We measure college enrollment selectivity gaps by race-ethnicity using a novel method that is sensitive to both the level (2- vs. 4-year) and selectivity of the college in which students enroll. We find that overall Hispanic-White and Black-White enrollment selectivity gaps closed in the United States between 1986 and 2014. This overall closing of…

Researchers examined enrollment and family income data from the past 50 years at Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian private elementary schools (that is, schools serving grades K-8). The study used data on families' incomes and elementary-school choices from the decennial census, Current Population Survey, U.S. Department of Education…

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…

I use standardized test scores from roughly 45 million students to describe the temporal structure of educational opportunity in over 11,000 school districts--almost every district in the US. For each school district, I construct two measures: the average academic performance of students in grade 3 and the within-cohort growth in test scores from…

There are nearly 14,000 school districts in the United States. Of these districts, there is very little information about the size of academic achievement gaps between whites and blacks and white and Hispanic students. This study was interested in district-level achievement patterns across the almost 14,000 school districts in the country because…

Most research on the middle school transition focuses on developmental and psychological changes around the age of the transition, and investigates or discusses the impact of such changes on academic performance, motivation and behavior in schools. In addition to intrapersonal developmental changes that middle-school students experience, they also…

In this study we examine trends in segregation by race and ethnicity in higher education from 1985 to 2013. We have three key findings. Over the past 30 years, students from different groups have attended college at increasingly similar rates; gaps are decreasing. But these decreases have been driven largely by large increases in minority student…

This article describes the developmental patterns of Hispanic-White math and reading achievement gaps in elementary school, paying attention to variation in these patterns among Hispanic subgroups. Compared to non-Hispanic White students, Hispanic students enter kindergarten with much lower average math and reading skills. The gaps narrow by…

In this article, we describe patterns of Hispanic students' math skill development during elementary school using data from a nationally representative sample of Hispanic students assessed in math skills from kindergarten through 5th grade. Several robust patterns are evident. First, Hispanic students enter kindergarten with average math skills…

This report describes recent patterns of racial enrollments in private K-12 schools in the United States. It includes data from the federal government's most recent Private School Survey, which covers 1997-98. Results indicate that segregation levels are quite high among private schools, particularly among Catholic and other religious private…