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Monday, June 18, 2007
The Other Achievement Gap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was scrambling Friday afternoon after the State Department of Education released system-level Criterion-Referenced Competency Test scores days earlier than expected.
I didn’t have time to do a thorough analysis of the scores at the time because it was already mid-afternoon and deadline was approaching. But in my preliminary review I noticed sometimes-drastic differences in student passing rates among metro Atlanta school systems.
Every year, some systems perform better than others on the state-mandated exams. But when gaps in test performance in some subjects — particularly science — are so large you could drive a Mack truck through them, you really have to wonder what’s going on.
Some parents are quick to name demographics as the culprit when Forsyth and Fayette consistently produce some of the highest passing percentages, while Atlanta and Clayton repeatedly rank at the bottom.
Certainly, the difference in poverty levels from county to county plays some role. But that can’t be the only explanation, can it?
