NSIDE Newsletter of the National Center for Research on Evaluation , Standards , and Student Testing Fall 2000 The CRESST Line Closing the Gap

Eva L. Baker CLOSING the gap” is a metaphor for equity. It suggests that achievement test differences among groups of students differing in first language, socioeconomic status, or cultural background will be reduced by the educational efforts of schools. Another metaphor, “leaving no child behind,” similarly signals the intention of the educational system to address the specific needs of each student. From time to time we hear that the gap between two groups has been reduced. Others contend that performance differences remain. Accountability systems such as those in Texas and California explicitly set expectations for comparable progress among subgroups within schools. In California for example, schools are not eligible for substantial monetary awards unless subgroups make progress as well as the school as a whole. The glory of metaphors, and the problem with them, of course, is that they are subject to interpretation. “Closing the gap” interpretations will vary depending on one’s belief in: