Learning Gaps in General and Special Education

Ghose, S. (2018). Cracks and Crevices in Education Systems: Bridging the Gaps. Dynamic Learning Spaces in Education , 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8521-5_12 

The article illustrates the disparity of education experienced between children from different families due to financial and educational status. Students' cognitive abilities are greatly influenced by the academic exposure, health, nutrition, and opportunities accessible to them, factors that privileged families enjoy better. The paper describes studies that show how children from wealthy families have a better chance at success in education under more time allocated to them and superior endowment of resources. Their counterparts from low-income families may suffer poor nutrition, healthcare, and inadequate enrichment experience. The article lists research studies that show the correlation between economic disparities and disparities in educational performances. The article discusses other factors that the article discusses as key in addressing educational inequality among students include infrastructure, curriculum, and teaching methodologies. 

Schools in the United States that had a low performing rank, according to Education Week's Quality Count report for 2018, had one similarity that cut across nationwide; the majority of the students were from low-income families (Hoskins & Janmaat, 2019). The socioeconomic disparity is arguably the most dominant factor contributing to learning gaps in general education. Students from more privileged families naturally have access to better health, opportunities, and resources influencing the learning experience. The complexity of this challenge is why it is still persistent despite extensive research on the subject. Addressing economic inequality issues in society is a complicated matter beyond education and would take years to mitigate completely. However, schools and districts can implement policies that impact students' nutrition, health, and experience from low-income families, consequently affecting learning gaps. These policies and programs require adequate funding for success to be guaranteed. 

Hinojosa, M. S., Hinojosa, R., Nguyen, J., & Bright, M. (2017). Individualized Education Program Development Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Children and Adolescents with Health Conditions. Maternal and Child Health Journal , 21 (3), 583–592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2142-6 

The article identifies how children from racially minority families have a higher prevalence of chronic learning disorders than white families. Individualized education programs (IEP) were designed to ensure children with special needs close the learning gaps to reduce the outcomes. The article examines the coverage of IEP for students with special needs. As the report clearly illustrates, students from Black and Hispanic families are not often identified as enrolled in IEP plans. These students do not receive the necessary special attention they deserve. The implementation mechanism of IEP also differs in schools in White majority communities and those in Black and Hispanic majority communities. Inadequate multidisciplinary specialists and ineffective IEP strategies are rampant in the latter, as the article demonstrates. The paper shows that an IEP plan is a significant challenge to minority children, a factor that requires equal attention to implementation problems related to IEP. 

Individualized education programs being poorly implemented is the major contributing factor to learning gaps in the special education sector. Referral and identification of special needs children have been critical factors contributing to learning gaps in public schools. White students with special needs are more likely to be identified and enrolled in the IEP plan than Black and Hispanic students (Hinojosa et al., 2017). This disparity exists, although racial minority children are more likely to suffer health problems, including learning disabilities. However, the racial gap in IEP is only part of the situation in a series of challenges related to the IEP. 

IEP was tailored to address a variety of learning gaps for special needs students. Still, it has been observed that the program is often poorly implemented and, in particular scenarios, not implemented at all. One of the critical steps in implementing IEP is the referral and identification procedures. The program's focus is on setting annual goals, monitoring and reporting progress; however, identifying and evaluating special needs students' needs to receive equal or more attention. A multidisciplinary approach in assessing all students for IEP would effectively close learning gaps in general and special education. Schools should also consider the knowledge and experience of teachers and specialists in using proper strategies for IEP.

Izquierdo, E., DeMatthews, D. E., Knight, D. S., & Coviello, J. (2019). Dual Language for All: Central Office Leadership in the El Paso Independent School District. Partial Differential Equations I , 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10831-1_10 

The article points out persistent challenges in promoting dual language use among the public schools of El Paso, a region with Hispanic majority people. Despite constant advocacy and scholarly evidence emphasizing dual use as a crucial mechanism to close learning gaps, public schools are yet to embrace this idea. The article focuses on an El Paso Independent School District officer as a leadership model to address linguistic diversity in schools. The officer's support of dual language is a critical example of leadership in the education sector. There is a growing need for leaders who identify and implement specific actions for equality and social justice. The article also describes the bilingual challenges and gaps that Mexican Americans experience, contributing to achievement gaps among the schools in that community.

A critical social gap that has been discussed in academic circles for decades but gets limited attention is the issue of the language barrier. In many states, the cultural diversity of students has been a clear indication that reforms should be implemented to ensure course materials are printed in languages other than English to encourage dual use. Students from minority communities and immigrant families are often fluent in different languages, which can be used in learning to close achievement gaps (Izquierdo et al., 2019). The Inexistence of transitional programs like the presence of language instructors in our public-school curriculums only compounds the problem. The language barrier does not only refer to the difference in languages; it infers a spectrum of cultural, linguistic issues, including accents, dialects, and slang. Expression of complicated and controversial issues may be done best in a student's native language. However, addressing language barriers cannot take place in isolation, and there need to be measured in place to improve the learner's confidence.

