Opportunity/Achievement Gap

Read about academic performance differences due to factors affecting students’ options like poverty, racism, and uneven opportunities
An elementary teacher delivers a lesson in Spanish in a dual-language immersion class.
An elementary teacher delivers a lesson in Spanish in a dual-language immersion class. A report found that vulnerable students bear the brunt of slow academic-recovery gains.
Allison Shelley for EDUimages
Equity & Diversity Students Fell Behind During the Pandemic. Who Stayed Behind?
Not enough students are receiving the support they need, and there's a disproportionate toll on the most vulnerable students.
Brooke Schultz, September 17, 2024
7 min read
Illustration of a large brick wall with graduation cap and books on top of the wall and two silhouetted males sitting and standing at the base of wall and looking up.
Gina Tomko/Education Week + Canva
Student Achievement What the Research Says Socioeconomic Status Matters in Student Achievement—But It’s Not Everything
Data suggests that a significant portion of the achievement gap could be tied to socioeconomic status.
Brooke Schultz, August 23, 2024
5 min read
An illustration of a diverse  group of professionals standing on a very large laptop studying various data and charts on the screen in front of them.
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Equity & Diversity Interactive Equitable Access to AP Courses: How Each State Is Doing
College Board data broken down by race and ethnicity helps educators assess gaps in equity, researchers say.
Ileana Najarro & Gina Tomko, August 22, 2024
3 min read
Vector illustration of a hand with a magnifying glass looking closely at pages of varying types of charts and data.
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Equity & Diversity Interactive How Student Access to AP Courses Has Changed Over Time
The College Board offers national data broken down by race and ethnicity to assess any issues with access in the AP program.
Ileana Najarro & Gina Tomko, August 22, 2024
1 min read
 Diverse group of students sitting on chairs looking away at an abstract background.
iStock/Getty Images + Education Week
Equity & Diversity Opinion We Can End Academic Tracking Fast—Or We Can Do It Right
Eliminating ability grouping can give students better opportunities, but teachers must be ready to get students to grade-level standards.
Miriam Plotinsky, June 14, 2024
5 min read
A young Black woman's image dissolves in the smoke.
iStock/Getty Images
Equity & Diversity Opinion 'Brown v. Board of Education' at 70: A Dream Dissolved
This anniversary should remind us that progress is not inevitable. We stand now at a critical juncture.
R. L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy, May 15, 2024
4 min read
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Glitch stylized photo of a white woman with a hood over her head.
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Student Achievement What the Research Says Next NAEP to Take Deeper Look at Poverty's Connection to Students' Achievement
Researchers say the new measure could yield a more accurate reading of how family income affects students' test scores.
Sarah D. Sparks, February 26, 2024
5 min read
Tight crop of junior-high students' desks during a math class at school with paperwork showing math problems.
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Mathematics Math Tracking Starts as Early as Elementary School, a New Study Finds
Most principals also report that not all students have the opportunity to take Algebra I, new data show.
Sarah Schwartz, February 7, 2024
6 min read
Vector illustration of 4 professionals looking through a large magnifying glass at charts and large upward arrows.
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Student Achievement Q&A Learning Recovery Efforts Worked. New Data Show Why States Must Not Let Up
Student learning recovered in record numbers, but improvements were uneven—and exacerbated some longstanding academic gaps.
Olina Banerji, February 2, 2024
8 min read
Illustration of people climbing stacks of books. There are 3 stacks of books at different heights with people helping people climb up.
iStock/Getty
Student Achievement To Settle a Lawsuit, California Will Shift $2 Billion to Students Hurt by Pandemic Shutdowns
The settlement in the class-action lawsuit presses districts to provide evidence-based support to help students get back on track.
Sarah D. Sparks, February 1, 2024
7 min read
Teenage student taking notes during class
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Mathematics What the Research Says How Schools Can Diversify Math Course-Taking
Low-income students and students of color take fewer advanced-math courses—or start taking them later—than their white peers.
Sarah D. Sparks, December 7, 2023
4 min read
In this Aug. 13, 2014, file photo, a student prepares to leave the Enterprise Attendance Center school southeast of Brookhaven Miss. The federal government has decided to delay changing the way it determines funding for rural education after a bipartisan group of lawmakers said the move would hurt hundreds of schools.
A student prepares to leave the Enterprise Attendance Center school southeast of Brookhaven, Miss., on Aug. 13, 2014.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP
School & District Management The State of Rural Schools, in Charts: Funding, Graduation Rates, Performance, and More
Rural schools receive less funding on average from states, but they still deal with the mental health and academic crises facing all schools.
Libby Stanford, November 20, 2023
5 min read