Analyzing the Impact of Education Reforms on the Achievement Gap: an Analysis of Teach for America

Abstract

The Coleman Report’s (Coleman et al. 1966) influence on education, even to this day, cannot be understated. As the largest, most well known and most influential educational study conducted in the U.S, the Coleman Report laid the foundation for how we look at equality in education and what we know about the effects of various influences within education. Its central findings underline two of the most intractable problems the field of education faces: (1) family background or SES is the prime predictor of achievement and (2) large achievement gaps between groups of students from different SES backgrounds. The finding that family background, or SES, is the main predictor of educational outcomes was a direct contradiction to what many were expecting the Coleman Report to find, which was that disparity in inputs or resources was the main cause for the existing minority achievement gaps. And while the study did also find some support for the effects of teachers and the student body composition, these were much smaller than those of family background.