Racial Inequality: Achievement

No issue in American education is more important to the nation's civic and economic well-being than the persistence of racial gaps in educational opportunity and achievement. Since the early 1970s, analyses of nationally representative survey data have documented an enduring history of achievement differences, according to which whites and especially east Asians enjoy relatively high average student performance, while African Americans and some Hispanic and southeast Asian subgroups experience relatively low average student performance. The stakes continue to rise as the population base of U.S. voters and workers continues to become more diverse. Worth special mention is the fact that Hispanic children currently make up almost a quarter of the U.S. school-age population and their numbers are expected to double by 2050. In response to ...