequate opportunities to succeed. This re-wording changes what the root of the problem is and thereby what the solution should be. The use of the term opportunity gap forces us to face the ways in which educational disparity is not about a student’s level of motivation, but rather the ways in which large segments of the population have been given inequitable resources, and thus entirely different means to achieve.
Yet, many areas of research and practice continue to cling to the achievement gap, often for reasons of convenience or an insistence that their work focuses on academic outcomes instead of the broader social conditions. The impulse to lean on softer-sounding, actionable terminology is frequently a shortcut that allows one to avoid the implications of using the phrase “opportunity gap.” In a world focused on the measurable outcomes, it is easiest to focus on the differences in test scores, GPAs, graduation rates, and lifetime earnings. I myself recently published a chapter in an edited book in which I repeatedly refer to the “achievement gap” as the long-term consequence of educational inequity because I didn’t want to “get into” my reasons for using “opportunity gap” (a decision that I regret). In my future research, writing, and teaching, I am committed to advocating for this term. And even Teach for America has begun distancing itself from “achievement gap” and is promoting the use of “opportunity gap” instead.
So, why should I raise this issue now? Why, after decades of introducing the world to the “achievement gap,” should we work together to acknowledge the opportunity gap instead? I argue that it has never been more important. In our new, socially-isolated normal as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s natural to focus on our own comforts, needs, and desires. But it’s important to highlight that gaps in opportunities also include gaps in other tools that facilitate education and social connectedness, which is a critical component of children’s education. Furthermore, if we continue to frame the problem around student achievement, rather than around the root causes, we risk failing to devise equitable, effective solutions.
For instance, Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza recently presented a “2021 Student Achievement Plan” to address COVID-related learning loss. Major components of this plan include diagnostic student assessments, increasing access to high-quality digital curriculum, launching a one-stop “digital learning hub,” and expanding the Department of Education’s “Parent University,” which offers parents online classes to help support their child’s academic progress. This plan aims to close achievement gaps that are disproportionately impacting low-income learners. But as both the problem and potential solution are described to the public, it risks leaving a large number of low-income families and students, who remain without access to internet and learning devices, further behind.
The shift in language from achievement gaps to opportunity gaps provides dignity to those formerly thought of as low-achievers and, even more importantly, could shift the focus towards education reforms that actually address these inequities in opportunity. While the pandemic presents unprecedented challenges for students, caregivers, and educators, it also presents unparalleled opportunity for society to work together to bridge longstanding opportunity gaps faced by historically underserved learners.
In-text Reference
Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To what extent and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychological Science, 29(4), 549-571.
