9 Feb 2018
Video

The Black-White Achievement Gap: A Look at School Composition

The Black-White achievement gap has been studied extensively, but its relationship to school composition has generally not been examined. In this video, Sami Kitmitto, AIR principal researcher, discusses AIR’s research on the relationship between achievement gaps among Black and White students and the demographic makeup of schools.

Working with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), AIR examined how eighth grade achievement data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) relates to the percentage of students in a school who are Black. Kitmitto also discusses the research’s importance amid growing concerns about the re-segregation of schools.

Related Work

10 Oct 2015
Infographic

Infographic Series: School Composition and the Black-White Achievement Gap

This Education Policy Center infographic series, “School Composition and the Black-White Achievement Gap,” shows school segregation numbers across the U.S. and the Black-White achievement gap.

Topic: 
Education, NAEP
17 Feb 2016
Commentary

Closing the Black-White Achievement Gap: Good and Bad News

In this commentary (part of our longform essay, Applying Social Science in the Real World), George Bohrnstedt discusses what NAEP is telling us about achievement differences between Black and White students over time.
Topic: 
Education, NAEP
24 Sep 2015
Report

School Composition and the Black-White Achievement Gap

With recent concerns about the growing resegregation of schools, this analysis sheds light on the relationship between the Black-White achievement gap and the demographic makeup of schools. Accounting for factors such as socioeconomic status and other characteristics, the analysis finds that black student scores were lower, and achievement gaps wider, in mostly black schools.
Topic: 
Education, NAEP

Further Reading