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Culture is a big factor. Why do east Asians beat the pants off of everyone? Do they have a genetic advantage? No...culturally they push education very hard. You see this in basically every single demographic. White people are not at the top. You can even find pockets within demographic groups and see disparities.
Then another big factor is economics. If you're poorer then you're also more likely to underperform.
From Education Week:
The explanation of student performance, those teachers said, rests primarily with the students and their parents. Three-quarters or more of respondents said that motivation, parenting, income, home environments, and neighborhood environments explained student academic gaps “somewhat,” “quite a lot,” or “extremely.”
...Poor students of all races perform worse on tests than more-affluent students. It’s true of the SATs and every other standardized test. And black students (along with Hispanic and American Indian and Alaska Native students) are more likely than their white and Asian counterparts to be poor.
And there are specific policy decisions that amplify the corrosive effects of poverty. Right now, majority-minority school districts get $23 billion less in funding nationally than majority-white school districts, according to EdBuild, a nonprofit organization working to overhaul school finance systems. Who's to Blame for the Black-White Achievement Gap? (edweek.org)