Income, Race, Gender, and Educational Opportunity: A Data Portrait of Evanston and America

Despite some meaningful progress over the last 50 years, economic and racial inequality are stubborn features of the U.S. social and educational landscape. In this talk, Sean Reardon, Ph.D., Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education and Professor (by courtesy) of Sociology at Stanford University, and Director of the Stanford Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Program in Quantitative Education Policy Analysis, will describe the patterns of educational opportunity and outcomes across the U.S., with a particular focus on Evanston and how its patterns of opportunity and educational success compare to other communities across the U.S. In order to make these comparisons, Prof. Reardon will use the results of nearly 300 million standardized test scores taken by 50 million students in grades 3- 8 in every public school in the United States from 2009-2015. Coupled with other data, the test scores paint a detailed portrait of income, race, gender, and educational opportunity in Evanston and America, and will provide a basis for conversation about what strategies might be most effective at increasing opportunity in places like Evanston.

Prof. Reardon’s research focused on the causes, patterns, trends, and consequences of social and educational inequality, the effects of educational policy on educational and social inequality, and in applied statistical methods for educational research. In addition, he develops methods of measuring social and educational inequality (including the measurement of segregation and achievement gaps) and methods of causal inference in educational and social science research. Prof. Reardon received his doctorate in education in 1997 from Harvard University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education.

NOTE: PDs available for educators.