News

Local, state, and national news and events on closing the achievement gaps.

County's Achievement Gap Narrows in Reading and Math: Minority Progress Is Among Montgomery School Chief's Goals
The Washington Post, July 17, 2008
The achievement gap separating black and Hispanic students from whites and Asians in performance on statewide tests has narrowed in reading and math at every grade level tested, according to an analysis of results released this week by Montgomery County (Maryland) school officials.

Forget About the Achievement Gap
The Washington Post, July 14, 2008
Education columnist Jay Mathews reminds us that our interests should include supporting high-achieving learners as well as low-achieving students.

Closing the Achievement Gaps in Math and Science
The Science Daily, May 5, 2008
The latest results from the National Science Foundation's Math and Science Partnership  program show not only improved proficiency among all elementary and middle school students, but also a closing of the achievement gaps between both African-American and Hispanic students and white students in elementary school math, and between African-American and white students in elementary and middle-school science.

Debating 'A Nation at Risk': The 25th anniversary of the Reagan Administration's report 'A Nation at Risk.'
April 2008
Reflecting on the report's legacy is Richard Rothstein, research associate at the Education Policy Institute. His essay, "A Nation at Risk Twenty-Five Years Later,"  is on the Cato Institute's magazine, along with comments by Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, Sol Stern of the Manhattan Institute, and others.

How Can the Achievement Gaps Be Closed? A Freakonomics Quorum
The New York Times, March 18, 2008
New York Times columnist Stephen J. Dubner gathered a group of people with wisdom and experience in the achievement gaps area - Caroline Hoxby, Daniel Hurley, Richard J. Murnane, and Andrew Rotherham - and asked them the following question: How can the U.S. black-white achievement gap be closed?

Achievement Gaps Identified within Racial Groups
The University Record Online, March 10, 2008
When it comes to achievement gaps within racial groups, catching up over time is common, a University of Michigan study finds. In the first known study to analyze reading and math achievement within racial groups during elementary school, researchers found high achievers within all groups and that a substantial proportion of children catch up to the high achievers in their groups over time.

Achievement Gaps Debate
Los Angeles Times, week of November 25, 2007 [registration required]
Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute and Russlynn Ali of The Education Trust-West engage in a weeklong debate on the achievement gaps. They look at causes of and solutions to the gaps, and whether the No Child Left Behind law is helping or hurting, in these segments:  "Mind the (Achievement) Gap," "No Child to the Rescue?" and "What's Causing the Gap?"

Students scoring ACES
Herald News (NJ), November 20, 2007
Paterson's Eastside High School offers an Academic Community English Skills (ACES) program, which serves students who are new to the U.S. and who don't have an eighth-grade diploma, required for entry to high school. The program tries to bring the students -- who may have significant gaps in their schooling -- up to speed within two years by providing a middle school curriculum and English language instruction.

Simple steps would close racial gap, educator says
San Francisco Chronicle, November 14, 2007
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell convened a two-day summit on achievement gaps between Black and Latino students and their White and Asian counterparts. On the second day students took the stage to talk about what teachers can do to help them achieve. The Chronicle's editorial on the summit advocates for providing the resources necessary to close the gaps.

The Teacher Effect
Teacher Magazine Web Watch, September 12, 2007
A new study from Pittsburgh public schools suggests that improving teacher quality across the board may be the surest way to close the racial achievement gap.

St. Paul school conquers the education achievement gap
Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 11, 2007
How do you beat the odds on the achievement gap? At Farnsworth in St. Paul, they make learning fun -- and expected.

Schools Add Learning Hours
San Mateo County Times, September 10, 2007
Increasingly, districts and schools across the nation are exploring expanded instructional time to speed up children's learning and close a persistent achievement gap among students of different races.

Blacks in Suburbs Failing Md. Exams
Baltimore Sun, September 6, 2007
Minority students, especially African-Americans, are struggling to pass the exams in the suburban classrooms their families had hoped would provide a better education.