Average academic growth of high achievers was nearly equivalent in wealthy and poor schools¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2013 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2018: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Only modest differences in growth rates were observed, with poorer schools producing trivially smaller math growth and poorer elementary schools slightly larger reading growth, suggesting school poverty had little effect on high-achiever growth. → Michael Dahlin and Beth Tarasawa 2013

Evidence¶

Michael Dahlin and Beth Tarasawa 2013¶

Michael Dahlin and Beth Tarasawa. (2013). A Level Playing Field? How College Readiness Standards Change the Accountability Game. Northwest Evaluation Association. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/a-level-playing-field-college-readiness-standards-whitepaper/

q2 · i? · associational · r2

HLM analysis of school poverty rate as a predictor of growth in three-level hierarchical models applied to the elementary and middle school cohorts in reading and mathematics. The report states "Only modest differences in growth rates were observed among all high achievers", with direction varying by subject. No effect sizes are printed for this finding.

"Only modest differences in growth rates were observed among all high achievers, with poorer schools producing trivially smaller growth in math achievement and poorer elementary schools showing slightly larger growth rates in reading achievement."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Most high-achieving middle schoolers were on track for college readiness, but students in wealthy schools were more often on track than those in poor schools — related
• Sixty percent of the highest-poverty schools also have above-average student growth — related
• Growth rates varied tremendously between schools regardless of poverty, with top-quartile schools producing more than double the growth of the worst quartile — related