1. Is there any way to shrink the achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups?
This data series from the NAEP long-term assessment shows there is.
But the successful strategy is NOT high-stakes testing.

2. The NAEP long-term assessments
This series of tests goes back nearly 45 years.
The general pattern has been that reading scores are rising slowly. Math scores are going up faster.
The gap between White scores and those of Black and Hispanic students got much smaller through the 1970s and early 1980s, probably due to school integration and the War on Poverty, which included Headstart and the Title I federal aid program.
But during the era of high-stakes testing that began with No Child Left Behind in 2002, there’s been little improvement.

3. These charts are from the most recent report on the NAEP long-term assessments, online at .

4. Trends for all students

5. Achievement gaps for 9-year-olds

6. Achievement gaps for 9-year-olds

7. Achievement gaps for 13-year-olds

8. Achievement gaps for 13-year-olds

9. Achievement gaps for 17-year-olds

10. Achievement gaps for 17-year-olds

11. All students

12. Achievement gaps for 9-year-olds

13. Achievement gaps for 9-year-olds

14. Achievement gaps for 13-year-olds

15. Achievement gaps for 13-year-olds

16. Achievement gaps for 17-year-olds

17. Achievement gaps for 17-year-olds