ultimately changed little over the past two decades. For twelfth grade students, in fact, the gap in NAEP reading is wider now than it was in 1992 (NCES 2014). While minority students and students from high poverty areas continue to struggle academically, it has a direct effect on the dropout rate in the United States. Nationwide, it has been reported that a student drops out every 26 seconds on the average, equating to 1.3 million students each year. From a national and local perspective, the graduation rates for Black and Hispanic students are even lower (American Graduate D.C., 2014). While the status dropout rate decreased from 10.9% to 5.9% over the period spanning the years 2000 through 2015, some groups are disproportionately affected by the drop out phenomenon. Further analysis of data disaggregated by composite populations indicated that males drop out at slightly higher rates than females, and most minority groups continue to drop out at higher rates than their white peers (Carr, 2017).
The public is calling for the closing of these pernicious, and all too pervasive, gaps. Moreover, with national and international accountability movements upon us, business, civic, and religious leaders, as well those who create commissioned reports in the non-profit world, are calling for the achievement and disparity gaps to close now. They are labelling this effort “The New Civil Rights Movement” to heighten awareness of social injustices. Parents, who are key drivers in this area, are demanding more for their children, vocally expressing the consequences of the mis-education of their children.
Teachers and principals, state agencies including the Kentucky Department of Education, The Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), and The Educational and Professional Standards Board are all seeking ways to ameliorate the gross inequities in our schools in ways that improve society as a whole.
Kentucky State University proposes to establish the interdisciplinary Center for Research on the Eradication of Educational Disparities. Its functions will be to research gaps in achievement and attainment, develop training programs for schools and school districts, and host equity, diversity, and achievement/attainment programs for teachers, principals, and other school personnel in Kentucky. This interdisciplinary Center will become:
The agility needed to provide real time and timely solutions in a holistic way to schools, providers, and local educational districts is a significant asset of the proposed Center. Totally committed to engaging the question of how to close the achievement gap, the Center will be focused and intentional in its work, producing timely, productive, and targeted results.
The Center will be staffed by a director, an assistant director, and administrative support staff. Faculty with requisite experience may be selected as C.R.E.E.D. Fellows and given release-time to assist with training, work in the community, research and expanding the reach of the Center through grants and
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