Tracking the "achievement trap"
Interesting East Coast policy study reported by Ed Week showing that high-achievers from lower-income families fall behind their peers from better-off families. The issue is most problematic with students living in communities with median household incomes below the national average ($48,201 in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau). South Bay communities that fall into that category include Lawndale ($44,024), Gardena ($43,615) and Hawthorne ($35,980).
They're calling it the "achievement trap," a reference to the problem (known as the "achievement gap") of African-American and Latino students faring worse on standardized tests than their white and Asian peers.