Background: Inequality along racial and economic dimensions is well-documented and widespread in educational contexts. Achievement gaps are observed among children as early as primary school and are especially notable in standardized testing (Fryer & Levitt, 2004; Fryer & Levitt, 2013; Bond & Lang 2013). In response, some observers and…

Background: Early math knowledge is the strongest predictor of later academic achievement (Duncan et al., 2007), but math achievement gaps that are present during preschool prior to kindergarten entry (Starkey & Klein, 2008) persist in elementary school. This is especially true for young children who are very low-performing in math relative to…

The Robust and Equitable Measures to Inspire Quality Schools, or "REMIQS," project is guided by two questions. The first is, "where are the highest-performing schools in traditional settings that consistently promote improved outcomes for our most underserved students?" The second question is, "what practices, policies,…

This paper develops models to measure growth in student achievement with a focus on the possibility of differential growth in achievement for low and high-achieving students. We consider a gap-closing model that evaluates the degree to which students in a target group -- students in the bottom quartile of measured achievement -- perform better…

Background: Socioeconomic gaps in children's academic and social skills are large upon Kindergarten entry (von Hippel, Workman, and Downey 2018; Reardon 2011; Reardon and Portilla 2016). Preschool programs may yield particularly large benefits to low-income students and racially minoritized groups and may be promising for reducing inequalities…

Background/Context: Funders, researchers and developers share an interest in applying rapid cycle evaluation techniques in education (McNall & Foster-Fishman, 2007; Resch, 2016). Both rapid-cycle and other evaluation processes require monitoring the quality of implementation (Moir, 2018). By quickly monitoring and adjusting implementation,…

Background/Context: Well-documented achievement gaps persist between members of disadvantaged social groups and their more advantaged peers (Domina et al., 2018; Harackiewicz et al., 2014; Musu-Gillette et al., 2017; Stoet & Geary, 2013). Certainly, systemic and structural factors explain most of these gaps; yet, there is another contributor…

Background/Context: African American (AA) learners, like all other learners, bring into the classroom their cultural values, the way they express themselves, and how they problem-solve. Their life experiences, even at a young age, influence their social and emotional behavior. Unfortunately, all too many AA children experience life and family…

Background/Context: Increasing evidence suggests a connection between racial differences in rates of exclusionary discipline (suspensions/expulsions) and academic achievement by (Losen & Martinez, 2020; Reardon et al., 2018). Black students receive out-of-school suspensions and expulsions at disproportionately higher rates, which is associated…

Gender achievement gaps on national and state assessments have been a popular research topic over the last few decades. Many prior studies examine these gaps in different subjects (e.g., mathematics, reading, and science) and grades (typically kindergarten through eighth grade) for students living in various regions (typically states or countries)…

Ethnoracial inequality in educational achievement and attainment is a long-standing feature of the American education system. For example, national reading assessments show that White fourth graders scored nearly a standard deviation higher than Black or Hispanic students on average in 2015 (NCES, 2015). The measurement and analysis of differences…

Research on gender achievement gaps shows they exist, and are largest in the tails of the distribution, starting as early as Kindergarten and persisting through eighth grade. In mathematics, studies find small average gender achievement gaps and larger systematically male-favoring gaps among the highest achieving students. This paper seeks to…

Prior research demonstrates the existence of gender achievement gaps and the variation in the magnitude of these gaps across states. This paper characterizes the extent to which the variation of gender achievement gaps on standardized tests across the United States can be explained by differing state accountability test formats. A comprehensive…

Given the policy goals of course graduation requirements (CGRs), this study first tests the hypothesis that CGRs promote academic excellence and equity by both improving student performance ("productivity hypothesis") and reducing the gap between student groups as defined by academic ability, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status…

The academic achievement gap between children from the lowest- and highest-income families appears to have risen in recent decades in the United States. Such income-related disparities in academic skills are already present when children enter elementary school, suggesting that the explanation for changing gaps can be traced to changing…