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The Opportunity/Achievement Gap
Assistant Professor Robert K. Ream
Department of Education
Course: HASS 092-69R
Call #: 19592
Thursday, 4:10-5:00pm, OLMH 1126

Among the wide-ranging challenges facing American educators, perhaps no issue is more pressing than the inequity in student achievement among racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups--a problem that is now somewhat contentiously referred to as the “achievement gap.” This class examines existing theories, research and policies addressing disparities in educational achievement among racial/ethnic and social class groups. As Affirmative Action programs have been drawn increasingly into question, active educational policies addressing gaps in standardized test scores, course selection, and high school and college completion rates have re-emerged on the policy agenda.  We will pay particular attention to the psychological, social, and cultural underpinnings of these gaps and society's interest in their elimination. 

Course Content:

Short readings from the research literature (peer review journals) and the
popular press (newspapers and magazines) will be considered along with media
(radio, television, film) depictions of the achievement/opportunity gap.

Brief Biographical Statement:

Robert K. Ream (PhD, UC Santa Barbara) recently completed his first book, "Uprooting Children: Mobility, Social Capital, and Mexican American
Underachievement."  His research interests include educational inequality, social capital, and Latino social demography.  Dr. Ream joined the UCR faculty in 2004 after postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton University and the RAND Corporation.