“If we properly identify the actual social class characteristics that produce differences in average achievement, we should be able to design policies that narrow the achievement gap…After school and summer experiences for lower-class children, similar to programs middle-class children take for granted, would also be needed to narrow the gap.  This does not mean remedial programs where lower-class children get added drill in math and reading.  Certainly, remediation should be part of adequate after-school and summer programs, but advantages that middle-class children gain in summers and after school comes from self-confidence and awareness of the outside world they acquire in organized athletics, dance, drama, museum visits, recreational reading, and other activities that enhance inquisitiveness, creativity, self-discipline, and organizational skills.  After-school and summer programs can substantially narrow the achievement gap only by duplicating such experiences.”

Richard Rothstein;”The Social and Economic Realities that Challenge all Schools; Independent School, Winter 2006.
Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a visiting lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.  He is the author of  Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap (Teachers College Press, 2004).

The serious issues surrounding the support of students living in limited-income circumstances has generated much discussion and research.

Find out more about current thoughts here.
Summer Learning Research Bibliography

See what Richard Rothstein has said about the achievement gap.

Learn more about our National organization at www.horizonsnational.org
See a short video there about how Horizons powers the future of students!