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Achievement disparities are widening for non-poor vs. poor and for White vs. Black students, while White vs. Hispanic disparities shrink. 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School Districts  \nAUTHORS  \nKaylee T. Matheny  \nStanford University  \nMarissa E. Thompson  \nColumbia University  \nCarrie Townley-Flores  \nStanford University  \nsean f. reardon  \nStanford University  \nABSTRACT  \nWe use data from the Stanford Education Data Archive to describe district-level trends in average academic achievement between 2009 and 2019. Though on average school districts’test scores improved very modestly (by about 0.001 SDs/year), there is significant variation among districts. Moreover, we find that average test score disparities between non-poor and poor students and between White and Black students are growing; those between White and Hispanic students are shrinking. We find no evidence of achievement-equity synergies or tradeoffs: Improvements in overall achievement are uncorrelated with trends in achievement disparities. Finally, we find that the strongest predictors of achievement disparity trends are the levels and trends in within-district racial and socioeconomic segregation and changes in differential access to certified teachers.  \nVERSION  \nOctober 2022  \nSuggested Citation: Matheny, K.T. , Thompson, M. E. , Townley-Flores, C. , & Reardon, S. F. (2022) . Uneven Progress: Recent Trends in Academic Performance Among U.S. School Districts. (CEPA Working Paper No. 22-02) . Retrieved from Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis: [http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp22-02](http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp22-02)  \nUneven Progress: Recent Trends in Academic Performance Among U.S. School Districts  \nKaylee T. Matheny*  \nStanford University  \nMarissa E. Thompson*  \nColumbia University  \nCarrie Townley-Flores*  \nStanford University  \nsean f. reardon  \nStanford University  \n* denotes equal contribution  \nThe article would not have been possible without the assistance of Belen Chavez and Demetra Kalogrides. The research reported here was supported in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation Award, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Overdeck Family Foundation, and the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305B140009 to the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University and Grant R305B170015 to the University of Michigan. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Overdeck Family Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Michigan, or the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Publicly available data related to this manuscript can be accessed at the website of The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University: [https://edopportunity.org/get](https://edopportunity.org/get)the-data/ . Direct correspondence and comments to Kaylee T. Matheny, [kmatheny@stanford.edu](kmatheny@stanford.edu).  \nAbstract  \nWe use data from the Stanford Education Data Archive to describe district-level trends in average academic achievement between 2009 and 2019. Though on average school districts’ test scores improved very modestly (by about 0.001 SDs/year), there is significant variation among districts. Moreover, we find that average test score disparities between non-poor and poor students and between White and Black students are growing; those between White and Hispanic students are shrinking. We find no evidence of achievement-equity synergies or tradeoffs: Improvements in overall achievement are uncorrelated with trends in achievement disparities. Finally, we find that the strongest predictors of achievement disparity trends are the levels and trends in within-district racial and socioeconomic segregation and changes in differential access to certified teachers.  \nKeywords: achievement, achievem","cbCaiuvDGIFqjCK4","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuvDGIFqjCK4","pdf",431664,42,"English","# Abstract and Overview\n## Data and Study Period (2009–2019)\n## Findings on Achievement Levels and Variation\n## Trends in Achievement Disparities\n## Tests for Equity Synergies or Tradeoffs\n## Predictors: Segregation and Teacher Access","[{\"question\":\"What data and time period does the study analyze?\",\"answer\":\"The study uses district-level data from the Stanford Education Data Archive to examine trends in average academic achievement between 2009 and 2019.\"},{\"question\":\"How did average achievement change overall across districts?\",\"answer\":\"On average, school districts’ test scores improved very modestly, by about 0.001 standard deviations per year, while still showing significant variation among districts.\"},{\"question\":\"What happened to achievement disparities between different student groups?\",\"answer\":\"The paper finds growing disparities between non-poor and poor students and between White and Black students, while disparities between White and Hispanic students are shrinking.\"},{\"question\":\"What predicts changes in achievement disparity trends?\",\"answer\":\"The strongest predictors are the levels and trends in within-district racial and socioeconomic segregation, along with changes in differential access to certified teachers.\"}]","Uneven Progress: Recent Trends in Academic Performance Among U.S. School Districts - CEPA Working Paper No. 22-02 - Abstract | PDF",1792059397,106]