Who’s on top? Who’s at the bottom? Who cares. Give everybody a shot in the classroom.

...Consider achievement gaps. Education researchers spend much time examining them. Big gaps between rich children and poor ones are considered bad, and small gaps are good. But there are instances when shrinking achievement gaps can be deceiving: It could mean children who were doing well have stopped doing so well.

Low-income students’ scores can drop, while high-income students’ scores drop even more. Low-income scores can remain steady, while high-income scores drop. The gap is narrowed in those cases, but to what end? The difference gets smaller, but somebody is still losing ground.

Why not focus on each student’s progress? Why these knee-jerk comparisons with other people who have different problems?...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/whos-on-top-whos-at-the-bottom-who-cares-give-everybody-a-shot-in-the-classroom/2019/12/04/9247e2a2-1540-11ea-8406-df3c54b3253e_story.html?fbclid=IwAR2nor9HhrQXH9PuLdMXpAj50D0alz-1-KaR2ew5aJ9sGX6rvB0TTWr2QMM