Students with bilingual backgrounds, especially those from low-income families, may not have adequate experiences to express themselves fluently in the English language. Due to their economic environments, the access to travel to and mingle outside their communities or seek extra language tutoring may not be possible. This difference is a significant source of the learning gap, which must be addressed as a general societal problem and an education-specific challenge. Public schools should allow students to use their native language to improve the knowledge and skills from learning experiences. Society should also put policies and programs that address general inequity among minority and low-income earning families. Similarly, another key factor contributing to the language barrier is the lack of visionary education leaders. Analysis of education districts across the country reveals students in communities with a high proportion of bilingual families that do not have dual-use policies perform worse than similar education districts with dual-use policies (Izquierdo et al., 2019).

Bowden, A., Norton, K., & Griffith, G. M. (2020). Do Trainee Mindfulness Teachers Practice What They Teach? Motivation, Challenges, and Learning Gaps. Mindfulness . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01565-6 

The article focuses on mindfulness-based program (MBP) training for teachers to acquire competency and integrity. The study investigated how teaches implemented their MBP training for the first time in a learning environment, mainly how they help address learning gaps. The study used qualitative techniques to gather and analyze the information from teachers' experiences. The results of the study point to a conclusion that teachers using MBP delivered better results in bridging the existing learning gaps. A critical issue that the article discusses is that teachers' attitudes and perceptions of students directly correlate to students' learning outcomes. The report provides a direction for the training of teachers by including MBP as an approach to improve outcomes in integrity and competency. 

The expectations that teachers hold of their learners have been demonstrated to have a profound impact on the achievement of the learners. Teacher expectation has been termed a self-fulfilling prophecy that influences the performance of students. Teachers may express their students' expectations through verbal and nonverbal ways in voice tone, attitude, and body language. Critical self-reflection by the teachers is essential to always create a positive and optimistic attitude towards the students and improve learning gaps (Bowden et al., 2020). Also, the internal belief of the students in achieving learning goals is essential in eliminating learning gaps. Schools should set up programs to persuade students to believe in their ability to achieve learning goals. Implementing effective strategies to develop a positive mentality will prove to be essential in closing learning gaps.

Betancur, L., Votruba-Drzal, E., & Schunn, C. (2018). Socioeconomic gaps in science achievement. International Journal of STEM Education , 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0132-5 

The study identifies limited research in socioeconomic inequalities in sciences compared to the high number of research studies on reading and mathematical skills gaps. The study mainly focuses on early years education. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, the article demonstrates how learning gaps in science correlate to family income and other similar social inequality factors. The results in this article display the existing influence of parental income on learning gaps in sciences, though this effect is moderate compared to reading and mathematics skills. The report expresses the significance of different measures of learning gaps to identify ways of closing them. It also illustrates that learning gaps influenced by socioeconomic status present themselves from the earliest levels of education and should be addressed early. The article finally recommends the measures used to address gaps in reading skills could be instrumental in accomplishing the same in sciences. 

Sciences are an educational field that rarely gets scholarly attention in the subject of learning gaps. With most studies focusing on reading and mathematics, evidence suggests other learning fields also face socioeconomic problems in learning gaps. A holistic approach in reeving learning challenges will reveal that the issues are similar, albeit with different levels of impact on the outcomes. The mathematics field faces more prevalent and severe socioeconomic learning gap problems, so the subject's extensive research is justified. One major constant across multiple learning fields is the strategies for closing learning gaps. Strategies recommended for mathematics would be equally effective for the sciences (Betancur et al., 2018). 

References

Betancur, L., Votruba-Drzal, E., & Schunn, C. (2018). Socioeconomic gaps in science achievement. International Journal of STEM Education , 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0132-5 

Bowden, A., Norton, K., & Griffith, G. M. (2020). Do Trainee Mindfulness Teachers Practice What They Teach? Motivation, Challenges, and Learning Gaps. Mindfulness . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01565-6 

Ghose, S. (2018). Cracks and Crevices in Education Systems: Bridging the Gaps. Dynamic Learning Spaces in Education , 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8521-5_12

Hinojosa, M. S., Hinojosa, R., Nguyen, J., & Bright, M. (2017). Individualized Education Program Development Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Children and Adolescents with Health Conditions. Maternal and Child Health Journal , 21 (3), 583–592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2142-6 

Izquierdo, E., DeMatthews, D. E., Knight, D. S., & Coviello, J. (2019). Dual Language for All: Central Office Leadership in the El Paso Independent School District. Partial Differential Equations I , 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10831-1_10