Racial test score gaps

In our previously published article, “Disentangling the Racial Test Score Gap: Probing the Evidence in a Large Urban District,” we discuss racial test score gaps in the United States-that is, the gap in the average performance of black or Hispanic and white students on standardized tests-based on data from New York City public schools (Stiefel, Schwartz, and Ellen 2006). For example, white fourth-and eighth-grade students score significantly higher than black or Hispanic students on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in both reading and mathematics (U.S. Department of Education 2003). The gaps are typically 20 to 30 points on a test ranging from 0 to 500. In addition, these same patterns emerge for other grades and for tests in other subjects as well.