During the course of the volume, NAEP and Current Population Survey data are used to probe a broad range of variables,
including teacher qualifications, hours spent watching television, levels of
socioeconomic inequality, degrees of racial
segregation, particular school - reform policies, family structure, and race - specific cultural attitudes.
It
includes measures of academic achievement and achievement gaps for school districts and counties, as well as district - level measures of racial and
socioeconomic composition, racial and
socioeconomic segregation patterns, and other features of the schooling system.