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November 16, 2007
Urban schools show improvementJust as with the national and state-by-state NAEP results, released a few weeks ago, there is more evidence that our nation's public schools, specifically those in large urban districts, are making significant improvements. This is according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Education on the math and reading scores of eleven large urban school districts (Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, District of Columbia, Houston, New York City, and San Diego).
BoardBuzz is sure there will be those who will twist the results for their own political gain, especially as they pertain to NCLB (just as they did when the national and state-by-state results were released). But for just a moment can't we put politics aside? Although the results are an important cog in the debate on how NCLB is affecting our nation's urban schools, BoardBuzz believes this is a time to put our politics aside and appreciate the time and effort our nation's educators and school board members have spent making these improvements possible.
Even though many suburban schools get high praise, and deservedly so, for high scores, BoardBuzz finds it particularly interesting that most of these urban districts are just as successful—or more—at teaching low-income and minority students. This is particularly important because these districts enroll significantly more low-income and minority students, English Language Learners, and Students with Disabilities than the average school across the country.
Schools nationwide—suburban, urban, and rural alike—are challenged to raise achievement levels of this population of students to get them where they need to be. Clearly, urban schools are taking up this challenge and succeeding.
For more details on how the urban districts performed check out the Center for Public Education's report summary.
Posted November 16, 2007 2:46 PM | Students
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