The Stalled Race to Close Literacy Achievement Gaps: Federally Legislating Public Education

Racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps remain stagnant in public school education, even though federal involvement was initiated to create an equal system for all and to help the most vulnerable students. Focusing on literacy, a historical lens was used to assess that similar strategies (testing, funding in exchange for compliance) have been used for decades with little success. It is evident that federal education reform programs offer uniform solutions without taking into account individual needs. Research on local schools, physiological differences, as well as teacher interviews, indicates that federal legislation fails to adequately address the connection between poverty and low school achievement. If that does not change, as the federal role in education increases, it is unlikely that achievement gaps will narrow.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English-Composition

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Akron

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• DuCovna, Susan B.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bean, Janet

• Education Policy
• literacy
• public education
• poverty
• achievement gap
• achievement testing

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1365550966

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:akron1365550966