ABSTRACT
Schools do not create achievement gaps. By the time children enter kindergarten, dramatic socioeconomic and racial school-readiness gaps are deeply entrenched. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), a large, nationally-representative survey, show that at kindergarten entry, the average cognitive scores of children from high socioeconomic backgrounds are approximately three-fi fths of a standard deviation higher than those of children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (Reardon, 2003; Lee & Burkham, 2002; Coley, 2002).1 Signifi cant differences in cognitive assessment scores are also evident between racial groups, with white students scoring two-thirds of a standard deviation higher than black children on a math assessment, and two-fi fths of a standard deviation higher on a test of reading. The Hispanic-white gap is even more pronounced (Fryer & Levitt, 2004; Rumberger & Anguiano, 2004). Study after study confi rms this early childhood gap, which seems to surface as early as 18 months and widen throughout early childhood (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).
