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The overall student achievement was higher for all races under the income-based plan in Wake county and the performances of Black and Latino students improved at a faster rate, narrowing the achievement gap between racial groups.
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Achievement gaps decreased more under the income-based assignment plan than under the race based assignment plan.
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A modest increase was found in the level of racial segregation in Wake schools under the income-based plan, but compared with other large districts in the state, which had no diversity-based plans, Wake County remained relatively desegregated.
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A small increase was found in reading and math test scores and the Black-White test score gap narrowed under the income-based assignment plan.
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The analysis indicates that the improvement in math scores may be partially due to school racial composition changes attributable to the income-based assignment plan.
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Unique circumstances in the district may have been important contributors to the success of the socioeconomic-based assignment plan. For example, Wake County has a relatively high correlation between race and free or reduced price lunch status, which makes the latter variable a better proxy in comparison to other counties.
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The data suggests that the change in assignment plans did not significantly change the number or type of students who were redistricted between schools.