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Corresponding test-score gaps appear in states’ elementary-school accountability tests and signal unequal opportunity. This study links metropolitan-area and district conditions to the magnitude of racial and socioeconomic gaps, emphasizing how progressively distributed state aid and poverty-related segregation patterns relate to smaller or larger gaps.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/no-21-2-the-roles-of-state-aid-and-local-conditions-in-elementary-school-test-score-gaps-study-overview/583699/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/no-21-2-the-roles-of-state-aid-and-local-conditions-in-elementary-school-test-score-gaps-study-overview/583699.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Connor ","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-14","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why do test-score gaps indicate unequal educational opportunity?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The document explains that low-income and minority children, on average, score lower on states’ elementary-school accountability tests than white or higher-income children. These gaps serve as evidence that educational opportunity is not equal.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does progressive distribution of state aid affect test-score gaps?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The study finds that smaller test-score gaps are associated with state aid distributed progressively to districts with higher poverty fractions. Such distributions are linked to better outcomes in high-poverty metros or districts.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What role does poverty or racial segregation play in gap size?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Test-score gaps are larger in metropolitan areas and districts where poverty segregation is greater. Minority or low-income children attend schools or districts with more low-income students compared with white or higher-income peers.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},583699,1792322777,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},687207022233,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","No. 21-2  \nThe Roles of State Aid and Local Conditions in Elementary School Test-Score Gaps  \nKatharine Bradbury  \nAbstract:  \nEqual educational opportunity is a core American value. Yet many children of low-income or minority racial or ethnic status attend public schools that are lower quality compared with those that white children or high-income children attend. And data indicate that, on average, lowincome or minority children score lower on states’ elementary-school accountability tests compared with higher-income children or white children. Such test-score gaps serve as evidence of unequal educational opportunity. This study uses information from metropolitan areas and from school districts to understand which factors are strongly related to the size of racial and socioeconomic test-score gaps. One key factor is the degree to which state aid to school districts is distributed progressively—that is, distributed disproportionately to districts with high fractions of students living in poverty—with progressive distributions associated with smaller test-score gaps in high-poverty metros or districts. Second, test-score gaps are larger in metropolitan areas and districts where poverty segregation is greater, that is, where, compared with white children or higher-income children, minority children or low-income children go to school with, or are in school districts with, more students from low-income families.  \nJEL Classifications: H75, H77, I22, I24, I28  \nKeywords: inequality of opportunity, student test-score gaps, state aid to public schools, socioeconomic segregation, racial segregation  \nKatharine Bradbury is a senior economist and policy advisor in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Her email [is Katharine.Bradbury@bos.frb.org](is Katharine.Bradbury@bos.frb.org).  \nThe author thanks Jeff Thompson and all her colleagues in the New England Public Policy Center for very helpful comments. Morgan Klaeser provided excellent research assistance. Elizabeth Pancotti assisted with early data exploration.  \nThis paper presents preliminary analysis and results intended to stimulate discussion and critical comment.  \nThe views expressed herein are those of the author and do not indicate concurrence by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the principals of the Board of Governors, or the Federal Reserve System.  \nThis paper, which may be revised, is available on the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston at [https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-working-paper.aspx](https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-working-paper.aspx).  \nThis version: November 2020 [https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2021.02](https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2021.02)  \nEqual educational opportunity is a core American value. Yet analysts observe that many children of lowincome or minority racial or ethnic status attend public schools that are lower quality compared with those that white children or high-income children attend. Public elementary and secondary education is a state-local function in the United States, with variations in quality across and within states. In all U.S. states except Hawaii, local school districts provide and fund the public schools, and state funds augment local resources.1 The level of state support varies considerably across the states, and institutional arrangements—from allocation formulas to curriculum oversight—also vary widely.  \nEarlier research established that state school-aid reforms in the 1970s and 1980s altered school spending patterns and, by altering spending, strongly influenced student outcomes such as school completion, adult wages, and adult poverty, especially for low-income children (Jackson, Johnson, and Persico 2016) . A more recent analysis of reforms in the 1990s and 2000s similarly shows substantial positive effects of aid reforms on school spending and student achievement in low-income districts (Lafortune, Rothstein, and Schanzenbach 2018","cbCaitkqMDlhGc3f","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitkqMDlhGc3f","pdf",878290,43,"English","# Equal Educational Opportunity and Test-Score Gaps\n## Research Focus and Key Factors\n# Institutional Context for State School Aid\n## State-Local Funding Arrangements and Variation\n# Prior Evidence and Policy Attributes\n## Aid Reforms and Outcomes\n# Determinants of Educational Achievement Beyond Funding\n## Teacher Quality, Peers, Families, and Neighborhoods\n# Data and Measurement Approach\n## Adjusted Scores and Comparability Across States","[{\"question\":\"Why do test-score gaps indicate unequal educational opportunity?\",\"answer\":\"The document explains that low-income and minority children, on average, score lower on states’ elementary-school accountability tests than white or higher-income children. These gaps serve as evidence that educational opportunity is not equal.\"},{\"question\":\"How does progressive distribution of state aid affect test-score gaps?\",\"answer\":\"The study finds that smaller test-score gaps are associated with state aid distributed progressively to districts with higher poverty fractions. Such distributions are linked to better outcomes in high-poverty metros or districts.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does poverty or racial segregation play in gap size?\",\"answer\":\"Test-score gaps are larger in metropolitan areas and districts where poverty segregation is greater. Minority or low-income children attend schools or districts with more low-income students compared with white or higher-income peers.\"}]","No. 21-2 - The Roles of State Aid and Local Conditions in Elementary School Test-Score Gaps - Study overview | PDF",1792048092,108]