The gap at the advanced level is widening

While NCLB is closing the gap between rich and poor and ethnic groups at the proficient level, the gap at the advanced level is widening.

In 4th grade math, for example, the percentage of white students scoring at the advanced level on NAEP tests increased by about 5 percentage points from 1996 to 2007, rising from 2.9 percent to 7.6 percent. But the percentages of black and Hispanic students scoring at that level grew at the same time from near zero to around 1 percent.

Among 4th graders poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, the percentage of advanced-level math scorers rose from near zero to 1.5 percent over the same time span. Their better-off peers, in comparison, managed to boost their representation at the highest levels of the test by more than 5 percentage points, growing from 3.1 percent to 8.7 percent.

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