Gentrification and the Widening Achievement Gap

• In Event: Segregation, Gentrification, and Inequality in Public Schooling

Abstract

Gentrification makes it possible for low-income schools to improve through an increase in per pupil spending. Using data from the American Community Survey, the Annual Survey of School Systems Finances, and the Common Core of Data, a structural equation model shows that there is a relationship between gentrification, diversity and the achievement gap within K-12 public school districts in the United States from the 2009-2010 to 2014-2015 school years. Gentrifying school districts across the country are becoming more diverse. At the same time, the Black-White achievement gap is increasing in these districts. This study indicates that the influx of affluent residents is not improving the academic achievement for many of the original students in these school districts.

Author

• Elizabeth Iris Rivera Rodas, Montclair State University