Midwest Achievement Gap Research Alliance (MAGRA) (Historical)

Many Black students excel academically and draw on resources such as supportive peers and teachers, as well as strong family ties. However, along their path to educational success, Black students face many hurdles that can prevent them from reaching their full potential. Research shows that Black students are less likely than their peers to have access to high-level mathematics and science courses, more likely to face harsher school discipline, and more likely to attend schools with higher concentrations of inexperienced teachers. These inequities in learning opportunities and environments have been described as opportunity gaps, educational debt, and achievement gaps.

The REL Midwest Achievement Gap Research Alliance (MAGRA) leveraged data from state education agencies and other key stakeholders to increase the region’s capacity to access, conduct, interpret, and make sense of achievement gap research and to support the use of this research in state and local decision-making to significantly and meaningfully improve opportunities for Black students. MAGRA’s primary focus was addressing educational outcomes for Black students in Wisconsin. In addition, a community of practice connected key stakeholders across the region and was an active partner in the research process.

Wisconsin’s overall high school graduation rate ranked among the top in the nation, according to the National Center for Education Statistics 2015 Condition of Education report. However, the gap in scores between White and Black students on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress was the widest in the country. To address this disparity, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction was prioritizing improving educational outcomes among Black students.