It is not an equal playing field and this article adds to the literature on some of the structural inequities that many of our underrepresented students and their families confront everyday in their communities.

“Educational opportunity depends on income more than test scores. … The achievement gap among children shows up in tests on the first day of kindergarten, at age 5 — and it depends on family income, too. …A 2014 study found that almost two-thirds of affluent children had access to informal mentors outside their families — family friends, teachers, coaches, church leaders or counselors; fewer than 40% of poor children reported any mentoring. “

http://www.latimes.com/…/la-oe-mcmanus-our-kids-putnam-2015…