Opportunity Gap... A Conundrum For Educationists To Consider!!
Opportunity Gap... A Conundrum For Educationists To Consider!!
The Opportunity Gap... A Conundrum For Educationists To Consider!!
The achievement gap, learning gap, and opportunity gap are different terms that have been making the rounds amongst the educational reformer’s jargon. All three have been used interchangeably by laymen and even by some experts in the education community; however, they have distinctive implications of their own.
According to the Glossary of Education Reform, “ opportunity gap refers to inputs—the unequal or inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities—while achievement gap refers to outputs—the unequal or inequitable distribution of educational results and benefits. Learning gap refers to the relative performance of individual students—i.e., the disparity between what a student has actually learned and what students are expected to learn at a particular age or grade level.”
There is a diverse array of factors that affect student performance in various academic capacities. Opportunity gap acknowledges those differences in ethnicities, family conditions, socioeconomic status, residential locations, language, community cultures, and other factors that may result in varied educational outcomes amongst learners.
For example, students belonging to some minority ethnic groups display lower scores on standardized tests or have lower representation at college levels. For the educationists and policymakers it's important to understand that the reason behind this might not be a lack of abilities in the students themselves, but a dearth of resources or opportunities in their communities. Some of the factors that form part of the opportunity gap are discussed below:
● Inadequate Financial Resources: Students belonging to the lower strata of the socioeconomic chain have limited access to quality healthcare, nutrition, preschool education, and other educational resources. In a lot of cases, the meager financial resources are the real reason behind the underachievement of students.
● Discrimination Or Bias: Prejudice and bias by the teachers or peers negatively affect an individual’s motivation to learn. Students underperform when they are not given due respect. Also, discrimination at institutional levels against students of different economic or ethnic backgrounds leads to their scant representation in college programs or higher education institutes.
● Parental Education: An opportunity gap can also rise because of parents who have not received relevant education or those who do not understand the important role a good education can play in creating opportunities for students.
● Language Proficiency: Students with non-English speaking backgrounds, may have problems in receiving instruction in English, due to their limited language comprehension skills.
● Lack Of Infrastructure In Schools: Students may display poor performance if they don’t have access to well-trained teachers, libraries, labs, internet connectivity, extra-curricular activities, and other infrastructural facilities at their schools.
These are some of the many factors leading to the opportunity gap. For each student, a diverse number of factors contribute to academic performance. These factors are unique to each individual and would require custom made uniquely tailored solutions for each student to improve performance. There is no “one size fits all” solution for making headway in academic performance. Educationists need to address the complexity of the opportunity gap through careful evaluation and individualized programs to bring reforms into the system!
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