LEARNING GAP

LAST UPDATED: 08.29.13
Closely related to achievement gap and opportunity gap, a learning gap is the difference
between what a student has learned—i.e., the academic progress he or she has made—and what
the student was expected to learn at a certain point in his or her education, such as a particular
age or grade level. A learning gap can be relatively minor—the failure to acquire a specific skill
or meet a particular learning standard, for example—or it can be significant and educationally
consequential, as in the case of students who have missed large amounts of schooling (for a more
detailed discussion, see learning loss).
Generally speaking, learning gap refers to the relative performance of individual students—i.e.,
the disparity between what a student has actually learned and what he or she was expected to
learn at a particular age or grade level. Achievement gap refers to outputs—the unequal or
inequitable distribution of educational results and benefits—while opportunity gap refers to
inputs—the unequal or inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities.

One of the more consequential features of learning gaps is their tendency, if left unaddressed, to
compound over time and become more severe and pronounced, which can increase the chances
that a student will struggle academically and socially or drop out of school. In addition, if
foundational academic skills—such as reading, writing, and math, as well as social and
interpersonal skills—are not acquired by students early on in their education, it may be more
difficult for them to learn these foundational skills later on. As students progress through their
education, remediating learning gaps tends can become more difficult because students may have
fallen well behind their peers, or because middle school or high school teachers may not have
specialized training or expertise in teaching foundational academic skills. For these and other
reasons, many educators, school reformers, researchers, and policy makers have called for
greater investments in early childhood education, including universal access to prekindergarten
programs.
https://www.edglossary.org/learning-gap/
Identifying Learning Gaps

Learning Gaps are referred to as being the difference between where students currently are in
their education level and where they should be; to determine a child’s learning gap teachers and
students should both perform and assess a variety of ongoing task. This first step to determining
a students learning gap is to perform a variety of in class task and collect various data. This data
should then be documented as well as analyzed in order to determine how well the student is
performing or how far behind they may be. Then, once the gap is discovered teachers should
begin to address this gap by first informing students of what they should be addressing
themselves. For example, teachers must give students descriptive feedback in order to inform
students of what skills they are doing well with as well as what skills they need to focus on. For
this part of addressing student learning it is important to give descriptive feedback rather than
evaluative because descriptive offers students more concrete descriptions of items they need to
work on.
In conclusion, aside from identifying and addressing learning gaps, I also believe that it is
important to anticipate obstacles and misconceptions. This is extremely important because if
misconceptions are addressed before they occur, then this eliminates student struggles and
encourages more students learning. For example, as a teacher, if you are able to identify and then
address a variety of possible misconceptions within your lesson then this eliminates time spent
on having to go back and reiterate or correct the misconception later. Thus allowing students to
understand the material or task at hand the first time instruction is given which then allows more
time for students to correctly perform the task at hand. Finally, while planning your lesson it is
important to identify strategies to address misconceptions so that you can than enforce different
strategies depending on what works best for the types of learners you have within your
classroom.

Posted by Carol Holmes at 9:25 AM

Problem-based Learning Helps Bridge the Gap between the Classroom and the Real World
By: Jason R. Weber

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Bridging that gap between the classroom and the real world is one of my main goals as a faculty
member. When I first started teaching, fresh out of the professional world, I struggled with
having my students only receive a textbook education. I wanted them to not only learn the
concepts relevant to their field, but I wanted them to be able to experience it as well. I was
growing tired of hearing that our graduates were struggling with applying the information they
had received in school. It seemed the same topics such as writing, communication, and critical
thinking, were constantly being mentioned as areas of improvement for our students from
professionals in the field.
Knowing that this wasn’t a problem solely with my students and that others faced similar
challenges, I went to my colleagues and asked them the following, “How do we get our students
to understand what ‘the field’ is really like? How can we help them realize that they not only
need to understand the information we are teaching, but that they need to be able to apply the
information that we are teaching.” The responses I received led me down the path of problem-
based learning strategies. According to Wlodkowski (2008), “problem-based learning is
characterized by the use of real life problems as a means for people to learn critical thinking,
collaboration, and the essential concepts and professional skills of a particular discipline” (p.
276).

So, how do we create these learning activities and how do we assess them for understanding and
proper application? It should be noted that as you are creating these learning activities, such as
scenarios, you also need to create rubrics. It is important to ensure the learning activity is
measurable. How will you know when the student completed the activity successfully?

Also, make sure the learning activity is something the student can effectively respond to and be
successful in with effort. Do not put them in a situation where they are not able to work their way
to a successful conclusion. Make sure you start with basic scenarios and as you progress through
the academic term, build into more difficult scenarios. I would also encourage not assigning
points to your scenarios early in the term. Let students have fun with the activities and allow
them to make mistakes without fear of a bad grade. As the term progresses, assign points and
work with them to ensure they understand what is expected from them.

