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Achievement gap among top FL students growing, study says

posted by lesliepostal on February, 4 2010 4:22 PM

The achievement gap — the difference between how white and minority students perform academically — has been a hot topic in education circles for years.

And education leaders in (in Washington, D.C. and in Tallahassee) have been pleased recently that the gaps have been narrowing, even if slowly.

But a new national study suggests that while the overall gap may be getting smaller, the gap among top students has been getting wider. And that is true in Florida, too, where the gap between, say, black and white students earning 5 (the top score) on FCAT has grown since 2001. ...

It is a troubling trend that gets “scant attention,” according to the report by the Center for Evaluation & Education Research. In “Mind the (Other!) Gap,” researchers say the issue of gaps among high-performing kids has been ignored. They hope to “kick start” a discussion on that topic.

Among the interesting findings:

– the push to “close the gap” (including the No Child Left Behind law) has focused mostly on struggling kids, and it’s helped. But it hasn’t helped those at the top — though it might not have hurt either.

– minority and low-income children who are at the top early in their school years sometimes ”show decreased achievement in later grades,” suggesting their schools aren’t helping them meet their full potential.