A major and pressing problem facing educators, particularly in the context of the current national agenda of achieving schooling success for each student, is the consistent finding of differential correlation among low, mid-range, and high academic achievement in different groups of ethnic minority students. The research base shows a striking achievement gap between Asian American and European American students on the one hand, and, on the other, African American, Latino, and Native American students. The latter groups tend to score lower on tests that measure scholastic aptitude, as well as on those that test vocabulary, reading, and mathematics abilities.
This gap, which appears early in life and persists into adulthood, cannot simply be attributed to race, however. The research base indicates differences in achievement potential between African American and Latino males and females;