The achievement gap continues to widen between Whites and Nonwhites. Increased by sociological factors, such as poverty, lack of resources, and destructive home lives, the gap continues to heighten because of the absence of adequate multicultural education that would generate intellectual growth for all students. With the rise of Spanish speaking immigrants in the United States, young Spanish speaking children are falling academically behind because of the lack of appropriate reading instruction in schools. ESL students are learning English while simultaneously learning to read in English. Meanwhile, immigrant parents do not know English and therefore cannot read with their children at home, which has been proven to enhance reading skills. Studies suggest that one cannot read proficiently in a second language without first learning to read in their native language. Because students are falling behind in early reading literacy development, students are passed through grade school without the ability to read at proficiency level. Students arrive in high school, as I have witnessed, reading below appropriate grade level. Studies show that in the United States, 82% of students receiving free-reduced lunch in schools read below proficient level. This astounding statistic mostly pertains to Students of Color, considering the racial wealth gap in the United States.
