Subgroup analysis of the data from this article shows that it is mostly white teachers who respond differently to how important closing the racial achievement gap is in accordance to either being presented with the "gap" or "inequality" framing of the term. This is in contrast to black and Latino/a teachers, who showed that they responded to the question similarly regardless of the framing of the phrase.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

In a study which compared the phrase "racial achievement gap" to that of "racial inequality in educational outcomes," it was found that the two different framings of the term resulted in differences in the way surveyed teachers responded to prompts. Teachers who received the “gap” framing of the term did not prioritize closing gaps/ending inequality as highly as those who received the version of the term framed as “inequality", demonstrating the implications that can come from the language used in terms of the racial achievement gap.

Empirical evidence for Achievement Gap framing implications

Quinn, David M., Desruisseaux, Tara-Marie, & Nkansah-Amankra, Akua. (2019). Educational Researcher, Vol. 48 No. 7, pp. 484–487

“Achievement Gap” Language Affects Teachers’
Issue Prioritization

Whether the term "racial achievement gap" or "racial inequality in educational outcomes" was used, research has shown that teachers in two groups receiving one or the other later phrases give similar explanations overall as to why disparities in learning between ethnicities exist in the first place. Teachers stated that it is primarily the home environment, neighborhood environment, and parenting that are more responsible for gaps/inequalities than school quality, discrimination, and income.

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