A potential technological solution for reducing the achievement gap between white and black students

Abstract

Disparities in achievement measures that exist between black and white students, commonly referred to as the ‘black-white achievement gap’, are widely discussed in educational literature (Lubienski, 2008). In fact, even before the advent of modern standardized tests, there was an extended analysis of performance gaps on tests between black and white students (e.g. Crowley, 1932; Bali and Alvarez, 2004; Ferguson, 2002; Harris and Herrington, 2006). Much has been written about performance disparities among blacks, whites, and other ethnic minority groups on the mathematical section of standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).