Black-White Achievement Gap Analysis

Sociology is a subject that looks at groups and group interactions. Sociologists study different societies to look at how they’re structured, and find out what makes them successful and what issues do they deal with. The article the Black-White Achievement Gap can be analyzed through a sociological point of view since it explores the disparity in the academic achievement between Black and White children. It uses data from an assessment done by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to detail how the achievement gap has lessened or widened over the years and what influences these changes. In the report, the authors state that the gap was closing from the early 1970’s to the late 1980’s, but from 1990 to the 2000’s the gap shifted …show more content…
The conflict theory focuses on the imbalance of power between a dominant group and a subordinate group in society and the resulting battle over resources. In this scenario, the dominant group would be the White children residing in middle class or upper class neighborhoods who have abundant access to resources. These kids have an advantage in that their schools receive more money because as the article mentions these neighborhoods, typically in the suburbs, will separate their money and budgets from the cities where the poor reside. This way the parents, teachers, and school board members make sure that they are the ones that have new textbooks, computers, fine arts programs, and plenty of teachers so that the children are getting the attention the need. In these areas the kids are able to get help outside of school if they need it, either from their parents or tutors. The children go to school and put forth their best efforts because they know it is what is expected in their community and this is reinforced by their parents and teachers. In contrast, the subordinate group, the Black children who reside in working class communities, are forced to make do with the meager resources they are allotted. At the root of this conflict is the de facto segregation that occurs with schools because those belonging to the middle and upper class leave the inner cities to relocate to places like the suburbs. …show more content…
One of the main concerns is raising the African American children and their families’ standard of living. If the parent’s financial problems are fixed than the children can get the parental support they would largely benefit from. Since most of these people work in jobs that pay minimum wage, raising the minimum wage would help because they would earn more and they wouldn’t have to work as much hours as they normally do. Furthermore, creating jobs would also help the community as a whole. If the city does their part in helping by making plans to build more libraries, parks, and rec centers in the low income neighborhoods or renovate the ones already there, they could hire people from the very community they’re working to fix to do those jobs. Also, schools with insufficient funds need to be a priority of the school boards and the government. To even out the playing field, they should give the schools in the suburbs and the schools in the cities the same amount of money. They should grant them more money since they need it more than the schools that are in the middle and upper class