School Quality and the Achievement Gap

Debra Viadero:

Two new studies shed light on how the achievement gaps between groups of students grow as they move from elementary to middle school.

The studies—one by researchers Eric A. Hanushek and Steven G. Rivkin and the other by the Northwest Evaluation Association—both found that black students start out school trailing behind their white counterparts, learn less over the course of the school year, and fall further behind as they progress through school.

But the studies diverge as they try to pinpoint potential causes for those learning gaps.

Mr. Hanushek and Mr. Rivkin, both university-based economists, suggest that the growth in the size of the learning gaps that occur as children move from kindergarten through 8th grade can be explained by certain differences in the schools that black and white children attend.

Links:

• "School Quality and the Black-White Achievement Gap" is posted by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
• "Achievement Gaps: An Examination of Differences in Student Achievement and Growth," is available from the Northwest Evaluation Association.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 15, 2006 6:18 AM
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