THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP
Scroll down or click on "Question" to see the poll results for that question.
Section 1: Closing the Achievement Gap
Funding Efforts to Close Gap
Question 1: Do you think it is possible or not possible to narrow the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students without spending more money than is currently being spent to help low-achieving students? (Asked in: 2003.) [Code: 797-AchCF-1]
High Standards
Question 2: Do you believe that the achievement gap can be narrowed substantially while maintaining high standards for all children or not? (Asked in: 2005, 2006, 2012.)
[Code: 810-AchFH-2]
Importance of Closing Gap
Question 3: There is a recognized academic achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students, with white students consistently out-performing black and Hispanic students. How important do you think it is to close this gap -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not important at all? (Asked in: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012.)
[Code: 798-AchCI-3]
Factors Related to Achievement Gap
Importance of Nonschool Factors
Question 4: In your opinion, how important do you think each of the following factors is in contributing to the achievement gap between white children and black and Hispanic children - very important, somewhat important, not very important, or not at all important?: Amount of parent involvement; Home life and upbringing; Interest on the part of students themselves; Community environment; Racial bias; Amount of family income. (Asked in: 2003.)
[Code: 799-AchFI-4]
School or Other Factors
Question 5: In your opinion, is the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students mostly related to the quality of schooling received or mostly related to other factors? (Asked in: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.)
[Code: 800-AchFS-5]
Specific Other Factors
Question 6: Just your opinion, what are some of the factors that cause the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students (asked of those who chose "other factors" as more important)?: Home life/environment/upbringing; Economic advantage/disadvantage; Poor community environment; Education not a priority for parents; Lack of parent involvement; Biased/racist attitudes; Student lack of interest. (Asked in: 2002.)
[Code: 801-AchFS-6]
Question 7: There is also a recognized academic achievement gap between Asian students and white students, with Asian students consistently outperforming white students. How important do you think each of the following factors is in explaining this gap -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not important at all? Amount of parent involvement; Home life and upbringing; Interest on the part of students themselves; Community environment; Racial bias; Amount of family income. (Asked in: 2003.)
[Code: 802-AchFS-7]
Overall Knowledge
Identificaton of Gap
Question 8: Just your impression, is the academic achievement of white students nationally higher, lower, or about the same as black and Hispanic students? (Asked in: 2001.)
[Code: 803-AchOI-8]
Responsibility
Government
Question 9: In your opinion, is it the responsibility of the government to close the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students or not? (Asked in: 2001.)
[Code: 804-AchRG-9]
Question 10: Which level of government do you think should be responsible for closing the gap -- the federal, state, or local government? (Asked in: 2001.)
[Code: 805-AchRG-10]
School
Question 11: In your opinion, is it the responsibility of the public schools to close the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students or not? (Asked in: 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006.)
[Code: 806-AchRS-11]
Closing the Gap: Proposals
Question 12: Here are some plans that have been proposed as ways to close the achievement gap between low- and high-achieving public school students. As I read off each of these proposals, would you tell me how effective you think it would be as a way to close this achievement gap? Would it be very effective, somewhat effective, not very effective, or not effective at all? (Asked in: 2007.)
[Code: 850-AchCP-12]
POLL RESULTS
Funding Efforts to Close Gap
Question 1: Do you think it is possible or not possible to narrow the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students without spending more money than is currently being spent to help low-achieving students? (Asked in: 2003.) [Code: 797-AchCF-1]
National Totals |
|||
| Year | Yes, Possible % |
No, Not Possible % |
Don't Know % |
| 2003 | 58 |
39 |
3 |
High Standards
Question 2: Do you believe that the achievement gap can be narrowed substantially while maintaining high standards for all children or not? (Asked in: 2005, 2006, 2012.)
[Code: 810-AchFH-2]
National Totals |
|||
| Year | Can Be Narrowed % |
Cannot Be Narrowed % |
Don't Know % |
| 2012 | 84 |
15 |
1 |
| 2006 | 81 |
17 |
2 |
| 2005 | 81 |
15 |
4 |
Importance
Question 3: There is a recognized academic achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students, with white students consistently out-performing black and Hispanic students. How important do you think it is to close this gap -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not important at all? (Asked in: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012.)
[Code: 798-AchCI-3]
National Totals |
|||||
| Year | Very Important % |
Somewhat Important % |
Not Too Important % |
Not At All Important % |
Don't Know % |
| 2012 | 67 |
22 |
5 |
6 |
2 |
| 2006 | 67 |
21 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
| 2005 | 63 |
27 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
| 2004 | 64 |
24 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
| 2003 | 71 |
19 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
| 2002 | 80 |
14 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
Importance of Other Factors
Question 4: In your opinion, how important do you think each of the following factors is in contributing to the achievement gap between white children and black and Hispanic children -- very important, somewhat important, not very important, or not at all important?: Amount of parent involvement. Home life and upbringing. Interest on the part of students themselves. Community environment. Racial bias. Amount of family income. (Asked in: 2003.)
