This Video Will Forever Change the Way You Think About the Achievement Gap

I have seldom followed an academic colleague doing such strong empirical research aimed at so precise and necessary an end. Stanford University professor Sean Reardon summarizes his findings from analyzing data from 250 million tests given to children over the last decade. He makes a compelling case that the tests–imperfect, but proxies of something–quantitatively demonstrate that schools alone are not the cause of the achievement gap. (David Berliner makes this case well, too.) That there is more. And that uncovering that “more” must become our focus as a society. If you like this short video, watch a nerdier one here or see his collaboration with the New York Times’ data team from 2016.