What is an “opportunity gap”? (and how it impacts kids)

Not all students get the same chance to succeed. Things like where they live, how much money their family has, or the language they speak at home can create unfair differences. These differences can create what is called an “opportunity gap.”

In this episode, learn what the opportunity gap really means and how it affects students. Discover why this issue matters. And hear why closing the gap is about more than just test scores.

Related resources

• What is the “opportunity gap”? A discussion about race, income, and disability

• ADHD and race: What Black families need to know

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(00:55) What is an opportunity gap?

(06:45) How opportunity gaps show up in schools

(12:07) Why this show exists

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at opportunitygap@understood.org.

Episode transcript

(00:00) Intro

Julian Saavedra: What if some of the reasons that kids don't succeed has little to do with talent and everything to do with the system they're in?

Not every student gets the same shot at success. Things like where you're from, your family's income, or even the language you speak at home can make a big difference. These differences can create what's called an opportunity gap. And it's a big reason why some students face more challenges reaching their goals than others.

Welcome to "The Opportunity Gap," a show where we talk about how to navigate the education system. I'm your host, Julian, an assistant principal with over 20 years of experience in education. Today we're going back to the heart of it all. What does the opportunity gap really mean? Why does this show even exist, and what's at stake?

(00:55) What is an opportunity gap?

Julian: So the question first is, well, Julian, what is the opportunity gap? When we speak about that, we're specifically talking about the disparities in access to education, and especially for students of color, students with disabilities, and students from under-resourced communities. So there is a gap not in opportunity solely, but there's also something called an achievement gap. And many times the achievement gap talks solely about test scores. So you might see statistics about how a certain demographic of children achieve at a certain level and others achieve at a lower level.

And a lot of people in education talk about how there is a gap in how well kids are doing. And so on this show, we try to unpack that a little bit. And we really look more so at not the results, but the reasons why. And one of the big reasons why there's such a gap in the success of different students is because there's a gap in opportunity.

The chances or ability for our students to receive similar or even remotely close to what others are getting opportunities doesn't necessarily exist. And so when we think about the opportunity gap, it's a wide range of choices that kids have. And for our families and especially our families of color, especially our families who live in communities that don't have the funding like their wealthier counterparts, we find that there's a gap in services and there's a gap in chances. And if you don't have a chance to even get on the field, how are you going to score? And this show is all about trying to figure out where are those gaps and what can we do about it.

I'm an assistant principal in Philadelphia. If you know anything about Philadelphia, we are the poorest big city in the country. We also have a very high Black and brown population. And so when we talk about how your zip code and your race might define the outcomes that you have, we also find that Philadelphia has historically had a pretty large gap in our achievement in comparison to other cities of our size.

And so what we find is that there are so many kids that have gone through our system and they just haven't gotten the chances that they should. I remember a couple years ago, I'm honored to serve as a ninth grade assistant principal. So I get to welcome the kids into ninth grade. And I remember I was at orientation and a grandma and a mom were bringing in their son for his first day of school in our school.

And they were so excited to come into school. And you know, they were right up in the front, they were listening to my speech about, "Hey, welcome to high school, and things are going to be different, and we have to work together." And after I was done and and you know, I dismissed the kids to the different programming, the mom and the grandma came up to me and they said, "Mr. Saavedra, I just want to say that when I saw your face on the orientation material, I knew that I had to take off work to come and meet you."

And I said, "Oh, well thank you. I appreciate you coming in." And I asked, "Well, why is that? I mean, I know I'm a good-looking guy, but why is it that you want to come in?" And they said, "Well, because our experience in school, both me and my mom was not so great. We never felt like we belonged. We didn't get what we needed. And I want my grandson and my son to have somebody that I think is going to care about them. And when I saw you and the rest of your team at your school, I knew that I had to be here to meet you all."

Now, I can say that this student is currently going to be a senior this year, and he does receive special education services, and those parents, the mom, the grandma, the auntie, I've met the whole family, they have been adequate supporters of this child, and he has done fantastic. And it shows to me that when there is trust built, when the opportunity from the very beginning is given, that we can start to close the gap and we can start to build experiences that change the narrative not only for our children, but for the generations that came before them.

Now, the stakes are high. The stakes are incredibly high. We all know that in our society, education is the key to unlock opportunity. I grew up in a single parent household. My mother did a fantastic job of raising us up. She had a lot of help, but she was a single mom. And we had to work very hard in school to get where we were at.

And education has unlocked opportunities for all of us. My siblings and I have traveled the world. We all are college graduates. We are doing very well. And if it wasn't for education, I'm not sure where we would be at. And I know that for students that look like me that come from similar backgrounds that I do, education can really change the outcomes for what they have in front of them. Now, the society we live in, if you don't have an education or you're not given an opportunity to do well, your chances of changing the narrative on your lifetime experiences could be very, very, very slim.

(06:45) How opportunity gaps show up in schools

Julian: And for our students with special education services, especially our Black and brown boys, because we find the research shows our Black and brown boys are at the most at risk, we find that if we don't act now when they're younger and we don't provide services that can help them, their likelihood of ending up in poor situations, potentially in prison, potentially in unemployment, skyrockets.

If we want a society that services all children, if we want a society that elevates everyone, we must make sure that we are doing better for our most vulnerable children. And so when we talk about the opportunity gap, there's no other thing that's more important. We must close the gap on the chances and the services and the trust that we provide for our families and our students of our most vulnerable populations.

