This is the first of several stories digging into one of the most challenging issues facing Alabama public schools---the racial achievement gap. Throughout the series, Tackling the Gap, we'll take a deep dive into the data and talk with teachers and experts to explore how Alabama schools can improve their efforts to help all students reach their academic potential.



While test scores in Alabama schools generally mirror poverty levels, poverty is only one factor, research has shown.

The Alabama state department of education's chief academic officer Dr. Barbara Cooper is charged with improving achievement for the 730,000 students in Alabama's public schools.

"Even in places where students are affluent, there is still a black-white achievement gap," she said. "So poverty is not the answer there.

"These students are still performing significantly below [their white peers], and their parents are making six figures."

Even though black students in affluent areas perform better than black students in impoverished areas, there is still a gap, Cooper said.

The achievement gap, as we refer to it here, is the difference in proficiency levels of black students and white students. Statewide, that gap is large, between 20 and 30 percentage points in any given subject area.

Why does that matter?

When we set out to cover the story of Alabama's persistent achievement gap, we knew we couldn't do it without teachers. So we put out a call for people willing to dive deep in frank conversation, and more than 200 educators responded.

About 60 of those teachers, from all over the state, participated over the last two months in a closed discussion on Facebook. Why does the gap matter? Here's some of what they said:

The achievement gap matters because students won't be in school forever. Some students aren't being exposed to things as it is by parents/guardians and some parents and teachers are doing the best they can with what they have. How can we expect them to properly excel academically and socially in order to become productive members of society and effective members of the work place if we don't make education equitable for all? - Katrina Thomas

Until we can level the playing field for African American students, we will never escape the specters of slavery and racism in this country. Education is the key to equality, and forward progress is impossible without it. - Jennifer Brunner

The achievement gap matters because it takes all types of people to create success. Each person, no matter race, sex, needs, or religion has a unique gift. Each and every student has a purpose in our world! - Sandy Ritchey

This is America where all children should have equal access to a quality education. When a large group of students do not succeed, then we have to take a hard look at why this is happening and take action to do better for our children. - Kelli Hayn

Education is the foundation of success. We can't have equality if we don't address the issues with equity in our education system. We will never heal from our country's past if we don't rectify this. - Amy Strickland

Why does the gap exist?

Stanford's Educational Opportunity Monitoring Project has dug deeply into available data, searching for what other factors beyond poverty might be influencing the black-white achievement gap.

Researcher Sean Reardon studied the multiple factors that contribute to the gap, using more than 200 million test scores from schools and districts across the country.

Reardon and his fellow researchers wanted to see which factors are most closely correlated with the achievement gap. They looked at two sets of factors that account for about three-fourths of the gap.

The first set has to do with a student's family resources, residential segregation and neighborhood factors.

The second set has to do with education policies and practices, including school segregation, disparities between schools and also within schools.

The figure below, from Reardon's research, depicts how they believe those factors interact.

Reardon, S.F., Kalogrides, D., & Shores, K. (2017). The Geography of Racial/Ethnic Test Score Gaps (CEPA Working Paper No.16-10). Retrieved from Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis: http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp16-10

Though Reardon's research, the first to look at gaps nationwide, was not able to identify causal relationships, as in what actually causes the achievement gap. Instead, they found correlations, as in here are some factors that exist when we find achievement gaps.

They found clear links to parental income, but also parental education levels and school segregation.

Reardon told AL.com, "Achievement gaps are shaped by many factors, as we describe in the paper. Socioeconomic differences between white and black children play a role - since higher income students come from homes with more economic resources, live in better neighborhoods, and often have access to higher quality child care and preschool experiences."

"But," Reardon said, "segregation also plays a large role - in highly segregated school systems, where black children attend higher poverty schools than white children - achievement gaps are larger."

That concentration of poverty exacerbates the gap, Reardon said, "because high-poverty schools often have few resources, have a harder time attracting and retaining the most skilled teachers, and have a higher proportion of high-need children. All of these mean that children in high-poverty schools often have less access to rigorous and challenging curriculum."

Alabama sees some of the largest gaps

The authors also identified the 20 school districts in the country with the largest black-white achievement gap from tests taken in 2009 through 2013.

Out of 12,200 school districts nationwide, three of Alabama's school districts, Vestavia Hills City, Homewood City, and Tuscaloosa City, landed in the top 20.

Reardon, S.F., Kalogrides, D., & Shores, K. (2017). The Geography of Racial/Ethnic Test Score Gaps (CEPA Working Paper No.16-10). Retrieved from Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis: http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp16-10

In another paper, "School Segregation and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps," Reardon acknowledged the role of segregation and urges better integrated classrooms and schools. He writes, "In sum, racial integration policies remain essential for reducing racial disparities in school poverty rates."

Why do teachers believe there is a gap?

In a state like Alabama, that resisted integrating its public schools until the late 1960s and early 1970s, and that so heavily relies on local tax collections to minimally fund its schools, that is a loaded question.

AL.com asked the teachers participating in the Tackling the Gap conversation their thoughts on why it exists. Here's what they said.

Alabama Teachers Tackle the Gap from Spaceship Media on Vimeo.

Many other factors have been proven to impact the gap, including those mentioned in Reardon's research. One of the factors we'll be exploring in future articles is what is being called the "opportunity gap."

A look at the gap in Alabama

Alabama's black-white gap has been around as long as test data has been broken down and reported.

Students in grades three through eight also grade ten have been tested annually in math and reading for more than a decade. Students in fifth and tenth grades are also tested annually in science.

AL.com looked at the most recent ACT Aspire results available, from the 2015-2016 school year, and calculated gaps at the district level. Consistent with Reardon's findings, the same districts showed large black-white gaps.

First, here's a look again at the black-white gaps at the state level.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education web site

Source: Alabama State Department of Education web site

After calculating black-white gaps in all of Alabama's districts where scores for black and white students were reported, meaning both black and white students are enrolled in a district, AL.com found that gap can be as much as 60 to 65 percentage points.

The analysis of last year's test scores found the same districts Reardon's team found, Vestavia Hills, Tuscaloosa City, and Homewood City, to be among those with the largest gaps in the most grades and subject areas.

Here are Alabama's black-white achievement gaps, on a map. This is best viewed on a desktop computer.

Hover over the districts for more information about the district, including the percentage of students in the district eligible for free or reduced-price meals and percentage of students of each race proficient.

What are we going to do about it?

"To get to the next level, it's critical that we address it," Cooper at the state department said. "Because oftentimes we want to fall back and just focus on the poverty element, but even when you strike poverty, you still have the black-white achievement gap."

Having those conversations takes courage and care, starting where people are and making sure you don't shut down the conversation because people get uncomfortable, Cooper said.

Cooper said the next step is asking questions, including, "What are we going to do about it? What types of strategies actually work?"

Google shows a million strategies educators can use to impact the gap, she said, but "it's a mindset. You have to be willing to recognize there are some different ways and realize there's not a one-size-fits-all, not all students learn the same way."

Some worry that focusing on improving black students' achievement might somehow negatively impact white students' achievement. That isn't the case, Cooper said. "Good strategy is about raising achievement of all students."

It's clear that at least at the state level, there is an acknowledgement of the black-white gap and efforts are focused on improving the achievement of black students in Alabama.

It's also clear that the group of teachers engaged in the Tackling the Gap situation are diving in, asking those tough questions, checking their own biases, and looking for ways to improve achievement of all of the students in their classrooms.

Tackling the Gap is produced in partnership with Spaceship Media, a nonprofit organization which uses journalism to facilitate engagement between communities at odds, and the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization working to highlight solutions to chronic problems.