Educators long used the term achievement gap to describe differences in test scores between Black, Latino and white students. Critics argued that the phrase put the problem on students. Opportunity gap points instead to what students are given. Scholars Prudence Carter and Kevin Welner helped popularize the term with their 2013 book Closing the Opportunity Gap.
The gaps show up in the data. Federal Civil Rights Data Collection reports show that students in schools serving mostly Black and Latino students are less likely to have access to courses like calculus and physics. They are more likely to have inexperienced teachers. Outside school, differences in family wealth, health care, housing and internet access add up.
The idea matters because it changes the solution. If the problem is students, the fix is to change them. If the problem is opportunity, the fix is fair school funding, desegregation, access to advanced classes and support for families. The term also applies beyond schools, to unequal access to jobs, credit and health care.