Closing the Achievement Gap
What Some Teens Are Doing to Help

Photo Illustration by Ricky Riley| VOX Staff

By Gabi Logan and Kafi Hemphill
Special to VOX

These days it’s pretty clear who has a hand-up in school. When you walk through a lot of high schools, you see white and Asian kids in the hallways studying for tests and black and Hispanic kids in the cafeteria listening to music and fooling around. Seeing them messing around is upsetting because the black and Hispanic students won’t have the same opportunities down the line as the whites and Asians. Luckily, there are always exceptions.

The mission of the W.E.B. DuBois Society is to end this dooming cycle, one student at a time. The academic and cultural enrichment program selects dozens of high-achieving African-American students from Atlanta-area high schools and teaches us how to begin to correct these disparities by stepping up in our communities. We all study hard, get stellar grades and still find time to have a good time. We also help other students succeed — this is our contribution to closing the achievement gap.

The Gap
The achievement gap is the difference in academic performance between students of different ethnicities. It exists for many reasons, including the lack of parental support, the quality of teachers, the attitudes of the students themselves, racism and poverty.

Studies within the last couple of years in the National Assessment of Education Progress show that one-third of black students drop out of high school in the United States. According to these studies, the average African-American 12th grader tests at the same level as an average white student graduating the eighth grade.

As our generation ages, these scores translate into wages, explaining why the average African-American worker receives less pay than the average white employee. Research from Legal Momentum, a New York-based anti-poverty group, shows the more education you have, the more options you create and the more money you will eventually earn. The way to success is through hard work, perseverance and knowing how to overcome obstacles. As an educated individual, your opinions and thoughts aren’t just pushed aside; you have the ability to speak out effectively and be heard.

Eliminating the achievement gap is important because if we don’t fix this crisis soon, black and Hispanic youth won’t be able to get into college, succeed in business and society, build wealth and rise to leadership positions. Who then will our children have to look up to?

Helping Others
Teens need to understand that being successful in the classroom is more important than being successful in sports or entertainment because a career in sports and entertainment isn’t going to happen for everyone. The best and easiest way for teens to help eliminate the achievement gap is to take education seriously by paying attention in class, taking challenging classes and truly applying themselves — even if they’re the only black students in their classrooms. For example, there are only four black students in the entire International Baccalaureate program at Riverwood High School. That means those teens have to be prepared to answer any questions other kids may have when they are studying black literature or history. This pressure is burdensome. At the same time it’s a good thing because by overcoming stereotypes we can set examples for peers.

The DuBois Society has taught us that our success depends on the success of those around us — that it our duty to help fellow students. Unfortunately, some students we try to help have been overlooked and allowed to pass to the next grade for too long without a complete understanding of simple concepts. And as much as we try to help them, their limited knowledge holds them back from success.

The Step Up Program gives each DuBois scholar an opportunity to make a difference in the future of an inner-city middle school student at KIPP WAYS Academy. We become friends and examples of successful college-bound students — perhaps some of the only ones these kids know. Most importantly, we devise interactive activities, like skits and games, to prepare the students to take advantage of their opportunities in high school. Since the program focuses on younger students, these kids still have a chance to direct their futures in any way they want. The impressions that we make often stay with them throughout their high school careers and encourage them to make a little extra effort or plan ahead. Many of them even become W.E.B. DuBois Society scholars themselves.

We’ve learned the tools to create change. But the change will not come from the efforts of the DuBois Society alone. Tutoring groups, parental support and the individual wills of students to learn as much as possible are all necessary ingredients in the recipe for success. Students must have the courage and the commitment to positively impact change in themselves and others. By working toward the common goal of closing the achievement gap, each person makes a difference, no matter how big or small, in the success of the entire population.

Gabi is a senior at Riverwood High. She hopes to play softball for USC next year. Kafi is a junior at Sandy Creek High. She wants to become a research microbiologist.