Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

By 'educational opportunity' the authors of this project mean 'test scores, interpreted three ways (raw score, improvement in score, and trends in scores." But beneath the misleading terminology used is a fascinating study. As stated in a (now deleted) Reddit post, the authors "have compiled and analyzed over 350 million standardized test scores across 50 million students for the last 8 years across the country." One interesting result is a study of racial and ethnic disparity in children's academic performance. The major cause is differences in the socioeconomic status of parents, reflecting a persistent disparity in American society. A secondary cause is school segregation; "If it is possible to provide equal educational opportunity under conditions of segregation, no community in the U.S. has discovered the way." Not that anyone has any plans to address these causes (it's so muh easier to blame teachers) but the results are good to know. More coverage.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: May 01, 2024 5:31 p.m.

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