Given its status as one of the highest-poverty, lowest-performing states in the nation, this article examines the ways in which dimensions of neighborhood poverty may impact student achievement in Alabama over and above student characteristics. We employ a unique longitudinal dataset that combines eight years of district-level student achievement…

Is the achievement gap real? Using a mixed-methods approach, this study reframed standardized testing through a Quantitative Critical and Black Critical lens. It interrogated the deficit framing of Black student achievement by asking the following questions: (1) To what extent do the aggregated standardized test scores for Black students in…

We analyse the PISA-reported convergence in the performance of private and public schools in Portugal. When PISA sampling weights are used, the number of students enrolled in those types of schools and specific grades/tracks of study differs significantly from official population figures. To account for those differences, we apply a…

The International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum provides students with ample academically demanding learning experiences at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. A full continuum of IB offerings from 3-years-old to 12th grade at a southern school has not increased the percentage of graduates with IB diplomas as expected. This mixed…

This study addressed the issue of low reading proficiency in Kentucky's students with disabilities, potentially exacerbated by post-third-grade curriculum changes. This quasi-experimental ex post facto comparative study aims to determine differences in the grade four reading achievement gap in students with disabilities compared to students…

This paper uses a newly discovered data set on examination results by gender from 1913 to 1986 to show that the gender gap in examinations at the University of Oxford has existed for over a century. We show that after declining for almost 70 years the gender gap in Firsts increased significantly after the introduction of coresidence -- the…

The estimation of test score "gaps" and gap trends plays an important role in monitoring educational inequality. Researchers decompose gaps and gap changes into within- and between-school portions to generate evidence on the role schools play in shaping these inequalities. However, existing decomposition methods assume an equal-interval…

The harm to student learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented and an incredible influx of resources--including $260 billion in federal government investment--has been dedicated to support schools' recovery. Much of this money has been spent developing and expanding academic recovery efforts such as after-school tutoring and…

Identifying effective methods that can counteract seasonal trends in learning loss is essential to ensure continuous literacy growth of young learners. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is a solution for providing an effective summer literacy program that could help offset summer learning loss. In this study, four-year-old students from South…

The Matthew Effect is an educational theory that children who begin their academic careers with lower reading scores do not catch up to their peers, instead falling farther and farther behind as their schooling progresses. This study includes a hierarchical multiple-regression analysis of within-year benchmark data for the presence of Matthew…

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the traditional approach to the teaching-learning process took a great blow after the implementation of the Community Quarantine, and the sudden shift of the teaching modality. With this sudden shift, students experienced a learning lag making the gap between Students' Level and Grade Level Standards widen. This study…

This dissertation investigates the impact of limited technology access, the quality of remote learning experiences, and racial disparities on SAT math scores among 11th-grade students. The study spans two academic years, 2018/2019 and 2022/2023, offering a longitudinal perspective on the trends in math scores. The research employs a quantitative…

Improving schooling by reducing achievement gaps based on family background has been on the agenda of school governance worldwide for more than three decades. International benchmarking like the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is used to find models of best practice in effective school governance. Enlarging school…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are significant differences in the English/Language Arts proficiency scores of elementary school students who attend a traditional public school or one of two types of turnaround schools in a large metropolitan school district in the southern region of the United States. The goal was to determine…

Reducing the standardised test score gap between ethnic minority and majority students remains a global challenge in education. Research on this matter is sparse in Nepal, where ethnic minorities comprise the country's majority population but experience systemic oppression. We hypothesised that the lack of proportional teacher diversity has…