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The Unwavering SES Achievement Gap: Trends in U.S. Student Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Hanushek, Eric A.

    (Stanford University)

  • Peterson, Paul E.

    (Harvard Kennedy School)

  • Talpey, Laura M.

    (Stanford University)

  • Woessmann, Ludger

    (University of Munich)

Abstract

Concerns about the breadth of the U.S. income distribution and limited intergenerational mobility have led to a focus on educational achievement gaps by socio-economic status (SES). Using intertemporally linked assessments from NAEP, TIMSS, and PISA, we trace the achievement of U.S. student cohorts born between 1954 and 2001. Achievement gaps between the top and bottom deciles and 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 overall improvements in achievement levels, which have risen at age 14 but remained unchanged at age 17 for the most recent quarter century. The long-term failure of major educational policies to alter SES gaps suggests a need to reconsider standard approaches to mitigating disparities.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanushek, Eric A. & Peterson, Paul E. & Talpey, Laura M. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2019. "The Unwavering SES Achievement Gap: Trends in U.S. Student Performance," Working Paper Series rwp19-012, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
  • Handle: RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp19-012
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    2. Douglas J. Besharov & Douglas M. Call & Jason M. Scott, 2020. "PROTOCOL: Early childhood education programs for improving the development and achievement of low‐income children: a systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), September.
    3. Noboru Nakahara & Yusuke Matsuyama & Shiho Kino & Nomin Badrakhkhuu & Takuya Ogawa & Keiji Moriyama & Takeo Fujiwara & Ichiro Kawachi, 2020. "The Consumption of Sweets and Academic Performance among Mongolian Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-12, November.
    4. Hill, Darryl V. & Hughes, Rodney P. & Lenard, Matthew A. & Liebowitz, David D. & Page, Lindsay C., 2023. "New schools and new classmates: The disruption and peer group effects of school reassignment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2020. "Les inégalités provinciales aux tests internationaux-nationaux de littéracie : Québec, Ontario et autres provinces canadiennes 1993-2018 [Provincial achievement gaps from literacy surveys condu," Working Papers 20-02, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management, revised Oct 2020.
    6. Samantha M. Keppler & Jun Li & Di (Andrew) Wu, 2022. "Crowdfunding the Front Lines: An Empirical Study of Teacher-Driven School Improvement," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8809-8828, December.
    7. Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2020. "Les inégalités provinciales aux tests internationaux-nationaux de littéracie : Québec, Ontario et autres provinces canadiennes 1993-2018 (Version révisée et augmentée octobre 2020)," CIRANO Working Papers 2020s-29, CIRANO.
    8. Eric A. Hanushek & Jacob D. Light & Paul E. Peterson & Laura M. Talpey & Ludger Woessmann, 2022. "Long-run Trends in the U.S. SES-Achievement Gap," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 17(4), pages 608-640, Fall.
    9. Jessen, Jonas & Schmitz, Sophia & Waights, Sevrin, 2020. "Understanding Day Care Enrolment Gaps," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Forthcomi.
    10. Emma García & Eunice S. Han, 2022. "Teachers’ Base Salary and Districts’ Academic Performance: Evidence From National Data," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    11. Katharine L. Bradbury, 2020. "The Roles of State Aid and Local Conditions in Elementary School Test-Score Gaps," Working Papers 21-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    12. Gangopadhyaya, Anuj & Schiman, Jeffrey C., 2023. "Does subsidized public health insurance for parents improve children's human capital and close achievement gaps?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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