State Superintendent of the California Department of Education Jack O’Connell released the 2007 STAR results for California’s students on August 15, 2007. While there were some gains in the percentage of students scoring at advanced or proficient levels of English Language Arts and Math, what was apparent from the results was an achievement gap between White students and African American and Latino classmates regardless of whether they were from a low income household or not. Noteworthy in O’Connell’s news release is his recognition that the achievement may have to do more with race than poverty: “They are racial achievement gaps, and we cannot continue to excuse them.”