This is the second guest post written by Tess Pajaron, of the Open Colleges, an online courses provider based in Sydney, Australia. The previous published post: Can We Teach Compassion?

Achievement is driven by motivation to succeed, not by where a child comes from, right? It has long been believed that any child who sets their mind to a goal can accomplish just about anything. This is true regardless of where a child is raised or the amount of money their family has. Still, there is a noticeable gap in the test scores between certain groups of people that cannot be ignored. Known as “The Achievement Gap”, the difference in test scores between well-to-do families and those less fortunate is clear. This holds true when socioeconomic status is compared to test scores around the world. The reasons for this are less apparent, but certain trends can be seen when data is analyzed. For example, the type of school a student attends has a direct impact on their test scores. Independent schools, attended by children from richer families, tend to have higher scoring students than government schools, attended by children from lower income homes. In this infographic, the data becomes clearer as to what has caused this obvious gap to appear. With this in mind, people across the world have the opportunity to revise their way of approaching education and focus on bridging the gap.

An Infographic by: www.OpenColleges.edu.au