The Causes of the Achievement Gap?

Yesterday, I posted these comments about a story from the Washington Post about a group of black parents in Loudon County, VA who banded together to help their sons stick with school. One of the interesting parts of this story is that Loudon County is one of the most affluent counties in the country, with an average household income of over $100,000. Clearly these parents had the resources to help their sons focus on academics. So why does Loundon County have a significant achievement gap?

But the fact that Loundon County, a very wealthy county by just about every measure, still suffers a significant achievement gap among minority students nagged at me personally. This from the Washington Post story:

In affluent Loudoun, known for its strong schools, black students consistently lag behind their white classmates on standardized tests. Last year, 63 percent of black eighth-graders in the county passed the state math test; 62 percent passed in English. White students' pass rate for both subjects was 89 percent. At Eagle Ridge, where 8 percent of students are black, the gaps were similar.

While the black enrollment at Loudon County schools is lower than inner city schools or other counties in Virginia, and Loundon schools are touted among some of the best in the region, they still suffer an achievement gap of better than 20 points. Why?

Education researchers will tell you that socioeconomic status carries a great deal of weight in predicting the educational outcomes. The evidence appears convincing, but Loudon County cannot be considered a poor county by any measure. The families involved in this parents group were financially secure, well educated and often two-parent homes, yet their sons in particular are score 20 points lower than their white counterparts on tests. Is Loudon County just an outlier? Other wealthy counties in the DC Metro region have similar achievement gaps, despite the relative wealth of the county and the generally acknowledged quality of the school systems.

The WaPo article seems to suggest, but fails to explore, that part of the problem is cultural, not economic. When young men of affluent parents view education as for white kids or nerds, then perhaps Bill Cosby is right, the problem is not fully with the schools, but with a black culture that discourages young men from getting an education, a culture in which ignorance is not only accepted, but lauded.

In short, is the achievement gap more a function of socioeconomic conditions or more a function of cultural norms amoung the black community?