Racial gaps in early learning

Early Ed Watch yesterday provided an excellent overview of the early learning listening tours being conducted now by the Department of Education.  As Congress considers renewing federal education programs, one issue we’d like policymakers to listen to is the significant racial gaps in how we prepare students for 4th grade.

Our recent summary of 4th grade reading scores shows that racial gaps in performance are significant and persistent.  In “The Nation’s Report Card” for 2009, non-white students scored 25 points less than their white counterparts in reading.  And these gaps appear year after year.

We’ll continue to update this blog on our advocacy around early learning; tune in to learn ways you can help.

While all student underperformance is a problem, the persistent racial gaps in scores are particularly troubling.