In a sociohistorical moment during which racism has become more widely accepted as a social fact, U.S. scholars and practitioners of education continue to struggle with how schooling might participate in its eradication. In suburban, elite, Midwestern Pioneer City Public Schools, a series of initiatives I refer to as "the transformation"…

This study examined factors contributing to achievement gaps between White and African American students in 2,868 diverse school districts across the United States. Using pooled data across five school years (2008-2013), six grade levels (grades third to eighth, which typically include students aged 8 years-14 years) and two different subjects…

Equity gaps in our society have existed and persisted over time. Recent events have further emphasized racial injustices in society. The disproportionate health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on people of color have exacerbated existing inequities, leading to renewed calls for social justice. The COVID-19 crisis is also shedding light…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Equity Auditing." Contents include: (1) Using Equity Audits to Assess and…

Evaluators report effects of education initiatives as standardized effect sizes, a scale that has merits but obscures interpretation of the effects' practical importance. Consequently, educators and policymakers seek more readily interpretable translations of evaluation results. One popular metric is the number of years of learning necessary to…

The achievement gap between White and African American students on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) is an educational phenomenon that has been around for generations and yet to be fully understood or eliminated. This study investigated the difference in school climate perceptions between African American and Caucasian (sic) elementary school…

The wallpaper effect describes a phenomenon in which educators try to make data-drive decisions but rely exclusively on summary data (the outer layer of the wallpaper) for their information. These summary data may obscure reality--the layers and layers of systemic practices and policies that establish the conditions under which students learn.…

For decades, researchers have documented large differences in average test scores between minority and White students and between poor and wealthy students. These gaps are a focal point of reformers' and policymakers' efforts to address educational inequities. However, the U.S. public's views on achievement gaps have received little attention from…

Large achievement gaps exist between high- and low-income students and between black and white students. This article explores one explanation for such gaps: income segregation between school districts, which creates inequality in the economic and social resources available in advantaged and disadvantaged students' school contexts. Drawing on…

This study uses a North Carolina administrative data set to analyze racial segregation and student achievement in Wake County during race-based and income-based school assignment plans. We find a modest increase in the level of racial segregation in Wake schools during the income-based plan, but compared with other large districts in the state,…

The Office of Black Male Student Achievement (OBMSA) of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), established in 2014, is one of the first in the country. The innovative work of the OBMSA is centered on student voice and student thought. After getting input from parents and families, community members, educators, and young Black males themselves, the…

How are California's students doing? And are all groups of students receiving the same opportunities for educational success? How do patterns of educational outcomes in California compare to those in other states, and how have they changed in the last decade? In this study, the authors seek to provide a portrait of the state of educational…

African American children continue to lag behind their European American counterparts academically. There is little research on the perspective of teachers in nontraditional classroom settings and their experiences with students and reading literacy. In order to secure support for literacy programs or strengthen existing programs, there is a need…

This report provides information on retention, graduation, and transfer rates for students entering Maryland community colleges as first-time, full-time students between 1994 and 2014. This edition includes data about student outcomes two, three, and four years after matriculation. The first section of this report contains analysis of student…

The population of students of color has grown threefold, and there are more than 40 cultural and social student affinity groups. More impressive, the graduation rate for African American, Latino, and Native students has increased by 13 percentage points in the last decade. In this brief, the authors dig into a decade's worth of data on four-year…