Equity & Diversity Series

Hidden Inequities

An Education Week Analysis

It’s no secret that many students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities often lag behind their classmates in school. The mechanisms and circumstances that create or widen the divides between academic haves and have nots can be harder to see. This six-month series, conducted in collaboration with the Education Week Research Center, highlights some of the unseen disparities that contribute to achievement gaps among students across the nation.

Equity & Diversity Student Mobility Takes an Academic Toll. But Why?
While the effects of midyear moves are not well understood, the new federal law requires schools to keep better track of military, foster-care, and homeless students.
Daarel Burnette II, June 6, 2017
5 min read
School & District Management When a Community Loses Its Schools
School closures often affect poor students, African-American students, and rural communities like Hughes, Ark.
Denisa R. Superville, June 6, 2017
13 min read
Brian Long, left, and Kim Long, right, with their son Brennan Long last year. Brennan was left with two shattered thigh bones after being restrained by a staff member in his Louisville school in 2014.
Brian Long, left, and Kim Long, right, with their son Brennan Long last year. Brennan was left with two shattered thigh bones after being restrained by a staff member in his Louisville school in 2014.
Sam Upshaw Jr./Louisville Courier-Journal-File
School Climate & Safety 70,000 Students With Disabilities Secluded, Restrained in School
An Education Week Research Center analysis finds that 1 in 100 special education students was physically restrained or placed in seclusion from classmates in 2013-14.
Christina A. Samuels, May 16, 2017
9 min read
Families & the Community Video Hidden Inequities: How Differences in Parents’ Income Play Out in Schools
Parents who earn $75,000 a year are more likely than parents at the low end of the income scale to volunteer in school, attend school meetings, or move so that their children can attend a better school, according to data gathered by Education Week. And that can make a difference for their children: Parents who speak up tend to get what they ask for.
April 25, 2017
1:40
Technical education instructor John Juckem leads a class in the newly built machine shop at Sheboygan North High School in Sheboygan, Wis.
Technical education instructor John Juckem leads a class in the newly built machine shop at Sheboygan North High School in Sheboygan, Wis.
Narayan Mahon for Education Week
Budget & Finance Do Private Donations Reinforce School Disparities?
An Education Week analysis of three neighboring Wis. districts shows how private dollars help shape differences in public schools.
Francisco Vara-Orta, April 18, 2017
9 min read
Families & the Community How Parents Widen—or Shrink—Academic Gaps
Middle-class parents are more adept than low-income families at navigating the social networks that link their children to school opportunities.
Sarah D. Sparks & Alex Harwin, April 18, 2017
9 min read
Wheaton North High School students stream through the commons area during lunchtime earlier this month.
Wheaton North High School students stream through the commons area during lunchtime earlier this month.
Alyssa Schukar for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness The Challenge of Creating Schools That 'Work for Everybody'
One high-achieving school works to get a handle on the racial- and income-based disparities that continue to divide its students.
Catherine Gewertz, March 21, 2017
11 min read

Vol. 36, Issue 25