Closing Schools' Racial Achievement Gap.

• Position: EDUCATION - Brief article

One of the best evidence-based ways to close the educational achievement gap between black and white students has been found by a study of a Texas school district.

The research indicates that teachers' sense of "collective efficacy" in any one school--the belief that they have the capability and support necessary to educate their students--is connected closely to the achievement gap.

When teachers show high levels of collective efficacy, there is a 50% reduction in the academic disadvantage experienced by black students compared to schools where teachers had average levels.

"The importance of this finding should not be underestimated," says Roger Goddard, lead author of the study and Novice G. Fawcett Chair and professor of educational administration at Ohio State University, Columbus. "The achievement gap has been a persistent problem in the country with few good...