Teacher Discussion Forums

Analyzing the achievement gap through the lens of actual data studies reveals a great deal about how complex the issue is. A compelling example is the case of how widely the achievement gap (across all subjects) changes between the fourth and eighth grades. What explains this? Is it related to cognitive development that occurs in these years? Or can it be more easily explained by the increasingly difficult work/studies children do as each grade progresses? I think with ESL, the achievement gap widens as you go up in the grades because in later grades there is more difficult material (Social Studies, study of English literature) that is more language-based than say, mathematics.