A new study suggests that the achievement gap between rich and poor students continues to grow wider, according to the New York Times.

Differences in achievements of rich and poor students have taken a backseat to the gap between black and white children in education in the last 60 years. But during that time period, the gap between the former groups has increased, while the gap between the latter has narrowed.

"We have moved from a society in the 1950s and 1960s, in which race was more consequential than family income, to one today in which family income appears more determinative of educational success than race," said Sean F. Reardon, a Stanford University sociologist, to the New York Times.

Reardon authored a study that found the gap in standardized test scores between rich and poor students has increased by 40 percent in the last 50 years -- now double the testing gap between blacks and whites.

Another study conducted by the University of Michigan (pdf) shows that the completion gap between rich and poor students in college has increased by 50 percent since the 1980s. Many consider a college degree to be the biggest predictor of success in the workforce.

"With income declines more severe in the lower brackets, there's a good chance the recession may have widened the gap," Reardon told the New York Times.

One of the many factors that get little attention in the discussion about rich and poor students is the number of parents in a household. The amount of attention that parents can give their children and household income are two factors to look at in single-parent homes. We also have to talk about the number of schools that are being closed and the discrepancies in school funding across the nation. Overcrowding is a major issue in inner-city schools, and as long as these children don't have the necessary tools of technology to learn, they will always be behind.

Read more at the New York Times.

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