National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity

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Opportunity Gap

The opportunity gap is the unconscionable disparity in access to the quality educational resources needed for all children to be academically successful. Students from historically disadvantaged families have just a 51 percent Opportunity to Learn compared to White, non-Latino students. Closing this opportunity gap is essential to closing the academic achievement gaps that separate most Black and Hispanic students from their White and Asian peers.

To download the full toolkit PDF click here.

Opportunity Gap Toolkit

An overview of the opportunity gap, including talking points, key data, resources, and key organizations. Click here to download the full PDF, or view individual sections of the toolkit on the right.

Featured Resource

Report

The Dirty Dozen: How Charter Schools Influence Student Enrollment

Kevin Welner National Education Policy Center, May 2013

Proponents of charter schools and charter expansion consistently overlook serious issues with how these schools can selectively shape their student enrollment. A report from the National Education Policy Center describes 12 practices that charter schools use to push out or discourage enrollment of students with special needs, those with low test scores, English learners, or students in poverty.

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Policy

How to Close the Opportunity Gap: Key Policy Recommendations

National Education Policy Center, May 2013

The National Education Policy Center's new book "Closing the Opportunity Gap" offers a wide array of policy recommendations for closing the opportunity gap and ensuring all students have the resources they need to succeed. This policy guide distills the most important recommendations from the book at three different levels: at the level of students' individual needs, at the level of in-school opportunities and resources, and at the level of communities and neighborhoods.

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Blog Posts on Opportunity Gap

Unified Backlash to Education Mandates Grows, Spreads

May 16

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A national grassroots movement of parents, students, teachers and advocates against high-stakes testing and standards is growing, propelled by widespread grievances about inequity, unfairness, and public disempowerment. As the resistance swells, so does the call for sensible policies that support teachers and schools and provide all students with access to key resources and opportunities.