[Code: 799-AchFI-4]
2003 National Totals |
|||||
| Factors | Very Important % |
Somewhat Important % |
Not Too Important % |
Not At All Important % |
Don't Know % |
| Amount of parent involvement | 90 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
- |
| Home life and upbringing | 87 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
- |
Interest on the part of students themselves |
80 |
15 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
| Community environment | 66 |
28 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
| Racial bias |
42 |
29 |
17 |
9 |
3 |
| Amount of family income | 26 |
40 |
23 |
10 |
1 |
School or Other Factors
Question 5: In your opinion, is the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students mostly related to the quality of schooling received or mostly related to other factors? (Asked in: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.)
[Code: 800-AchFS-5]
National Totals |
|||
| Year | Mostly Related to Quality of School Received % |
Mostly Related to Other Factors % |
Don't Know % |
| 2006 | 19 |
77 |
4 |
| 2005 | 17 |
75 |
8 |
| 2004 | 19 |
74 |
7 |
| 2003 | 16 |
80 |
4 |
| 2002 | 29 |
66 |
5 |
Specific Other Factors
Question 6: Just your opinion, what are some of the factors that cause the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students (asked of those who chose "other factors" as more important)? Home life/environment/upbringing; Economic advantage/disadvantage; Poor community environment; Education not a priority for parents; Lack of parent involvement; Biased/racist attitudes; Student lack of interest. (Asked in: 2002.)
[Code: 801-AchFS-6]
National Totals |
|||||||
| Year |
Home life and upbringing % |
Economic advantage/ disadvantage % |
Poor community environment % |
Education not a priority for parents % |
Lack of parent involvement % |
Biased/racist attitudes % |
Student lack of interest % |
| 2002 | 37 |
24 |
15 |
14 |
12 |
10 |
8 |
Question 7: There is also a recognized academic achievement gap between Asian students and white students, with Asian students consistently outperforming white students. How important do you think each of the following factors is in explaining this gap -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not important at all?: Amount of parent involvement; Home life and upbringing; Interest on the part of students themselves; Community environment; Racial bias; Amount of family income. (Asked in: 2003.)
[Code: 802-AchFS-7]
2003 National Totals |
|||||
| Factors | Very Important % |
Somewhat Important % |
Not Too Important % |
Not At All Important % |
Don't Know % |
| Amount of parent involvement | 83 |
12 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| Home life and upbringing | 80 |
13 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
Interest on the part of students themselves |
85 |
12 |
2 |
1 |
- |
| Community environment | 49 |
33 |
13 |
4 |
1 |
| Racial bias |
30 |
27 |
24 |
17 |
2 |
| Amount of family income | 17 |
35 |
33 |
14 |
1 |
Identificaton of Gap
Question 8: Just your impression, is the academic achievement of white students nationally higher, lower, or about the same as black and Hispanic students? (Asked in: 2001.)
[Code: 803-AchOI-8]
National Totals |
||||
| Year | Higher % |
Lower % |
About the Same % |
Don't Know % |
| 2001 | 48 |
5 |
39 |
8 |
Government
Question 9: In your opinion, is it the responsibility of the government to close the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students or not? (Asked in: 2001.)
[Code: 804-AchRG-9]
National Totals |
|||
| Year | Yes, It Is % |
No, It Isn't % |
Don't Know % |
| 2001 | 45 |
52 |
3 |
Question 10: Which level of government do you think should be responsible for closing the gap -- the federal, state, or local government? (Asked in: 2001.)
[Code: 805-AchRG-10]
National Totals |
||||
| Year | Federal Government % |
State Government % |
Local Government % |
Don't Know % |
| 2001 | 34 |
35 |
29 |
2 |
School
Question 11: In your opinion, is it the responsibility of the public schools to close the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students or not? (Asked in: 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006.)
[Code: 806-AchRS-11]
National Totals |
|||
| Year | Yes, It Is % |
No, It Isn't % |
Don't Know % |
| 2006 | 57 |
39 |
4 |
| 2005 | 58 |
37 |
5 |
| 2004 | 56 |
40 |
4 |
| 2001 | 55 |
41 |
4 |
Closing the Gap: Proposals
Question 12: Here are some plans that have been proposed as ways to close the achievement gap between low- and high-achieving public school students. As I read off each of these proposals, would you tell me how effective you think it would be as a way to close this achievement gap? Would it be very effective, somewhat effective, not very effective, or not effective at all? (Asked in: 2007.)
[Code: 850-AchCP-12]
2007 National Totals |
|||||
| Proposals | Very Effective % |
Somewhat Effective % |
Not Very Effective % |
Not Effective at All % |
Don't Know % |
| Provide more instructional time and other help for low-performing students | 65 |
31 |
2 |
2 |
* |
| Provide additional, voluntary preschool and kindergarten care for low-performing students | 48 |
37 |
11 |
4 |
* |
| Provide parents of low-performing students the ablity to enroll them in any public school of their choice | 30 |
44 |
17 |
8 |
1 |
| Provide parents of low-performing students financial support to cover part or all of the tuition cost at a private school | 20 |
35 |
28 |
16 |
1 |
| *Less than one-half of 1%. | |||||
Last modified
August 6, 2012
k_q_ach_1.htm