http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/us/closing-a-fear-gap-so-children-can-achieve.html?ref=education&_r=0
In class we have talked a lot about achievement gaps and opportunity gaps, well this article talks about a gap produced by fears. In Texas, this former teacher and now union representative lead a professional development seminar to discuss this. There are many immigrants in Texas from Mexico, so many that now there are more Latinos students in the classroom than white students.
This Latino students face challenges like language barriers and the fear gap. They don't come from a society that is exactly the same as America, so many of the differences can be scary to a young child in school. There was a little boy at recess the author details who was afraid of a police car that drove by the school building. It is sad that there are so many gaps in our education system, but this fear gap is the most worrisome.
I have seen language and socioeconomic barriers first-hand in south Texas. Math is hard enough with understanding the language it's being taught in. To be in a foreign language classroom must be a special type of Hell.
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