The “Achievement Gap”- A Seductive but Dangerous Euphemism for Poverty and Inequality
The “Achievement Gap”- A Seductive but Dangerous Euphemism for Poverty and Inequality.
Originally Posted by Mark Naison on “With A Brooklyn Accent.” February 8, 2013Any time I see an advertisement or a fundraising appeal for an organization whose goal is to shrink the “achievement gap,’ I immediately put that organization on my personal “enemies list.” *******No phrase is more symbolic of our society’s efforts to avoid dealing with real life impact and consequences of rapidly growing poverty and inequality, which arrogantly presumes a profound collective tragedy can be eased by raising test scores. *******The “achievement gap” is a form of linguistic magic that erases what it means to be young and poor in the United States, and the stress that fear that involves, such as ******worrying when the lights and gas are going to be turned off ******or whether you are going to be evicted from your apartment *******or whether you are going to eat during the weekend when there ******is no longer breakfast or lunch in school ******or whether it