Working with the National Center for Education Statistics, AIR produces reports analyzing the achievement gaps in student performance by race/ethnicity in an ongoing project. Two reports have been published, comparing the performance of Black and White and Hispanic and White students respectively. A third report, on Asian and White student performance, will be issued in the near future.

Achievement Gaps Between Black and White Students
In 2009, AIR staff researched and wrote the NCES Report, Achievement Gaps: How Black and White students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Education Progress, which presents both national and state data for the past 17 years on the performance of Black and White fourth- and eighth-graders. The report describes the trends in scores over time both nationally and in each state, the populations of both Black and White students in each state, and how the size of each state’s gap compares to the national gap. At the national level, there are comparisons for low- and higher-income students and results broken down by gender.

Achievement Gaps Between Hispanic and White Students
In 2011, AIR staff researched and wrote the NCES Report, Achievement Gaps: How Hispanic and White students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Education Progress, presenting both national and state data from 1990 through 2009 on the performance of Hispanic and White fourth- and eighth-graders. The report describes the trends in scores and the populations of both Hispanic and White students over time in each state, how the scores for Hispanic and White students in each state compare to the national averages for those students, how scores have changed over time nationally, and how the size of a state’s gap compares to the national gap. At the national level, there are separate comparisons by gender, for low- and higher-income students, and for English Language Learners compared with students who are proficient in English.