Achievement Gap

It's called "the summer brain drain" because during those long, hot months away from school, kids supposedly forget a lot of what they had learned in class. Research, however, tells a more nuanced story: Some learning is lost among some groups, and others gain. Here's what experts from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Virginia and elsewhere say happens over the summer: -- Most students -- regardless of family income or background -- lose 2 to 2 1/2 months of the math computational skills that they...

For more than a generation, educators and policymakers have been agonizing about America's achievement gap, the persistent chasm in academic performance between poor and privileged children. A new book and a national campaign launched Thursday says the country must pay equal attention to the "opportunity gap" — which exists when poor and minority students and English-language learners lack the same access as affluent students to skilled teachers, quality curriculum and well-equipped schools.

There are very few things that education researchers say they know with absolute certainty, but virtually nobody disputes that socioeconomic status, cultural identity and the educational level of parents — especially mothers — are linked to the stubborn achievement gap between students of different races and ethnicities. Children from poor families do worse than kids from middle-class and wealthy families; children do better if their mother has a college degree; and, overall, children of all ethnicities and races do better in schools...

Low-performing Montgomery County schools slated to get individual case-management help from central office administrators will be called "Innovation Schools" as part of the district's newest initiative aimed at closing achievement gaps , school officials said. The new program is not intended to replace the existing Focus Schools model, officials said at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday. Innovation Schools will be identified based on performance. The schools will get more one-on-one help...

You cannot understand modern education policy without a grasp of the achievement gap. On average, low-income students have lower academic achievement than affluent students. Black or Hispanic students similarly score lower on standardized tests, on average, than white or Asian students. School leaders say they want to reduce those gaps but are uncertain about how to do it. They should read a new book by Arlington County educators who mounted one of the most sustained assaults on the achievement gap ever seen in this area.

I don't like talking about the achievement gap. The term has several meanings, none very useful to my mind. There is often a strained silence when I bring this up, since it sounds like I am on some crotchety rant against political correctness. But that is not what I mean. Thankfully, a new study is making my point for me, courtesy of Brookings Institution scholar Tom Loveless. The achievement gap is usually defined as the difference in average test scores between students from affluent families and those from low-income families.

Tricia Pietravalle remembers her days in preschool: Playing in the sandbox, doing some painting, listening to stories. So when she met with her son's preschool teachers, she was taken aback when they showed her "this whole grid of how they're evaluating him, academically, socially, emotionally. " Joseph was learning letters and numbers in full-day classes and making connections she didn't expect from a 3-year-old. "It was overwhelming — in a good way," she said. For generations, children have...

Anyone concerned with education issues must have noted the recent Post articles "Maryland Gains Continue on Reading, Math Tests" [ Metro , July 22] and "Over 10 Years, Montgomery's Weast Aced Tough Tests" [ front page , July 28]. These articles brought welcome news: Montgomery County is faring well, and average statewide scores on the Maryland School Assessment tests are improving in all categories. However, as reporter Nelson Hernandez pointed out in the July 22 story, this information contradicts a federal study...

According to a recent column by Michael Gerson [" Lowering expectations of learning ," op-ed, Sept. 28], the Virginia Board of Education has established lower expectations for black students than for white students. Referring to math benchmarks agreed to by the state board and the U.S. Department of Education, Gerson suggested that Virginia has turned away from the effort to "dramatically improve educational performance for every ethnic group" and adopted a system that is "difficult to distinguish from racism.

President Obama's remarks on inequality, stoking populist anger at "the rich," suggest that the theme for his reelection bid will be not hope and change but focus on reducing class disparity with government help. But this effort isn't limited to economics; it is playing out in our nation's schools as well. The issue is whether federal education efforts will compromise opportunities for our highest-achieving students. One might assume that a president determined to " win the future " would...

Relations between the Montgomery County Council and public school system officials can be summed up with two figures: 0.1 percent and 100 percent. That is the percentage of new school spending each agency estimates will be dedicated to closing the achievement gap in fiscal 2014. The difference between the two figures highlights the growing chasm between the council and the Board of Education as budget deliberations continued Friday. The school system has said that closing the achievement gap is...

Moving to a new community can be tough. In the old days, a Welcome Wagon hostess used to show up at your door, offering coupons, an armload of coat hangers and advice on finding a dentist or enrolling the kids in school. Today, sadly, the official Welcome Wagon is no more. But with Karen Garza slated to take over as superintendent of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), I thought I'd offer my own Welcome Wagon basket: three tips that might ease her transition. ● "Public schools" mean, well, public...

Members of the Montgomery County Council , concerned about the student achievement gap, focused Monday on how to ensure that the number of non-teaching public school staff keeps pace with rising student enrollment during budget talks with the Board of Education. Councilwoman Valerie Ervin a member of the council's education committee, which was holding the work session with school leaders, said she was especially worried that Montgomery was falling behind on staffing guidance...

County Executive Isiah Leggett calls the high-achieving Montgomery public school system "the crown jewel," the heart of the county's appeal to families and companies looking to relocate. That has meant the royal treatment for K-12 education at budget time, especially when the economy was strong. Schools claim about half of the county's $4 billion operating budget. "The money was so readily available, the question wasn't ‘if,' it was ‘how much,' " said council member...

Educators, policymakers and business leaders trying to close the achievement gap between poor and privileged children are increasing focusing on the role of early childhood education. President Obama has made a sweeping expansion of preschool education a priority for his second term. In his State of the Union address last month, the president called for universal preschool for 4-year-olds, saying that quality early childhood education pays huge dividends by boosting graduation...

The achievement gap that separates white and Asian students from black and Latino students has grown wider in Montgomery County in several measures of academic success, according to a report released Tuesday. The 130-page report points to progress in five of 11 performance indicators in recent years. The school system improved on gaps in school readiness and high school graduation, for example. But disparities widened in advanced-level scores for state math exams in third,...

As policymakers over the past decade focused on closing the achievement gap between white students and underrepresented minorities, another rift was widening: the gap between Asian American students and everyone else. A new study from the Center on Education Policy underscores how significantly Asian American students outpace their peers, particularly in Maryland and Virginia. The data focus on student achievement on eighth-grade state standardized tests, including a rare analysis of student...

Relations between the Montgomery County Council and public school system officials can be summed up with two figures: 0.1 percent and 100 percent. That is the percentage of new school spending each agency estimates will be dedicated to closing the achievement gap in fiscal 2014. The difference between the two figures highlights the growing chasm between the council and the Board of Education as budget deliberations continued Friday. The school system has said that closing the...

Tricia Pietravalle remembers her days in preschool: Playing in the sandbox, doing some painting, listening to stories. So when she met with her son's preschool teachers, she was taken aback when they showed her "this whole grid of how they're evaluating him, academically, socially, emotionally. " Joseph was learning letters and numbers in full-day classes and making connections she didn't expect from a 3-year-old. "It was overwhelming — in a good way," she said. For generations, children have started school...