All right, so let's talk a little bit about how are these gaps in access and resource actually showing up in schools. I am fortunate to be an assistant principal in a school. I've been in this particular school for a while, but I've been in schools for over 20 years. And so I've seen all the different ways that resources and access can or cannot show up.

And so one of the things that we find, no matter what age you are, if the resources are not there, it can make a pretty profound impact. If we're thinking about the very beginning of school, the little babies, they start school and we want to make sure that they're set up for success. What we find is that there's sometimes a gap just in the ability to intervene if we find that issues are happening early.

So there is something called early intervention where we can diagnose learning disabilities or potential struggles with learning and thinking differences as early as two or three years old. And the more that we look at the data, the more that we see in wealthier communities and in whiter communities, children are getting access to earlier intervention from their pediatricians far more than our Black and brown children, and especially our Black and brown children in impoverished neighborhoods.

And so what does that mean? That means that a child at two or three years old might get services a lot faster than another child at the same age. And over the course of their educational experience, we find that the gap just piles up. If you're not getting the services you need early, then it makes it that much harder to catch up.

Later on in school, we find that there's not as much availability for our children to not only receive a 504 or IEP support, which again, those of you listening, an IEP is an individualized education plan. A 504 comes from section 504 of the IDEA law, which is a federal law that grants services for those that have learning and thinking differences.

And both of those are services that are put in place to support our children across the education spectrum. What we find is that there is a pretty wide gap in the availability of services for students depending on what zip code they come from. If you live in a zip code that is an underfunded school system, then the amount of special education teachers available to support students is less.

The amount of curriculum that is available to differentiate is less. The availability of reading specialists or math interventionists to support our students with dyslexia or dyscalculia are less. If those are not there, then what happens to our children? They start to languish in general education classes, and then they're not getting the support that they need. On the flip side, when you're not getting the support you need academically, what do you think is going to happen, listeners? You know exactly what's going to happen. The kids are going to start to act out.

If you're not learning and you're not feeling like you can be successful and you see that things are stacked up against you, and society tells you you're not going to be anything anyway, then what do you do? You start to act out. You start to communicate your frustration through your behavior. And what we find is there's a direct correlation between students who are being suspended at higher rates depending on what their racial breakdown is or what their gender is.

And then we also find that our students are underrepresented in gifted services. So not only are our Black and brown students not getting gifted services or being identified for higher level or more rigorous work, they're being overrepresented in the disciplinary system. And as I said earlier, if we track that across the years, if you're being suspended in third grade and then in seventh grade and then in 12th grade, and you find that nothing is really helping you,

(12:07) Why this show exists

Julian: Your likelihood of ending up in unemployment or potentially in the prison system is much higher. And so when we talk about why this is so important and why the stakes are so high, I'm seeing it myself. I can tell you as a person who is serving in the work right now as we speak, our children need us. And the opportunity gap is very present. The opportunity gap is still alive in schools across the country.

And the more information that we can get out there to our families and we can get out to educators and we can get out to our children and our communities, the more that we can do to close that gap. So what I would end with, good intentions don't close any gaps. You can have as much empathy and sympathy and thoughts and prayers as you want about trying to make the system change, but unless there is intentionality, unless there is policy, systemic change, community support, trust with each other, and persistent advocacy, the change isn't going to happen.

And so I would advocate as you're listening, and if you know anybody that has any sort of influence in the field of education, tell them to listen too, because we're going to give you tips, we're going to give you information, we're going to introduce you to people who are working to break this apart and to close the opportunity gap.

So last but not least, why does this show exist? And how can it help? Education is hard. The education system is complicated. It is not like it was when you were growing up. The system has changed, especially if you have a child who has ADHD, dyslexia, or any other sort of learning and thinking difference, it can be really difficult to do it.

And we don't want you to feel like you're working by yourself. And if you are a family out there that doesn't matter what your racial background is, it doesn't matter what your demographic is, this podcast is for you because it's going to provide information. So we're looking for families out there who are feeling overwhelmed, unseen, and unheard. I feel you. I hear you. I see you. We're looking for educators who are looking to listen, to learn, and to lead differently. Take this information and reflect, what are you doing in your role as an educator? How are you moving the chains to try to push for this opportunity gap to be closed?

And we're also looking for advocates pushing for real change, not from the top down. We want grassroots, we want the ground up. We want people that are doing the work day in and day out. We're going to explore how race, disability, and systemic barriers intersect in schools. We're going to talk about what real advocacy looks like. We're going to make sure we provide you with tools, strategies, and a lot of stories to empower families and to elevate our student voices.

So listeners, you're going to hear a lot of me, you're going to hear a lot about the opportunity gap, but know this, I'm serving in the work day to day. I'm going to give you an up close and personal view of what it's like to be in the work. And I'm going to hopefully be reflective enough to think about my own practice and how that practice translates to systemic change.

Thanks so much for listening today. We love hearing from our listeners, so if you have any thoughts about today's episode, you can email us at opportunitygap@understood.org. And be sure to check out the show notes for links and resources to anything we mentioned in the episode. This show is brought to you by Understood.org.

Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give. 

"The Opportunity Gap" is produced by Tara Drinks and Cody Nelson. Video is produced by Calvin Knie and edited by Nico Rothenberg.

Briana Berry is our production director. Neil Drumming is our editorial director.

From Understood.org, our executive directors are Laura Key, Scott Cocchiere, and Jordan Davidson.

Thanks again for listening.