Achievement Gap

Achievement gap is a term used to refer to differences in average (i.e., mean or median) performance of demographic subgroups of students on various competency assessments. Although achievement gaps can be discussed across levels any possible demographic variable (e.g., geographic region, school type), the literature has focused primarily of achievement gaps across ethnic and socioeconomic subgroupings. However, comprehensive studies of achievement gaps across gender have also been conducted (e.g., Cheema & Galluzzo, 2013; Doolittle, 1989). Generally speaking, the most noticeable achievement gaps have been found between the scores of White students and their Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino counterparts. Similar achievement gaps have been found consistently between scores of students from middle income versus poor families (Reardon, 2013).