Abstract
One of the most urgent educational challenges in the United States is eliminating the large achievement differences among racial and ethnic groups (Jencks & Phillips 1998; Lee 2002; Rothstein 2004; Thernstrom & Thernstrom 2003). Although this challenge has existed throughout the history of the country, it has taken on increased urgency in the current era of educational accountability. This urgency is perhaps best reflected in the landmark federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which requires annual testing of students and holds schools and districts accountable for demonstrating annual progress in improving the achievement of all students. In fact, one goal of NCLB includes, “closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children, especially the achievement gaps between minority and non-minority students, and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers” (U.S. Dept. of Education 2003: Title 1, Sec. 1001).
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Rumberger, R.W., Arellano, B. (2007). Understanding and Addressing Achievement Gaps During the First Four Years of School in the United States. In: Teese, R., Lamb, S., Duru-Bellat, M., Helme, S. (eds) International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory and Policy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5916-2_31
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