How Zip Code Matters: Spacial Analysis of Ohio Learning Standards Opporunity Gaps in Cuyahoga County – Full Report
The core mission of the Ohio educational system is to ensure that all children, regardless of zip code in which they live and attend school, have equal opportunities to learn. However, faced with considerable disparities in educational attainment, it is important to examine if these aims have been realized in practice. This was the primary motivation behind the present study, the aim of which was to establish whether children face different barriers and have unequal access to learning opportunities due solely to their school’s zip code. The specific research question driving this investigation was thus: “To what extent, if any, are persistent Ohio Learning Standards gaps attributable to differences within zip codes for the largest county in Ohio (i.e., Cuyahoga County)?”