A new analysis backs up earlier reports that the achievement gaps between so-called advantaged and disadvantaged students has narrowed in the past decade, according to Education Week. The trend appears to have been bolstered in the 1990s by the standards-based-reform movement.

The study from the Center on Educational Policy analyzes the achievement gap between low-income students and their peers, and between minority and white students, using test data from all 50 states collected from 2002 through 2008.

Viewing those gaps through a variety of lenses, the report finds that, on the whole, the disparities appear to be narrowing because of the accelerated achievement of lower-performing groups, not slower progress by high-achieving groups. Nevertheless, achievement gaps continue to remain as large as 20 percentage points or more in some states, the report indicates.

The report does not provide any insight into whether the federal No Child Left Behind Act accelerated—or hindered—progress in closing the gaps. Read the report.

Filed under: K-12 Education News