New evidence shows the massive gap in test scores between students from the wealthiest and poorest families hasn’t budged in fifty years. It’s time to stop attacking the problem with reform strategies that haven’t worked.
Believe it or not, the finding that the gap in scores hasn’t changed could be framed as good news: a previous study found that the gap between the top and bottom 10% of the income distribution has grown by as much as 75%. Still, the lead authors of the new study, Eric A. Hanushek and Paul E. Peterson, were surprised and dismayed by their own data.