Opportunity/Achievement Gap

Read about academic performance differences due to factors affecting students’ options like poverty, racism, and uneven opportunities
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Illustration by Chris Whetzel for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Schools Trying to Prioritize Equity Have Their Work Cut Out for Them, Survey Shows
The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequities in education. Practitioners and researchers offer advice on how to move forward.
Ileana Najarro, November 28, 2022
5 min read
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DigitalVision Vectors
Science 3 Big Challenges to Expanding Computer Science Classes and How to Overcome Them
Districts struggle to find teachers, keep up with a fast-changing field, and address racial and gender disparities in course enrollment.
Alyson Klein, October 12, 2022
4 min read
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Student Achievement Opinion Standardized Tests Aren't the Only Meaningful Data on Student Achievement
"Street data" may be a better pathway to education equity. Here's what that means.
Shane Safir, September 19, 2022
5 min read
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Adolfo Valle for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Reported Essay When Did Equity Become a 'Trigger' Word?
Education equity may be inscribed in federal law, but that doesn't mean everyone agrees on what it means.
Stephen Sawchuk, September 6, 2022
12 min read
Image of a test sheet.
Chainarong Prasertthai/iStock/Getty
Student Achievement Digging Deeper Into the Stark Declines on NAEP: 5 Things to Know
What the national assessment can—and can’t—illuminate about the effects of the past two pandemic years.
Sarah Schwartz, September 2, 2022
9 min read
Mathematics Spotlight Spotlight on Closing the Math Achievement Gap
This Spotlight will help you learn how to support students suffering from math anxiety, gain insights into early math supports, and more.
September 1, 2022
Tight crop of a student holding a pencil doing classwork or taking a test.
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Student Achievement Students' Math and Reading Plummet, Erasing Years of Gains, National Assessment Finds
It's a perfect storm of bad news: Student achievement plummeted, and the declines were greatest among the most vulnerable students.
Sarah Schwartz, September 1, 2022
4 min read
Rear view of elementary age students seated at their desks facing mid 40s Black teacher standing at chalkboard with focus on foreground boys.
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Teaching Some Students Are Routinely Denied Challenging Work. The Pandemic Made That Worse
An increase in the use of lower-level reading passages threatens to exacerbate academic gaps.
Sarah Schwartz, August 16, 2022
4 min read
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Address the EL Opportunity Gap with Assessment
Supporting the needs of English learners (ELs) is highly complex and diverse
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Assessment The 'Nation's Report Card' Is Getting an Overhaul: 5 Things to Know
The leaders of NAEP have big plans for making the test more nimble, flexible, and useful.
Stephen Sawchuk, March 22, 2022
9 min read
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Acceleration: The Path to Closing the Achievement Gap
Explore specific, practical acceleration strategies you can use to help students access grade and course level learning and close the achievement gap quickly.
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Literacy as a Social Justice Issue
Why We Must Follow the Science of Reading to Give All Students the Skills and Opportunity to Succeed
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Student Achievement The Pandemic Hit Vulnerable Students Hardest. Now, Schools Have to Reckon With the Effects
A new report from McKinsey & Company demonstrates that schools are beginning an uneven COVID recovery process.
Sarah Schwartz, December 14, 2021
6 min read
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Vanessa Solis/Education Week and Victor Grow/iStock
Science Catching Up Native American Students in Science
The pandemic dealt a setback to science education for Native American students, but culturally relevant lessons could offer a path forward.
Sarah D. Sparks, November 23, 2021
7 min read