Education Reform, Equal Opportunity and Educational Achievement - Article 10 - Do Trend Data Adequately Report Progress?

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda

The paper uses Kentucky as a case study to evaluate efforts to provide equal educational opportunity through standards-based educational reform. It draws on multiple data sources, including CATS index, reading proficiency, and math proficiency, to assess progress toward reducing achievement gaps linked to local wealth. Results are mixed: local wealth becomes less predictive for reading while remaining significant for math. Gaps close faster at the elementary level, and student demographics—especially those qualifying for free and reduced lunch—remain influential.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages31

Reading Time1 h 18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Data sources and approach

Findings on achievement gaps

Implications for accountability systems

| education policy analysis archives
A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal | | | --- | --- | | Arizona State University | | | Volume 19 Number 10 10th of April 2011 ISSN 1068–2341 | | | Education Reform, Equal Opportunity and Educational Achievement: Do Trend Data Adequately Report Progress? 1
Robert C. Knoeppel
Curtis A. Brewer
Clemson University
Citation: Knoeppel, R. C., & Brewer, C. A. (2011) . Education reform, equal opportunity and educational achievement: Do trend data adequately report progress?. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 19 (10) . Retrieved [date], from [http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/903](http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/903)
Abstract: Using Kentucky as a case study, the research described in this paper examines efforts to provide equality of educational opportunity. Standards based educational reform has produced myriad data on student achievement that are used by educators, policy analysts, legislators, and researchers to discern progress. This research makes use of multiple sources of data (CATS index, reading proficiency, math proficiency) in an attempt to more thoroughly consider progress in attempts to ameliorate gaps in student achievement that have been found to exist as related to local wealth. Findings from the study show mixed results. Although local wealth has decreased as a predictor of student achievement in reading, it is still a significant predictor of achievement in math. Gaps are closing more rapidly at the elementary school level which suggests the need to study the process of | | 1 Accepted under the editorship of Sherman Dorn. Submitted 07/01/2008 Revisions Received 07/14/2009 Accepted 12/15/2010 Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 19, No . 10 2 education at the secondary level. Lastly, student demographics, especially students qualifying for free and reduced lunch continue to be a significant predictor of student achievement. We conclude that changes to state accountability systems that move the unit of analysis from the school to the student level offer the best opportunity to utilize emerging research methodologies that will enable practitioners and analysts to better analyze educational process. Keywords: education reform; accountability; student-level data. Reforma Educativa, la igualdad de oportunidades y el logro educativo: Los datos delos progresos tendencia grabar correctamente? Resumen: Usando de Kentucky como caso de estudio, la investigación descrita en este artículo examina los esfuerzos para proporcionar igualdad de oportunidad educativa. La reforma educativa basada en estándares se han producido una variedad de datos sobre el desempeño de los estudiantes que son utilizados por los educadores, analistas políticos, los legisladores y los investigadores que tratan de detectar el progreso. Esta investigación utilizamúltiples fuentes de datos (índice de CATS, el dominio de la lectura, habilidad matemática) para investigar los avances más plenamente con el fin de minimizar las brechas en logros delos estudiantes en relación a la riqueza local. Los resultados muestran resultados mixtos. Apesar de la riqueza local se ha reducido como un indicador de rendimiento de los estudiantes en lectura, sigue siendo un indicador de rendimiento en matemáticas. Las brechas se estáncerrando más rápido en el nivel de la escuela primaria, lo que sugiere la necesidad de estudiarel proceso educativo en el nivel secundario. Por último, los datos demográficos de los estudiantes, especialmente a los estudiantes matriculados para el almuerzo gratis o reducido sigue siendo un indicador significativo del rendimiento estudiantil. La conclusión de que los cambios en los sistemas estatales de rendición de cuentas que se mueve la unidad de análisis del nivel de la escuela hacia el nivel del estudiante ofrece la mejor oportunidad de utilizar nuevas metodologías de investigación que permitirá a los profesionales y analistas para analiza

FAQs

What case study does the paper use to analyze educational opportunity?

The paper uses Kentucky as the case study to examine efforts aimed at providing equal educational opportunity.

Which data sources are used to evaluate progress in student achievement?

The study uses multiple sources, including the CATS index, reading proficiency, and math proficiency, to assess progress toward reducing gaps.

What do the findings indicate about local wealth and achievement?

Local wealth shows mixed predictive power: it decreases as a predictor for reading but remains a significant predictor for math, while gaps close more rapidly at the elementary level.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda