Report Card Fails Schools in 6 Cities

Education Secretary Rod Paige

A new federal study shows public school students in New York, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles scored below the national average in reading and writing, a record that could interfere with their ability to compete for college and jobs if not improved.

For the first time, the Education Department’s National Assessment of Educational Progress compared reading and writing test results from fourth- and eighth-graders in the six cities against those of their counterparts across the nation. All six cities educate large numbers of black, Latino and Asian American students.

Education experts worry that failure to grasp the fundamentals has grim implications for college attendance. And studies have shown that getting a college education can make a significant difference in a person’s ability to get high-paying jobs. “Math, English and reading are basic skills, and if students don’t have them, this will limit their chances of being admitted to an institution of higher learning,” said Roland Byrd, assistant director of the Center for Academic Reinforcement (CAR) at Howard University. The Center’s mission is to raise the level of preparation and strengthen the mastery of skills necessary for academic excellence.

“A study conducted by a faculty member in CAR showed that students who completed the program (Basic Math I and II) did better in subsequent math courses than students who did not enter the CAR program. This shows the importance of learning the fundamentals,” Byrd added. Secretary of Education Rod Paige commended the urban school districts that volunteered to participate in the study. “While the cities' overall scores are below the national average in reading and writing, the good news is that we can use this assessment as a benchmark for the future,” he said in a statement. “Yes, there is room for improvement, and this assessment will help the participating districts determine what they need to do.” Paige said that the urban districts that participated “recognize that they have a lot of work to do to raise not only overall performance but particularly to erase the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and their peers.”

The Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) of Educational Progress, released July 22, uses some common measures of achievement so that districts can assess the performance of their students against that of their peers in other districts around the U.S.

The study assessed students at one of three levels: basic, proficient or advanced. In reading in all six cities more than half of the fourth-graders (52 percent to 69 percent) ranked below basic. “The percentages of fourth-grade students reaching at least the basic achievement level ranged from 31 percent in the District of Columbia to 48 percent in Houston,” the study said. “In the nation as a whole, 62 percent of public-school students . . . performed at or above the basic level.”

For eighth graders (New York did not participate at the eighth-grade level), Atlanta, Washington and Los Angeles had more than half their students ranked below basic, while Chicago and Houston had more than one-third of theirs at that level (38 percent to 58 percent). In writing, the percentages of fourth-grade students reaching at least the basic achievement level ranged from 73 percent in the District of Columbia to 85 percent in New York City,” the study said.

Also, “At grade 8, the percentages of students performing at or above basic ranged from 64 percent in Los Angeles to 74 percent in Houston.

“At grade 8 in the nation as a whole, 84 percent of students performed at or above basic. . .” according to data in the study.

The analysis included traditional and charter public schools. Charter schools performed marginally worse than traditional public schools, according to the report.

The study can be viewed at http://nces.ed.gov/commissioner/remarks2003/7_22_2003.asp

Kerry-Ann Hamilton is a 2003 graduate of Howard University who will be pursuing a master’s degree in International Communications at American University this fall.

Posted July 25, 2003