School test scores often show gaps in performance between white and non-white students. Understanding the complex reasons behind this can help reduce those gaps and promote social equality, explains Mary Paula Arends-Kuenning, associate professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois.
Arends-Kuenning is co-author of a study that analyzes math test scores for 9th-grade students in Brazil and breaks down the characteristics associated with performance gaps between different racial groups.