Racial and Socioeconomic Test-Score Gaps in New England Metropolitan Areas - State School Aid and Poverty Segregation

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

Test-score data show that low-income and racial-minority children score, on average, lower on states’ elementary-school accountability tests than higher-income or white children. This report examines how racial and socioeconomic test-score gaps in New England metropolitan areas relate to two education-inequality factors: progressive state equalizing school-aid formulas and geographic poverty segregation. The methods do not support strict causal claims, but both factors are strongly associated with larger gaps, especially between-district poverty segregation in New England.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages35

Reading Time1 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

I. Introduction

II. Test Scores and Test-Score Gaps

III. State Aid to School Districts

A. How State Aid Relates to Test-Score Gaps in New England

B. Other Reasons to Tilt State Aid toward High-Poverty Districts

IV. Poverty Segregation

A. How Poverty Segregation Relates to Test-Score Gaps

B. The Sources of Between-District Poverty Segregation

V. Discussion

References

New England Public Policy Center Racial and Socioeconomic Test-Score Gaps in New England Metropolitan Areas: State School Aid and Poverty Segregation By Katharine Bradbury RESEARCH REPORT 21-2 February 2021 New England Public Policy Center [www.bostonfed.org/neppc](www.bostonfed.org/neppc) Staff Katharine Bradbury Mary A. Burke Nicholas Chiumenti Catherine Cox Melissa Gentry Lan Ha Osborne Jackson Morgan Klaeser Samuel Makikalli Darcy Saas Riley Sullivan Jeffrey Thompson Bo Zhao The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston or the Federal Reserve System. Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................3 I. Introduction ..........................................................................................................4 II. Test Scores and Test-Score Gaps......................................................................5 III. State Aid to School Districts........................................................................... 13 A. How State Aid Relates to Test-Score Gaps in New England ................. 15 B. Other Reasons to Tilt State Aid toward High-Poverty Districts ............ 17 IV. Poverty Segregation ...................................................................................... 19 A. How Poverty Segregation Relates to Test-Score Gaps.......................... 23 B. The Sources of Between-District Poverty Segregation ......................... 28 V. Discussion......................................................................................................... 31 References ............................................................................................................ 32 ~~ ~~NEW~~ ~~ENGLAND~~ ~~PUBLIC~~ ~~POLICY~~ ~~CENTER~~ ~~RESEARCH~~ ~~REPORT~~ ~~21-2~~ ~~ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Test-score data show that both low-income and racial-minority children score lower, on average, on states’ elementary-school accountability tests compared with higher-income children or white children. While different levels of scholastic achievement depend on a host of influences, such test-score gaps point toward unequal educational opportunity as a potentially important contributor. This report explores the relationship between racial and socioeconomic test-score gaps in New England metropolitan areas and two factors associated with unequal opportunity in education: state equalizing school-aid formulas and geographic segregation of low-income students. The underlying methods do not allow a strict causal interpretation; however, both aspects are strongly related to test-score gaps, with poverty segregation between school districts especially important in New England. The report first explores the degree to which state school aid is progressive, that is, distributed disproportionately to districts with high fractions of students living in poverty; more progressive distributions are associated with smaller test-score gaps in high-poverty metropolitan areas. All U.S. states distribute some state revenue to support local school districts, but the extent to which such aid is focused on districts with greater concentrations of poverty varies considerably. The relationships estimated in the empirical analysis suggest that New England metro areas with high average district poverty in states with more progressive aid distributions, such as Springfield, Massachusetts, should see somewhat smaller racial and socioeconomic test-score gaps than metro areas with lower district poverty in states with less progressive school aid, such as Burlington, Vermont; that predicted difference in white-Black test-score gaps amounts to about one-quarter of the actual difference between Springfield’s gap and Burlington’s gap. The second factor explored is poverty segregation; test-score gaps are larger

FAQs

What does the report say about differences in elementary test scores by income and race?

Low-income and racial-minority children score lower on average than higher-income children or white children on states’ elementary-school accountability tests.

Which two factors does the report analyze as contributors to unequal educational opportunity?

It focuses on the progressivity of state equalizing school-aid formulas and the geographic segregation of low-income students.

Does the report claim a strict causal relationship between these factors and test-score gaps?

No. The underlying methods do not allow a strict causal interpretation, but they show strong associations with test-score gaps.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor