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FEBRUARY 2006

City’s Schools Cut Achievement Gap? Not Yet

by Liz Krueger,
NYS senator

While reading the newspaper last month, a headline caught my eye: “City’s Schools Cut Racial Gap in Test Scores.” I was pleased to learn that according to a new national study, the achievement gap between African American and Hispanic students and their white peers is narrowing in New York City schools more so than in any of the other 10 urban school districts represented in the analysis.

The study showed that the difference between the average scores of New York’s African American and white students decreased by 10 points, while among white and Hispanic students, the gap reduced by 7 points. Moreover, New York was the leading district in reading scores for fourth and eighth grade students who are eligible for the free and reduced lunch program, a gauge of socioeconomic disadvantage. Good news, right? Well, before you or I let these statistics convince us that adequate progress is being made towards closing the achievement gap, let’s review the facts about the actual NYC graduation rates of African American and Hispanic students versus their white counterparts.

Just two days before I read the above article lauding the New York City school system for its progress towards eliminating racial disparities, the following headline appeared in the same newspaper, “Few Minorities Get Best High School Diplomas.”

The article grimly reminded us that after 4 years of high school, only one out of ten African American and Hispanic students will receive a Regents diploma. As a point of comparison, a Regents diploma is granted to more than one in three white and Asian students.  So, as much as I would like to take comfort in knowing that in some grades, racial discrepancies in test scores are becoming less apparent, in the end, our school system has not only failed, but it has managed to create a serious predicament for civil rights as a whole.  More than half a century after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, our city’s schools are not upholding the right of every child to obtain an equal education.

We must support all students, especially those who are struggling, by affording them greater flexibility with their education. Giving students who already feel disenfranchised by the school system a battery of tests for which they are not adequately prepared is futile and sets them up for failure. We need to give them something new, we owe them something better! To this end, I suggest that the City and State work together to develop additional alternative methods for assisting students and measuring success. Consortium, performance based schools, co-op/vocational programs and specialized high schools have all shown promise. We must also focus our efforts on new initiatives and programs for the 10th grade, the “problem age,” when too many students especially in schools with large African American and Hispanic populations—seem to give up and drop out.

As our school system has followed the trend of emphasizing high-stakes testing rather than preparation for college and/or employment, those who do not test well are left outside of this “one-size-fits-all” model. Quality vocational programs have a proven record showing that there are different ways to succeed in school and career opportunities. Consortium schools, which utilize performance-based assessments, boast a drop-out rate that is half of New York City public schools. With 71 percent of the students being of color and 61 percent qualifying for free lunch, their students are graduating and moving on to college at rates higher than the City as a whole.

Small high schools have also demonstrated success in graduating more students. The Julia Richmond Education Complex (JREC) on East 67th Street in my district is one example of a school that, once a large, failing high school graduating a mere third of its students, has been transformed into six successful small schools. Of the students in JREC’s four high schools, more than 90 percent graduate and the vast majority of them go to college.

I know that closing the achievement gap will require substantial investment of dollars and ideas. While progress is being made in the lower grades, graduation rates are an urgent problem which requires that we also pay extra special attention to our high schools.  Through deliberate work, we can correct this crisis so that you and I might one day read the headline, “City’s Schools Cut Racial Gap”—and believe it.#

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