Examining Achievement Gaps Between Students in Kansas Public Schools

Abstract

Disparities in academic performances across subgroups are widely recognized. This investigation examines these differences within Kansas public schools. Using the Kansas Department of Education state assessment scores published on the Kansas Report Card database, we compare various student subgroups on the basis of ethnicity, income, and literacy. Most notably, this inquiry uncovers novel findings regarding district size and student performance. This study is also the first to assess the impact of COVID-19 on Kansas students. Our findings indicate significant achievement gaps between minority and white students, self-paid lunch and free & reduced lunch students, and English Language Learner (ELL) and non-ELL students. These gaps in performance were greater in medium and large-sized school districts. We also analyzed the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on academic performance across different student subgroups in grades 3-12. Significant decreases in performance were observed for students in grades 3-8 and a significant increase in performance for those in grades 10-12.