Measuring Educational Opportunity in North Carolina Public School Districts

August 16, 2022

Dr. Robert C. Carr is a research scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. In a research brief titled “Measuring Educational Opportunity in North Carolina Public School Districts,” Dr. Carr examines data on the reading and math achievement of students in North Carolina public schools as they progress from third to eighth grade. These data are used to measure two dimensions of educational opportunity in each of North Carolina’s 115 school districts. The first measure— average achievement—indexes the average level of student achievement among third grade students in each school district. The second measure—achievement growth—indexes the rate of growth in student achievement as students progress from third to eighth grade. Correlational analyses indicate that average achievement may reflect a broad range educational opportunities available to students based on the socioeconomic status of the community where their school district was located, while achievement growth may better measure the unique contribution of schools toward promoting student learning and achievement. Click the image below to read Dr. Carr’s paper, “Measuring Educational Opportunity in North Carolina Public School Districts.”

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