Ed Stats Now
Is the achievement gap in mathematics closing?
Fourth-grade average mathematics scores on the national achievement test NAEP, by income level
Eighth-grade average mathematics scores on the national achievement test NAEP, by income level
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores are often used to compare student progress across various groups in the United States. In particular, NAEP scores are key to measuring racial, ethnic, and income achievement gaps. We can get one indication of whether the achievement gap is closing by looking at fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics results by income to see how they have changed over an eight-year period.
In this analysis, student eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunch is a proxy for low income. Among both fourth- and eighth-graders, those who were not eligible for free or reduced-price lunch scored higher than those who were eligible. Students who were eligible for free lunch scored the lowest in both grades.
Overall, these results show that the achievement gap by income did not narrow in either grade. Low-income students continue to score lower than their counterparts.
This analysis was included in the 2009 Nation’s Report Card, which is available to the public at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010451
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress
