Growing evidence suggests that contrary to popular belief, schools mostly do not generate achievement gaps in cognitive skills but, rather, reflect the inequalities that already exist. In the case of socioeconomic status, exposure to school often reduces gaps. Surprisingly little is known, however, about whether this pattern extends to gender gaps…

Past studies have noted that black students' classroom behavior is rated more favorably by black teachers than by white teachers. This pattern could be a function of white teachers' bias--rating black students more harshly than they deserve--or black students' misbehavior--acting out more when placed with white teachers versus black teachers. If…

To many, it seems obvious which schools are failing--schools whose students perform poorly on achievement tests. But since evaluating schools on achievement mixes the effects of school and nonschool influences, achievement-based evaluation likely underestimates the effectiveness of schools that serve disadvantaged populations. In this article, the…