This NEPA (NorthEastern Pennsylvania) News Team report on the use of NAEP scores in comparing urban schools (previously, the test has been used only for national and state comparisons) has the most optimistic headline I've seen in a while:
"New school scores set urban benchmark, show huge room for improvement"
Translation? The schools setting the benchmarks have a looooong way to go...
Six school districts volunteered to set an urban benchmark, allowing them to compare their fourth-graders and eighth-graders and to gauge whether school reforms work over time. The six are Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles and New York.
"We knew we were taking a risk in joining up for this test, knowing it was going to be another case of Atlanta students underperforming," said Sharron Hunt, chief accountability officer for Atlanta Public Schools. "That doesn't mean we have low expectations; I believe the students can and will achieve higher rates _ all of our students."...
...The six districts all have high percentages of black or Hispanic students, who typically score below whites on standardized tests...
The standard is not even excellence here, but "proficiency." Nationwide, only 30% of youngsters reach that mark; in urban areas, even fewer do. It seems the urban educators are pushing here for their charges to be compared not only to students nationwide, but also to students in similar cities. The educators sound pretty gung-ho about the whole thing:
In Los Angeles, roughly 40 percent of fourth-graders tested had limited English ability. That's a factor, not an excuse, said Roy Romer, superintendent of the city's school district. "The value to us is, over time, how do we change?" Romer said. "We're low, but we are coming up rapidly." He said elementary grade scores in the city have increased at twice the state average, as measured by California tests...
In Atlanta, Hunt said, the national scores will do more than serve as a starting point _ they will drive change. For example, the district may realize it must put more emphasis on a specific reading skill, or it could shift some lessons to an earlier grade, she said.
Posted by kswygert at July 23, 2003 10:10 AM