Black-White Achievement Gap
September 27, 2012
While public education is the great equalizer in America, many students arrive at school less prepared and fall further behind during school, resulting in a society where opportunities are not equally shared. For example, the data show a clear achievement gap between black and white students that appears as early as kindergarten and grows with time. Importantly, the disparity cannot be fully explained by observable differences such as income and region. Though a variety of factors combine to create these gaps, there is compelling evidence that variation in school quality is part of the cause.