There's a good deal of confusion about what it means to close the achievement gap in education. There's the question of what is being measured. Is it the difference in average standardized test scores? Is it grade-point averages? Is it dropout rates? Is it graduation rates? And there's the question of who is being measured. Is it students from wealthy families and those from low-income families? Is it black students and white students? Is it male students and female students? Different scholars use different definitions.

Black and Hispanic high school students, across the United States, drop out of school much more frequently than Asians or Whites. Despite recent improvements, this discouraging trend persists. More troubling perhaps, of those students who attend college, Blacks and Hispanics are only half as likely to graduate from college as compared to Whites. Furthermore, many of the minorities who graduate taken longer than 4 years to obtain a college degree. Therefore, the gap must be addressed very early in the educational process to ensure positive long term effects.

In sum, existing research suggests three critical steps to improve gaps in college enrollment rates among Blacks and Hispanics:

First, college must become an expectation not an option so that Blacks and Hispanics have higher educational aspirations, leading them to greater achievement. Intervention must start as early as elementary school so that the students fully understand the connection between college and life achievement and ultimately happiness. These youth must understand that few of them will become professional athletes or rappers. However, they can become, for example, a lawyer and manage athletes or rappers. Let them know that education is the closest thing that they can get to a guarantee in life.

Strong academic preparation is the key. First, school districts must make high-school courses more rigorous to narrow the gap that the United States has with other industrialized nations. Ethnic and low-income minority students are the least likely to enroll in advanced placement, honors and college-preparatory curriculum. This effort should address the courses that all students take regardless of their socio-economic standing.

Money or financial support is the final piece of the puzzle. Some minorities take themselves out of the college education because they "feel" that they cannot overcome the money obstacle. There are billions of dollars available as both scholarships and financial aid based on need and/or merit. Parents, students, faculty and guidance counselors must all work together to access these funds so that every child can realize his/her dream of attending college.

Education levels the playing field. It breaks the shackles of poverty and uplifts the human spirit, thereby improving the lives of individuals, families and the overall society. Education has the ability to eradicate illiteracy, poverty, racism and crime; nothing else has that power, not even money. Therefore, every smart society must be committed to the education of all to ensure its preservation. If not, eventually, the crabs in the bucket will win.