Study: States Must Move Faster to Close Achievement Gaps

If states continue their current pace of progress in narrowing achievement gaps between students of different races, ethnic groups, and income levels, it could take decades for lagging student groups in some states to catch up to their better-performing peers, a study of more than 40 states has found.

The report , released Tuesday by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and policy group, breaks new ground by estimating the length of time it will likely take to close gaps in a sample of states, said Jack Jennings, the organization’s president and chief executive officer.

It shows that, overall, achievement gaps remain large and persistent across the nation, but the gaps between whites and Hispanics and whites and African-Americans are narrowing at a faster pace than those between...