Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude?

If America is to remain internationally competitive with other advanced nations, we must maximize the academic potential of our top students. To date, few research studies have examined the progress of individual high achievers over time in relation to other students. The analysis in the Fordham Institute report Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude and the corresponding visualizations in this gallery helps to fill that gap. In the visualizations in this exhibit, you can compare the performance and growth of various groups of high achievers to that of their peers over multiple years. We wish to thank the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Kern Family Foundation for their support of this study.

Compare Performance

Do High Flyers Lose Their Altitude?Groups of students were followed over several years to see how their academic performance changed over time. While the majority of students who scored above the 90th percentile on the NWEA norms ("High Flyers") maintai

Compare Subgroups

Do High Flyers in Subgroups Perform Differently?The percentage of students in the sample who scored above the 90th percentile on the NWEA norms varied by subgroup: student gender, student minority status, school location, and school poverty status. The Y

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Compare Improvement

How Do High Flyers Grow Compared to Other Students?Math High Flyers demonstrated similar rates of improvement to low- and mid- achievers, and the gaps between the groups changed very little over time. In reading, however, High Flyers demonstrated slower

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Study Design

NWEA Researcher Yun Xiang discusses the study methodology.