Notre Dame ACE Academies Close the Achievement Gap

Nationwide, students from under-served communities and schools lag behind the national average in standardized tests. This is called the achievement gap. 

One class at St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, a Notre Dame ACE Academy, proves this gap can be closed: In 2010, the class average in math for St. John’s 3rd graders was at the 17th percentile. Two years later, as 5th graders, they are at the 52nd percentile. They now outperform the national average (above).

While older students are closing the gap, the younger students don’t experience a gap at all. Students in all three Tucson partner schools are consistently posting higher achievement scores year after year (right). 

In fact, Notre Dame ACE Academies' youngest students are among the highest achieving in the nation. In 2013, kindergarteners scored in the 86th percentile in math and the 91st percentile in reading. 

Notre Dame ACE Academies teachers are changing children’s lives. As 3rd grade teacher Adela Dinwiddie said of one St. John's student: 

“Miguel started the last school year reading in the 40th percentile. By the end of the year, he was all the way to the 79th, and he’s already talking about where he wants to go to college!”

Scores reported here are from the Spring 2013 Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Download a print version of this data.