Across the United States in almost every city, every suburb, and every rural area there is a gap between the achievements of Black and White students. The term “achievement gap” has become an accepted label in situations where Black students severely underperform relative to their White counterparts. Many school districts have discretely avoided discussing and or addressing the gap for decades. School District Z, located in an urban suburb just outside of a large midwestern city, is the focus of this research as they attempt to address the gap. District Z is composed of approximately two-thirds students of color, yet the achievement gap between Black and White students is 37 and 41 percentage points in reading and math, respectively. District Z’s plan of attack is to require principals to track the attendance and academic achievement of all Black students as part of their evaluation. This research explores the effectiveness of tracking the attendance and academic growth of Black students on the achievement gap between Black and White students by examining standardized assessment data since the initiative was put in place. What I found was that District Z’s gap-closing program was not effective and, in fact, the achievement gap between White and Black students widened over a five-year span. At the conclusion of this article, I will provide an analysis of the data and research-based practices that may narrow District Z’s achievement gap.
","abstract_html":"<p>Across the United States in almost every city, every suburb, and every rural area there is a gap between the achievements of Black and White students. The term “achievement gap” has become an accepted label in situations where Black students severely underperform relative to their White counterparts. Many school districts have discretely avoided discussing and or addressing the gap for decades. School District Z, located in an urban suburb just outside of a large midwestern city, is the focus of this research as they attempt to address the gap. District Z is composed of approximately two-thirds students of color, yet the achievement gap between Black and White students is 37 and 41 percentage points in reading and math, respectively. District Z’s plan of attack is to require principals to track the attendance and academic achievement of all Black students as part of their evaluation. This research explores the effectiveness of tracking the attendance and academic growth of Black students on the achievement gap between Black and White students by examining standardized assessment data since the initiative was put in place. What I found was that District Z’s gap-closing program was not effective and, in fact, the achievement gap between White and Black students widened over a five-year span. At the conclusion of this article, I will provide an analysis of the data and research-based practices that may narrow District Z’s achievement gap.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mitchell, Markisha"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elizabeth Minor","Harrington Gibson","Gloria McDaniel-Hall"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:44Z","subjects":["Black-White Achievement Gap","Opportunity Gap","Educational Policy","Poverty","Race","Education","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Urban Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/309","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elizabeth Minor","Harrington Gibson","Gloria McDaniel-Hall"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mitchell, Markisha"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-05-09T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. 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The term “achievement gap” has become an accepted label in situations where Black students severely underperform relative to their White counterparts. Many school districts have discretely avoided discussing and or addressing the gap for decades. School District Z, located in an urban suburb just outside of a large midwestern city, is the focus of this research as they attempt to address the gap. District Z is composed of approximately two-thirds students of color, yet the achievement gap between Black and White students is 37 and 41 percentage points in reading and math, respectively. District Z’s plan of attack is to require principals to track the attendance and academic achievement of all Black students as part of their evaluation. This research explores the effectiveness of tracking the attendance and academic growth of Black students on the achievement gap between Black and White students by examining standardized assessment data since the initiative was put in place. What I found was that District Z’s gap-closing program was not effective and, in fact, the achievement gap between White and Black students widened over a five-year span. At the conclusion of this article, I will provide an analysis of the data and research-based practices that may narrow District Z’s achievement gap.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Program Evaluation For Assessing The Effectiveness Of Tracking The Academic Growth And Attendance Of Black Students In Closing The Black And White Achievement Gap"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Elizabeth Minor","Harrington Gibson","Gloria McDaniel-Hall"],"dc:creator":["Mitchell, Markisha"],"dc:date.available":["2018-05-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Across the United States in almost every city, every suburb, and every rural area there is a gap between the achievements of Black and White students. The term “achievement gap” has become an accepted label in situations where Black students severely underperform relative to their White counterparts. Many school districts have discretely avoided discussing and or addressing the gap for decades. School District Z, located in an urban suburb just outside of a large midwestern city, is the focus of this research as they attempt to address the gap. District Z is composed of approximately two-thirds students of color, yet the achievement gap between Black and White students is 37 and 41 percentage points in reading and math, respectively. District Z’s plan of attack is to require principals to track the attendance and academic achievement of all Black students as part of their evaluation. This research explores the effectiveness of tracking the attendance and academic growth of Black students on the achievement gap between Black and White students by examining standardized assessment data since the initiative was put in place. What I found was that District Z’s gap-closing program was not effective and, in fact, the achievement gap between White and Black students widened over a five-year span. At the conclusion of this article, I will provide an analysis of the data and research-based practices that may narrow District Z’s achievement gap.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/309"],"dc:subject":["Black-White Achievement Gap","Opportunity Gap","Educational Policy","Poverty","Race","Education","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Urban Education"],"dc:title":["Program Evaluation For Assessing The Effectiveness Of Tracking The Academic Growth And Attendance Of Black Students In Closing The Black And White Achievement Gap"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:44Z"}