The full story on student achievement

A new report from the Education Trust examines how state accountability systems can mask the full story of student achievement when schools earn high marks despite low performance for some groups of students. Education Trust's analysis used data from Minnesota, Florida, and Kentucky, and found that while each state had some degree of innovative policy design and demonstrated dedication to raising student achievement -- including improvements for low-income students and students of color -- in general, top-rated schools' proficiency rates for low-income students and students of color were about the same as those of white and higher-income students in middle- and low-rated schools. In Florida, the average reading proficiency rate for African-American students in "A" schools is about the same as that of white students in "C" schools; the average proficiency rate for Latino students in "B" schools is about the same as that of white students in "D" schools. In Kentucky, average math proficiency rates of African-American students at schools with a "Distinguished" rating are about equal to math proficiency rates of white students in "Needs Improvement" schools. Minnesota's low-income children in top-rated schools are performing about the same as higher-income children attending schools identified for intervention. The report recommends that all states work to end this pattern by ensuring that gap-closing goals are reflected in school ratings. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.