The Achievement Gap

Academic achievement gap refers to the disparities in educational performance among groups of students, particularly those defined by socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, or even geography. These are real divides in classrooms, test scores, graduation rates, and even college admissions. For instance, studies have shown students from low-income households often lag behind their more affluent peers in reading and math proficiency. Aside from the numbers, another thing to look at is how these gaps snowball into lifelong inequities. Think about it, lower educational outcomes often translate into limited career opportunities, reduced earning potential, and even poor health outcomes.
How is it measured
Standardized testing provides an objective way to evaluate student performance across schools, districts, and states. They have become the cornerstone of measuring academic achievement and, by extension, the achievement gap. They help give policymakers and educators the necessary data to allocate resources and track progress. And let’s not forget accountability, testing ensures schools and educators are held to consistent standards, which is especially important in underperforming districts. Portfolios, project-based learning, and student self-assessments can also help complement testing to paint a fuller picture of student achievement.
Funding: Is Money the Solution or Just Part of It?
If you’ve spent any time in policy circles or faculty meetings, you’ve probably heard both sides of this argument passionately defended. And honestly, both have valid points, but there’s more nuance here than meets the eye.
On one hand, the "money matters". A well-funded school can provide smaller class sizes, highly qualified teachers, state-of-the-art facilities, and access to extracurricular programs, all of which research suggests can significantly improve student outcomes. Schools in low-income areas frequently lack necessities; textbooks, working heating systems, or even enough desks. When you’re struggling to meet these fundamental needs, how can you focus on advanced teaching strategies or enrichment programs? It’s a classic case of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: you can’t reach the top without first addressing the bottom.
A famous study by economist Kirabo Jackson and colleagues found that sustained increases in school funding, particularly for low-income districts, were associated with higher graduation rates and long-term earnings for students. On average, increasing school spending by $1,000 per student each year for four years boosts test scores by 0.0316 standard deviations and raises college enrollment rates by 2.8 percentage points. Resources create opportunities, and when kids have access to those opportunities, they thrive.
But then there’s the other side of the coin. Some well-funded districts still struggle with low performance, while others with tighter budgets find innovative ways to succeed. It is a reminder that strong leadership, community engagement, and a culture of accountability are just as important.
So where do we land? If you ask me, it’s not whether money matters, it’s how the money is spent. Targeted funding, like investments in teacher training, early childhood education, and technology access, tends to yield the biggest returns.
Teachers, Families, and Communities as Drivers
Next, let's turn our attention to what makes or breaks efforts to close the academic achievement gap: the people involved. Policies and programs are essential, sure, but at the end of the day, it’s the teachers, families, and communities who drive meaningful change.
Studies consistently show that teacher quality is one of the most significant in-school factors affecting student outcomes. Teachers in underprivileged schools often face larger class sizes, fewer resources, and higher rates of burnout. How can we expect them to succeed without the support they need?
Professional development programs are one answer. High-quality training in culturally responsive teaching, technological literacy, trauma-informed care, and differentiated instruction can help teachers better address the diverse needs of their students. None of this works if teachers aren’t paid fairly or given the respect they deserve. If we want to attract and retain talented educators in underserved areas, we need to invest in them as much as we do in our students.
Numerous studies have also shown when parents are engaged; whether by reading to their kids, attending parent-teacher conferences, or advocating for better school policies, student achievement improves across the board. But let’s also recognize that not all parents have the same resources or time to engage. A single parent working two jobs may want to help with homework but simply doesn’t have the bandwidth. That’s where schools can step up by offering flexible communication options, workshops, and even basic support like childcare during meetings. The key is setting up effective collaboration systems. Teachers, parents, and community leaders each bring unique strengths to the table, and when they work together, the impact can be transformative.
At the end of the day, as much as closing the academic achievement gap focuses on fixing systems, deep down it’s mostly about empowering the people involved. And if we can do that, we can create a system where every student has the opportunity to succeed, no matter their background.

Adiutor
Adiutor means "helper" - we do just that, by taking a load of your school administration and helping you focus on what matters most: the kids.
References
Jackson, C. Kirabo, and Claire L. Mackevicius. 2024. "What Impacts Can We Expect from School Spending Policy? Evidence from Evaluations in the United States." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 16 (1): 412–46.
Spitzer, B., & Aronson, J. (2015). Minding and mending the gap: Social psychological interventions to reduce educational disparities. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(1), 1-18.
Hipp, J. L. (2012). The Achievement Gap from the Student's Perspective
Uhlenberg, J., & Brown, K. (2002). Racial Gap in Teachers’ Perceptions of the Achievement Gap. Education and Urban Society, 34(4), 493-530
Gregory, A., Skiba, R., & Noguera, P. (2010). The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 59-68.
Yeager, D., Walton, G., Brady, S. T., Akcinar, E. N., Paunesku, D., Keane, L., ... & Dweck, C. (2016). Teaching a lay theory before college narrows achievement gaps at scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113, E3341-E3348.
Reardon, S. F. (2016). School Segregation and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2(5), 34-57