WASHINGTON -In a first-of-its kind report released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) it was revealed that In 20 years, the national achievement gap between Hispanic students and their non-Hispanic white peers hasn’t budged.
The report comes as Congress is considering how to rewrite No Child Left Behind, the federal law that has attempted to narrow gaps based on race, income, and other factors. Questions loom about how much of that accountability system will stay in place, and what specific role the federal government will play in pushing for the progress of Hispanic students.
National Assessment of Educational Progress Highlights Academic Achievement of Fastest Growing Segment of U.S. Population Hispanic students are now the secondââ¬Âlargest racial/ethnic student population in the United States. In the past 40 years, the Hispanic student population at the fourth grade has increased from less than 2 percent to 21 percent of the nation’s fourthââ¬Âgraders.
This report is the first to present comprehensive national and state data on the performance of these students in comparison to their White peers. The scores for Hispanic students have increased over time, yet the gap between this student group and their White counterparts is unchanged, according to Achievement Gaps: How Hispanic and White Students in Public chools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
This report provides detailed information on the achievement gap between Hispanic and White public school students in grades 4 and 8 at the national and state levels since the 1990s. It also describes how those gaps have changed over time and looks at performance f specific student demographic groups, such as those designated as English Language Learners (ELL) or as eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
“While the Hispanicââ¬ÂWhite achievement gap remains wide, we are pleased to see the rogress made by Hispanic students in both reading and math,” said NCES Commissioner Jack Buckley.
Since the earliest comparison year, the White – nonââ¬ÂELL gap narrowed in both reading and athematics. These students perform at a level closer to that of their White peers than those classified as ELLs.
Additional findings from Achievement Gaps: How Hispanic and White Students in Public chools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational progress (NAEP) include: