Study: States must move faster to close achievement gaps
By Mary Ann Zehr/Education Week
If states continue their current pace of progress in narrowing achievement gaps between students of different races, ethnic groups, and income levels, it could take decades for lagging student groups in some states to catch up to their better-performing peers, a study of more than 40 states has found. The report, released today by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and policy group, breaks new ground by estimating the length of time it will likely take to close gaps in a sample of states, said Jack Jennings, the organization’s president and chief executive officer. It shows that, overall, achievement gaps remain large and persistent across the nation, but the gaps between whites and Hispanics and whites and African-Americans are narrowing at a faster pace than those between whites and Native Americans. “There’s some progress made in narrowing the gaps, but we have to do much more and kick it up much faster,” Mr. Jennings said. Such gaps are closing—and, in some cases, widening—at an uneven pace among states, according to the report. (more…)