Additionally, we should consider the following criteria when developing learning activities such
as these:

Make the learning activity safe. We do not want students to experience embarrassment or
ridicule from other students. A safe environment allows students to make mistakes and to learn
from them.
Make the learning activity a successful experience. While we want to challenge our students, we
need to remember they are still building their foundation. Success leads to confidence and a
confident student is one who fully engages in their learning experience.
Make the learning activity interesting. What are some unique twists that you can apply to the
learning experience to keep students engaged?
Make the learning activity personal. Allow the students to make choices and reflect with them on
how their biases and beliefs affected what they did.
Make the learning activity relevant. Giving the students a chance to fully engage in a
professional role allows them to fulfill that goal they are working toward. (Wlodkowski, 2008, p.
220-221).
Online classes are another venue where problem-based learning can be applied. Posting
scenarios that relate to the weekly topic provides an opportunity for the students to travel further
into the material. Students submit their methods for dealing with the scenario and their
classmates are encouraged to ask them why they answered the way they did. This not only
allows our students to defend their viewpoints, but it gives them the opportunity to see the
variety of perspectives contained within their classmates. In my experience, my discussion
boards came alive when the students had scenarios to process and defend.

In a learning environment where we are constantly trying to connect to our students and to
ensure they understand and can apply the content we are providing, problem-based learning is a
tool that allows us to bring our students, course material, and the real world closer together.

Reference:
Wlodkowski, R. J. (2008) Enhancing adult motivation to learn: a comprehensive guide for
teaching all adults. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Jason R. Weber is a faculty member of the Blackhawk Technical College, School of Public
Safety and an evening administrator at the Monroe Campus.

© Magna Publications. All Rights Reserved.

5 Classroom Strategies to Address the Achievement Gap

A vocabulary gap between children from professional families and children from families on welfare is a
major contributor to the achievement gap

In a child's early years, the quality of conversational opportunities is just as important as the quantity of
words spoken

Teachers can foster better conversations in the classroom to help close the achievement gap and
encourage academic success for all students

Revisiting the 30 million word gap

In 1995, Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley published landmark research about the ways in which young
learners were exposed to vocabulary words before they reached school age. They tracked infants just
learning to speak and studied their interactions with their families, measuring the total number of words
the babies were exposed to. They also studied the types of interactions parents offered their children
through their budding conversations.

Hart and Risley discovered that the children of upper middle-class, college educated parents hear, on
average, about 2,150 words per hour. Children in working-class families heard 1,250 words per hour,
and children in families receiving public assistance heard only about 600 words per hour. They estimated
that, over time, the poorest children would enter school with a 30 million word deficit compared to their
better-prepared peers.

As politicians and reformers worked to improve education leading up to the passage of No Child Left
Behind, Hart and Risley's research highlighted a measurable aspect of the achievement gap that seemed
relatively easy to fix, and many educators strove to expose young children to more varied vocabulary
words to help disadvantaged students catch up.

Conversational quality vs. quantity

Hart and Risley's initial research has led to two decades' worth of follow-up research that has largely
corroborated their findings. Though the 30 million word figure is now considered to be somewhat
overstated, new research by the LENA Research Foundation suggests that a serious gap does exist:
children growing up in poverty hear only half as many words as their wealthier counterparts by age
three, amounting to an 11 million word gap.

The latest research suggests that, though the amount of vocabulary introduced is important, the quality
of parent-child conversations is just as crucial. In continuing studies, researchers found that children in
upper-class families were given many more opportunities to participate in open-ended conversation and
had a greater number of interactions. Disadvantaged children, by contrast, had interactions that were
more often one-sided; for example, those in which the parent gave a command and did not elicit any
give-and-take in the conversation. Researchers theorize that the quality of the conversational
opportunities is just as important as the number of words spoken in a child's early years.

Classroom strategies to boost conversation

How can teachers help close the achievement gap? A careful focus on exposing all students to high-
quality conversational give-and-take and varied vocabulary can make a big difference. Teachers of early
learners in kindergarten through third grade should consider incorporating the following 5 activities into
their daily routines:

Model appropriate conversation, including asking questions and taking turns. Children without much
experience in give-and-take discussions at home will need support in engaging in deep conversation.

Use varied vocabulary when presenting new information. Support students by using visuals and other
context clues to make meanings clear.

Check in with students individually. Ask open-ended questions about their opinions and feelings to give
them a chance to engage.

Create an interactive word wall where students can add vocabulary words and definitions to a colorful
display. Encourage students to add words they love, whether based on the meaning or sound, to foster
a love of language.

