The Black-White achievement gap: Do state policies matter?

Abstract

A longstanding issue in American education is the gap in academic achievement between majority and minority students. The goal of this study is to accumulate and evaluate evidence on the relationship between state education policies and changes in the Black-White achievement gap, while addressing some of the methodological issues that have led to differences in interpretations of earlier findings. To that end, we consider the experiences of ten states that together enroll more than forty percent of the nation's Black students. We estimate the trajectories Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 14 No. 8 2 of Black student and White student achievement on the NAEP 8th grade mathematics assessment over the period 1992 to 2000, and examine the achievement gap at three levels of aggregation: the state as a whole, groups of schools (strata) within a state defined by the SES level of the student population, and within schools within a stratum within a state. From 1992 to 2000, at every level of aggregation, mean achievement rose for both Black students and White students. However, for most states the achievement gaps were large and changed very little at every level of aggregation. The gaps are pervasive, profound and persistent.There is substantial heterogeneity among states in the types of policies they pursued, as well as the coherence and consistency of those policies during the period 1988-1998. We find that states' overall policy rankings (based on our review of the data) correlate moderately with their record in improving Black student achievement but are somewhat less useful in predicting their record with respect to reducing the achievement gaps. States' rankings on commitment to teacher quality correlate almost as well as did the overall policy ranking. Thus, state reform efforts are a blunt tool, but a tool nonetheless.Our findings are consistent with the following recommendations: states' reform efforts should be built on broad-based support and buffered as much as possible from changes in budgets and politics; states should employ the full set of policy levers at their disposal; and policies should directly support local reform efforts with proven effectiveness in addressing the experiences of students of different races attending the same schools.

High-stakes testing and student achievement: Updated analyses with NAEP data

“…One unique aspect of our approach was the inclusion of newspaper references (both leading stories as well as editorials) that were used to capture the on-the-ground effects of and reactions to local and statewide test-based accountability practices. In contrast to other studies that relied on quantitative estimations of policies (e.g., Braun et al, 2006;Carnoy & Loeb, 2002) our measure included evidence that described how policies played out in local school systems.…”

“…In contrast to other research that measures high-stakes testing accountability according to the number of laws passed that are associated with accountability (Clarke et al, 2003;Pedulla et al, 2003), or by estimating the acceptance of accountability based on state level variables such as funding and student demographic characteristics (Braun et al, 2006;Carnoy & Loeb, 2002), our measure was derived from both legislative efforts as well as "on-the-ground" implementation, response, and reaction (see Nichols et al 2006). In our earlier analyses, we used the unique measure of accountability pressures that we created with NAEP 4th and 8th grade data from 1992-2003.…”

“…Still, a pattern seems to have emerged that suggests that highstakes testing has little or no relationship to reading achievement, and a weak to moderate relationship to math, especially in fourth grade but only for certain student groups (Braun, Wang, Jenkins, & Weinbaum, 2006;Braun, Chapman, & Vezzu, 2010;Figlio & Ladd, 2008;Nichols, Glass, & Berliner, 2006). This particular pattern of results (only affecting fourth grade math) raises serious questions about whether high-stakes testing increases learning or merely more vigorous test preparation practices (i.e., teaching to the test).…”

Effective Educational Practice: A Crucial First Step in Addressing the Needs of Traditionally Overlooked Students

“…Standardized tests have become the instrument by which we measure student achievement, and concern has grown regarding the disparity of scores between poor and racially diverse students and White students and students from middle and higher socioeconomic classes (Braun, Chapman, & Vezzu, 2010;Braun, Wang, Jenkins, & Weinbaum, 2006). While research suggests that interpretation of achievement gap data has been faulty (Murphy, 2009), it is true that these students often encounter challenges that impede achievement in school.…”

Yes we can achieve in mathematics and why we don't : African American female eleventh and twelfth grade students in a career and technical setting.

“…After reviewing research studies on mathematics achievement, L. noted that "students of some Asian countries, such as Japan and China, consistently outperformed their counterparts in the United States" (p. xix). Unfortunately, among those low performing groups in the United States, African American students are the lowest at all grade levels (Berry, 2003;Braun, Wang continues to widen (Education Trust, 2003;Ikpa, 2004;Jordan & Cooper, 2003) due to African American students persistently performing "at significantly lower levels" (Tate, 1997, p. 673). This finding is consistent with the NAEP mathematics scale scores of African American eighth graders from the years (NCES, 2007.…”