Closing the achievement gap
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Will it ever be possible to close the achievement gap? In my personal opinion, no. The issue of ethinic diversity and achievement in schools is and will be nearly impossible to change. Upon rereading chapter 5 from Woolfolk, and reading thru the two articles I gathered from the internet my original opinion was just further strengthened. I personally think that the main cause of the achievement gap comes from the child's home environment and their parents.
Woolfolk outlines exactly what would close the achievement gap when discussing the idea of a melting pot "These new immigrants were expected to assimilate that is, to enter the cultural melting pot and become like those who had arrived earlier. For years, the goal of American schools was to be the fire under the melting pot. Immigrant children who spoke different languages and had different religions and cultural heritages were expected to come to the schools, master standard English, and learn to become mainstream Americans" (156-157). While I think there is still the need to be ethnically who you are, and that we should celebrate diversity, too many groups say that things aren't equal and they'll take the easy road out if they're group is given preferential treatment.
Woolfolk further outlines this point by saying "Depending on the traits you measure and the theory you follow, there are between 3 and 300 races...