Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares - The New York Times
Sixth graders in the richest school districts are four grade levels ahead of children in the poorest districts. RELATED ARTICLE 3 grades behind 2 grades behind 1 grade behind About average 1 grade ahead 2 grades ahead 3 grades ahead of average Poorer Parents’ socioeconomic status Richer We’ve long known of the persistent and troublesome academic gap between white students and their black and Hispanic peers in public schools. We’ve long understood the primary reason, too: A higher proportion of black and Hispanic children come from poor families. A new analysis of reading and math test score data from across the country confirms just how much socioeconomic conditions matter. Children in the school districts with the highest concentrations of poverty score an average of more than four grade levels below children in the richest districts. (Reliable estimates were not available for Asian-Americans.) Even more sobering, the analysis shows that the largest gaps between white children and the