Screenshot from Research for Action’s dashboard ranking states based on “opportunity gaps” shows Pennsylvania at the top of the list for being among the most inequitable. Research for Action
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Pennsylvania ranks nearly the worst in the nation for educational opportunity gaps based on race and income levels, according to a new report finding a large difference in access to a quality education between students of color and white students.
The state also has a large educational opportunity gap between students from low-income families and their wealthier counterparts, the study showed.
“We know that even within high-poverty schools, there is a race gap,” said David Lapp, the director of policy research for Research for Action, a Philadelphia-based organization focused on issues related to equity in education that produced a dashboard showing the differences in opportunity. Such a gap is not as prominent nationally as it is in Pennsylvania, he said.
The findings are based on federal data collected before COVID precautions shut down campuses. “This is the final baseline for what we know about schools from before the pandemic,” Lapp said.
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