Long-run Trends in the U.S. SES-Achievement Gap

Abstract

Rising inequality in the United States has raised concerns about potentially widening gaps in educational achievement by socioeconomic status (SES). Using assessments from LTT-NAEP, Main-NAEP, TIMSS, and PISA that are psychometrically linked over time, we trace trends in achievement for U.S. student cohorts born between 1954 and 2001. Achievement gaps between the top and bottom quartiles of the SES distribution have been large and remarkably constant for a near half century. These unwavering gaps have not been offset by improved achievement levels, which have risen at age 14 but have remained unchanged at age 17 for the past quarter century.

American Populist Support for Choice in K-12 Education

“…This drop of about 0.5 standard deviations represents a decline of about 2 years of learning -a very large improvement, indeed. However, for students born after 1984, the racial achievement gap has remained around this 0.8 standard deviation level -a massive gap in average achievement between black and white students (Hanushek et al, 2020).…”

“…Left-wing populists and others have long been concerned with differences in achievement levels between groups of students, according to race, ethnicity, and class. Achievement gaps between black and white students and between higher income and lower income students have been large and stubbornly persistent over many decades (Hanushek, Peterson, Talpey, & Woessmann, 2020).…”

United States: The Uphill Schools’ Struggle

“…Achievement gaps have not changed! After the 1954 desegregation of schools ordered in the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, the black-white achievement gaps narrowed until roughly 1990, but then progress stopped (Hanushek et al 2020). The remaining gap is unacceptably large at roughly 0.9 standard deviations.…”

“…PISA is scores in math, reading, and science for 15-year-olds; NAEP is the Main-NAEP scores for eight graders in math and reading; TIMSS is scores in math and science for eighth graders; NAEP-LT17 is the long-term trend NAEP scores in math and reading for 17-year-olds; and NAEP-LT13 is the long-term trend NAEP scores in math and reading for 13-year-olds. Source Hanushek et al (2020) 3 Organization of U.S. Schools…”

“…If the immigrant population that makes up the majority of the increase in Hispanic students is also less prepared for school, demographics could influence the trends in achievement that are seen. Some simple calculations that use the changing demographic composition of the U.S. student population suggests, however, that this is not a very powerful force affecting the aggregate scores (Hanushek et al 2020).…”