Economic Integration?

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post regarding a recent study in Montgomery County, MD. (An aside – Mr. Steve Laatsch, our Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services worked for Montgomery County Schools for 4 years.)  The article shared results from a recent study that showed the positive impact of integrating students from low-income families into middle-class schools.  The article noted,

Today, 95 percent of education reform is about trying to make high-poverty schools work,” said Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank based in New York that published the report. “This research suggests there is a much more effective way to help close the achievement gap. And that is to give low-income students a chance to attend middle-class schools.

Perhaps economic integration is the key to closing the achievement gap that persists between students from low-income families and higher-income families?