Gaps for high achievers persist

A new report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy finds that, "Achievement gaps between students of different genders and racial, economic, and linguistic groups are large and persistent for the nation’s top-performing students, even as they seem to be narrowing for K-12 students as a whole" (Education Week, Feb 5, 2010).
The study's authors conclude with this thought, "We encourage educators, parents, and policymakers to focus more attention on the excellence gap. This attention need not come at the cost of addressing minimum competency gaps – the shrinking of which remains a necessary and noble goal. Yet continuing to pretend that a nearly complete disregard of high achievement is permissible, especially among underperforming subgroups, is a formula for a mediocre K-12 education system and long-term economic decline."
The full text of the report and state profiles are linked here: "Mind the (Other) Gap: The Growing Excellence Gap in K-12 Education"