Studies show that many students across the country are not meeting academic standards, not because they are bad students, but because they are not receiving a proper education. This problem is referred to as the Achievement Gap and is the difference in academic performance between children from varying economic and racial backgrounds.
For example, the reading skills between black and white teenagers in the United States are wider than ever. As a result, less than half of Latino and African American students are graduating. This is truly disappointing because as a nation we should be moving forward and achieving academic growth rather than falling behind. For years many people have associated poor education with living in urban areas.
We have compiled a variety of student interviews which can shed light on how the quality of one’s high school can affect one’s future. By interviewing students from different backgrounds we can better understand the gap in the education system in the New York City metropolitan area. With the insight from these students, we are able to understand just how much of a role, factors such as diversity, teachers, extracurricular activities, and academic expectations play in education.
To see these interviews click on one of the categories below and select an interview. You could also explore the map to see where the interviewees went to high school and get a better idea of how the Achievement Gap relates to neighborhood.
