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If we do not find ways to reduce the growing inequality in education outcomes – between the rich and the poor – schools will no longer be the great equalizer we want them to be

Has the academic achievement gap between students from high-income and low-income families changed in the last few decades? And if so, why?

Historically, low-income students as a group have performed less well than high-income students on most measures of academic success – including standardized test scores, grades, high school completion rates, and college enrollment and completion rates. Countless studies have documented these disparities and investigated the many underlying reasons for them. But no research had systematically investigated whether these income-related achievement gaps have narrowed or widened over time.