Choose read-aloud books that include characters having conversations with each other. In discussing the
books, guide students in analyzing how the characters are speaking to each other. Are they being
respectful conversational partners, or is there a misunderstanding?

When you turn your attention to improving the quality of conversations in your classroom, you can help
engage struggling students and close the achievement gap at the same time.

Bridging learning gaps in education

Bridging learning gaps in education

Comment E-mail Print Share First Published: Sun, Sep 11 2011. 10 30 PM IST

Bharath Sai/Mint

Bharath Sai/Mint

Updated: Sun, Sep 11 2011. 10 30 PM IST

The dismal learning levels of students in our schools should count as one of India’s biggest governance
failures. But this comes as no surprise given the prevailing priorities. The primary focus of school
education programmes has been on inputs—construct physical infrastructure, recruit teachers, provide
study materials, increase enrolment, and encourage retention. It was assumed that once the inputs
were in place, the outcomes would follow automatically.
Bharath Sai/Mint

Though this focus has expanded in recent years to include greater monitoring and improving teacher
and student attendance, expected learning outcomes have failed to materialize. This very critical last
mile gap has remained impervious to even the most vigorous of input side efforts. Here are a few
elements of a possible road map to bridge this last mile gap.

The biggest deficiency with our school education system is its one-size-fits-all approach. Classroom
instruction is designed to cover a prescribed syllabus in a single-track mode to all students in a class,
overlooking the wide variations in learning levels among students. This is most likely to leave stranded
those already lagging on learning levels— which unfortunately forms the vast majority of students in
each class. With each passing year, as the learning gap widens, these students become passive and
disinterested spectators in class and finally drop out.

This problem can be effectively addressed by incorporating a remedial education dimension into the
syllabus and pedagogy. This requires assessment of the learning level of each student, segregation into
groups based on individual learning competencies, and completion of the syllabus at varying speeds for
each group. At the end of each academic year, every child in the class should achieve a basic level of
learning competency.

Another important intervention to improve learning outcomes is to universalize early childhood

Once the content and pedagogy are standardized, such centres should be opened in all primary schools,
and would provide an alternative to parents who cannot afford kindergartens. ECE centres could form
part of the existing anganwadi centres, the main focus of which is on the provision of nutritional support
for children between ages one and three.

Digital content and medium are certain to play an important role in our classrooms in the years ahead.
Though not without its controversies, it cannot be denied that if appropriately used, the digital medium
—computers and consoles—can be a cognitively powerful instrument to amplify the effectiveness of
classroom instruction. The challenge will be with standardizing content and training teachers to use
various digital tools to prepare classroom instruction materials.

No intervention, especially on improving quality, can succeed without vibrant demand-side vigilance.
Active school management committees (SMCs) can make the teacher accountable and the management
responsible to their primary stakeholders, and ensure parents are aware of their child’s learning
deficiencies. Parents should, therefore, be motivated to attend SMC meetings.

An important requirement for the success of these interventions is a reliable mechanism to assess
students and collect assessment data. At the least, a rigorous baseline and end-line assessment is
necessary for all students in each class. The learning trajectory of each student can be mapped for his or
her entire school tenure, competency-wise learning gaps identified, and remedial instruction imparted.
Further, general competency gaps identified among students in a particular class can be used to
customize teacher trainings.

This data can also be used to generate cognitively salient and personalized learning outcome report
cards for each different stakeholder—parent, teacher, headmaster, and supervisory official. These
reports could be used to detect bright and dark spots and, thereby, prioritize inspections and improve
supervision. Classroom report cards should be discussed in SMC meetings and teachers should discuss
student-wise report cards with respective parents.

A learning outcomes database that tracks the learning trajectory of each student from ECE to class X
would be a powerful instrument to focus attention on the ultimate objective of learning quality. It would
form the basis for bringing in accountability and awareness among all stakeholders.

Finally, it is important to acknowledge that the desired learning outcomes cannot be achieved without
motivated teachers. A responsive incentive system can stimulate intrinsic motivation among teachers
and encourage local initiative. Headmasters should be motivated and trained to function as leaders who
can transform their schools. All these have to be complemented with a mechanism to provide academic
capacity building and training support for teachers.

There is nothing new about many of these interventions. Though deficient in government schools,
remedial education, report cards and parent-teacher meetings are commonplace in many well-run
private schools and it’s no surprise that these elements contribute to their success.

There are formidable obstacles to each of these interventions. For example, experience from several US
school systems have shown that standardized tests and student assessments carry the considerable risk
of being gamed and subverted. Whatever the final mix of policies, the time has surely come to place
learning levels at the centre of our school education agenda.

Gulzar Natarajan is a civil servant. These are his personal views

Comments are welcome at theirview@livemint.com