New Research on Closing Achievement Gaps

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

Northwest Evaluation Association Announces Research on Achievement Gaps
Monday November 13
Study Highlights Differences in Student Achievement and Growth

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) 
researchers released today a new study on the achievement gap, the 
difference between the academic performance of students in poor and 
wealthy schools and between minority and non-minority students. The 
study revealed that for every group at every grade students from poor 
schools grew less than students from wealthy schools and minority 
students exhibited less growth than their non-minority peers.

This study was designed to provide information about the achievement gap 
from the viewpoints of status (one point in time) and growth (academic 
improvement following a group over time). When individual student 
performance is followed across time, it is possible to see the effects 
of instruction more clearly giving educators better tools for 
identifying best practices.

The study found that no rate of change/growth in any minority group was 
sufficiently strong enough to close or reduce the observed achievement 
gap between groups of students in any substantive way before the end of 
their K-12 career. While the study shows no evidence that the 
achievement gap is closing, the intent of the study was not to identify 
causal factors.

In general, students enrolled in high-poverty schools, African-American 
students and Hispanic students begin school with lower skills, grow less 
academically during the school year and lose more skill over the summer 
than their wealthier and European-American peers. In the case of the 
African-American students in these samples, the concern carries added 
emphasis. Their rate of change over the two-year projection was the 
lowest of all groups, suggesting that the achievement gap between 
student segments remains a significant problem.

"This study should be a wake-up call for educators, as it reveals real 
differences in student achievement based on socio-economic status," said 
Allan Olson, president of NWEA. "The use of growth data provides a clear 
picture of individual student growth and helps inform educators on 
specific areas where students need focused instruction."

The overall study contains three component studies. The first study 
looks at group differences between average scores taken at one point in 
time and between average student growth over the course of one school 
year. The second study uses a more complex model to evaluate aggregate 
growth over two years. In the third study both status and growth are 
examined in more detail with results displayed for each score point. 
This reveals patterns obscured in aggregate data and shows that growth 
differences for African-American, Hispanic and students in high-poverty 
schools are more severe than summary data suggests.

The number of students used for this study was 569,564 for reading and 
542,057 for mathematics in 24 states. The first and third studies use 
data from a set of students in grades 3 through 8 who took Northwest 
Evaluation Association tests in fall of 2004 and spring of 2005. The 
second study used student test records from the beginning of grades 4 
and 7 for both reading and mathematics for students beginning in the 
fall, 2003 and continuing through spring, 2005. In addition each 
student's ethnic group membership and their school's percentage of free 
and reduced-price lunch (FRL) were considered. The FRL percentages were 
obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common 
Core of Data for 2002-2003.

"This study shows that minority and non-minority students who start at 
the same place are growing at different rates, so the achievement gap 
between them actually widens over time," said NWEA's Chief Research and 
Development Officer, G. Gage Kingsbury, Ph.D. "Accelerating the growth 
for high-performing low-income and minority students as well as for 
students below standard is recommended to close the gap in the short run."

Study data were supplied through NWEA's Growth Research Database (GRD), 
one of the most expansive repositories of longitudinal data on student 
growth in the country. The database comprises data of interest to 
education researchers, including assessment data gathered from NWEA 
member districts. These data provide a detailed look at academic growth 
and aggregated proficiency levels. In addition, the tests from which the 
data are derived are more sensitive for low- and high-performing 
students, giving a more accurate picture of achievement.

In addition to its focus on research to improve assessment and the use 
of assessment data, NWEA also develops testing systems, including a 
growth measure called Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), in use at 
more than 2,400 school districts across the nation. The GRD includes 
data from the MAP.

The NWEA study builds on findings that this independent national 
education research group released in April 2005, April 2004 and November 
2003. The 2005 study showed student achievement has improved since the 
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation was passed but student growth 
has declined slightly. In 2004 the study indicated that Adequate Yearly 
Progress (AYP) measures are not a complete picture for judging school 
effectiveness. The 2003 study demonstrated that state standards of 
proficiency differ substantially from state to state, grade to grade, 
and subject to subject. These studies can be found at: 
http://www.nwea.org/research/national.asp.

The new report is available at http://www.nwea.org/research/gap.asp.

About NWEA

Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) is a national non-profit 
organization dedicated to helping all children learn. NWEA provides 
formative assessment, research-based educational growth measures, and 
professional training to improve teaching and learning. Partnering with 
school districts, states and other education organizations, NWEA 
delivers computer-adapted assessment services to more than 2,400 
education agencies and two million students nationwide. In addition, its 
Growth Research Database (GRD), the most extensive collection of student 
growth data in the country, provides a rich opportunity for the study of 
academic achievement. More information is available at http://www.nwea.org.


Contact:

Northwest Evaluation Association
Gage Kingsbury, Chief Research and Development Officer
503-624-1951
Gage.Kingsbury@nwea.org <mailto:Gage.Kingsbury@nwea.org>
or
Media Contact:
Young & Roehr Group
Laura Danna, 503-222-0626 Ext. 713
ldanna@young-roehr.com <mailto:ldanna@young-roehr.com>