The achievement gap refers to the difference in the educational qualification or academic performance among different groups of students. For example, a student group can be classified on the basis of income level, which can be higher or lower compared to the other group, resulting in a gap.
Academic achievement and educational attainment are generally the main criteria for judging an achievement gap between two sets of students who vary from each other. They can be clubbed into one gender, ethnicity, race, religion, or income group.
Generally, the gap is used when one group outperforms the other in a very significant way. Further, it is only used when the average numbers and statistics favor only one particular set of students, but it affects many different groups.
Factors like gender, race, ethnicity, and income affect students’ academic performance, resulting in widening or narrowing the achievement gap. Parameters like the digital divide, geography, etc can be the reason for the gap. Sometimes, the gap is significant and noticeable, and sometimes, not so much. It is to be noted that achievement cannot be calculated on the basis of education alone. Now, with the increase in the number of online courses and educational technology, geography is no longer a barrier.
