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The authors share the difference of how the education gap between minority and low-income students compares to the fortunate white students. These low-income students are usually seen in urban schools that are at a disadvantage because of their label as a "failing school". The authors conduct a chart that shows the number of free or reduced lunches, percent of minority students, the student teacher ratio and the percent of poverty rate of failing schools, choice schools and the mean difference in schools in North Carolina. The rates in failing schools were substantially higher than the ones in choice schools. This process was only conducted in North Carolina, but it would be very similar for all states.

The authors research the effects of public school choice in the state of South Carolina under the No Child Left Behind Act. It has been found that public schools are labeled "in need of improvement" if there is a large minority of students and a large amount of poverty independent of rural, suburban, or urban location. The article touches on all the spatial aspects of the academic achievement gap between public schools and how rural failing schools are the most disadvantaged. The research in the article is useful but it is limited to the state of South Carolina.

In his new book, "Work Hard. Be Nice.", Jay Mathews claims that the Knowledge Is Power Program is the "best" program serving severely disadvantaged, minority-group students in America today.

This article describes a curriculum designed to assist 64 post baccalaureate minority students in developing and practicing a stress-management technique. Students participated in deep breathing meditation exercises in two classes and they completed surveys before and after as well as follow-up surveys each academic year. This article concluded that this technique provided the students with a promising solution for academic and professional situations.

Kraus proposes a reform program that will reform low-income Minneapolis schools. Then he observes how urban schools attract low-income students and creates a problem of low achievement in these types of schools. This reform wanted no school to have more than 70% of any racial or minority group. He noticed that students in urban schools have lower test scores, so in order to change this they are implementing transfer programs into suburban schools. Most students showed improvement and to test their improvement the students were assessed. This program may improve academic achievement in some schools, but it does not exactly improve urban schools.

Hill and Barth discuss the Federal Government's attempt to raise student achievement, especially in standardized testing, with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The NCLB's intent was to limit academic achievement gaps in students who are minorities, disabled, financially disadvantaged, or limited English proficiency. One of the biggest problems that has arisen from the law is teacher retention. The NCLB requires highly qualified teachers, but all the highly qualified teachers are not staying. The authors focus on this huge problem of teacher retention.

This article talks about how race and ethics differs the way parents talk to their children. It shows that white mothers are more likely to talk and read to their children every day than black and hispanic mothers. It talks about how this affects the childrens readiness and there is a 20 to 25 precent gap with children that are white and other minority.

This article is based on a study released by the United States about the No child left behind act. The study is about how the act leaves out social studies, languages and the arts from schools. The only good that came from cutting out these subjects of study from school is that the rates of increase in learning for math sciense and reading/writing have gone up drammatically. This article is good if you are looking at the no child left behind act.