The family and community environment of a child have a great impact on their educational success and opportunities. A few family and community factors that contribute to the achievement gap are:

1. Parental involvement in both the home and schools: Parents may want to be very involved in their children’s academic life but can’t for a variety of reasons. To begin with, schools can be intimidating for a parent especially if they feel the school is not willing to listen to what they have to say. Also, parents who work more than one job to support their families may not sufficient time to get involved in the school or with their children at home. Finally, parents with more children will have a harder time devoting their time and resources necessary to each child.

2. Summer loss: Children lose some of their academic knowledge during the summer. This loss is more distinct for children without summer enrichment programs, especially the programs with an academic or educational component. Many low-income and minority neighborhoods do not have these type of programs.

3. Fear, safety, and peer pressure: Some communities with high numbers of low-income and minority families struggle with safe environments for even the most basic necessities. Another problem that arises for children in some of these communities is the fact that the community as a whole has a mistrust of individuals who seek an education in order to improve their lives. Some students will deliberately fail to maintain the connection to their neighborhood.

Resource: “Parsing the Achievement Gap II”