Big-City Schools Post Significant Gains in 4^th Grade Reading
On Nation's Report Card

Urban Students Test Math Skills for First Time

 WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 - The average reading scores for fourth graders climbed significantly in the nation's large central city school districts, according to the 2003 trial urban National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released today.

Five of six big-city school districts volunteering for NAEP showed gains in different degrees.  The gains narrowed the gaps between city and national 4^th grade reading scores, which remained flat between 2002 and 2003 on the Nation's Report Card.   

School districts of Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York City saw improvements in 2003 fourth-grade reading scores on NAEP, with the District of Columbia Public Schools mirroring the nation's slight dip in public school reading in fourth grade.

Results of the NAEP 2003 Trial Urban District Assessment in reading in grades 4 and 8 are the first to show trends in urban school progress from the initial assessment in 2002.

The 4^th grade reading gains in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City, in fact, outpaced gains in each of their respective states. (Chicago could not be compared with its state because Illinois did not test in previous years.)  

"We are very encouraged by the results," says Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition representing more than 60 of the country's urban public school systems. "We know that we still have a long way to go, but it is more clear than ever that the reforms that urban schools are pursuing are making a difference where it matters most, student achievement."

Eighth-graders in the big cities also bucked national reading trends, which declined significantly between 2002 and 2003. Big city scores dipped somewhat over the period. Only Atlanta Public Schools saw significant improvement, while their state's NAEP scores remained unchanged.

In addition to the six initial districts taking the NAEP, the 2003 trial shows results of fourth- and eighth-grade reading for the public school systems in Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland and San Diego. North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools surpassed the national average in both fourth- and eighth-grade reading.  

Results of the 4^th grade reading scores on the 2003 trial urban NAEP, released by the National Assessment Governing Board and administered by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, show:

·     Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools have the highest percentage of students, 31 percent, performing at or above "proficient" in fourth-grade reading of the other nine districts tested, compared with 30 percent of public school students nationwide;

·     Atlanta (14 percent) proficient in fourth-grade reading;  Boston (16 percent); Chicago (14 percent); Cleveland (9 percent); District of Columbia (10 percent); Houston (18 percent); Los Angeles (11 percent); New York City (22 percent,); and San Diego (22 percent).

Results for grade eight reading on the NAEP 2003 Tribal Urban District Assessment show:

·     Charlotte schools match the national average, 30 percent, of students performing at or above "proficient";

·    Atlanta (11 percent) proficient in eighth-grade reading; Boston (22 percent); Chicago (15 percent); Cleveland (10 percent); District of Columbia (10 percent); Houston (14 percent); Los Angeles (11 percent); New York City (22 percent); and San Diego (20 percent). 

For the first time ever, the 10 urban school districts volunteered to take the 2003 NAEP in mathematics for grades 4 and 8, setting a baseline for trend analysis. The 4^th grade math results show:

·     Charlotte school students significantly surpassing the nation, with 41 percent at or above proficient compared with 31 percent nationally;

·     Atlanta  (13 percent) proficient in fourth-grade math; Boston (12 percent); Chicago (10 percent); Cleveland (10 percent); District of Columbia (7 percent); Houston (18 percent); Los Angeles (13 percent); New York City (21 percent); and San Diego (20 percent). 

In eighth-grade math, the results show:

·     Charlotte with 32 percent of its students at or above proficient, significantly higher than the national average of 27 percent;

·    Atlanta (6 percent) proficient in grade 8 math; Boston (17 percent); Chicago (9 percent); Cleveland (6 percent); District of Columbia (6 percent); Houston (12 percent); Los Angeles (7 percent); New York City (20 percent); and San Diego (18 percent).

The 2003 trial urban NAEP also takes into account achievement gaps by race, income, language proficiency and gender. White fourth graders in the big cities, for example, score at or above proficient in reading at rates higher than the nation in six urban districts - Atlanta, Charlotte, the District of Columbia, Houston, New York City and San Diego.  

African American fourth graders in Charlotte, Houston, and New York City score at or above proficiency levels at the same or greater rates than do African American students nationally. Hispanic students in Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, and New York City also outpace their peers nationwide. 

All 10 urban school districts volunteered to take the NAEP to demonstrate their commitment to higher standards, to assess the effect of their reforms over time, and to compare themselves to their big-city counterparts in other states, according to Casserly.

The Council of the Great City Schools has launched a blue ribbon commission to study the NAEP results and to propose ways to accelerate gains in urban schools. The organization and its commission are working with Rand Corporation on the analysis.  (Names of Blue Ribbon Commission members attached.)

The idea of a trial urban NAEP originated in 2000, when the Council of the Great City Schools requested that the National Assessment Governing Board conduct a trial NAEP assessment for large urban school districts that wanted to participate.    
 

Council of the Great City Schools

Blue Ribbon Commission
On Urban School Achievement
 

Pedro Noguera Professor New York University	Sam Stringfield Principal Research Scientist Johns Hopkins University
Vinetta Jones Dean School of Education Howard University	Andrew Porter Director of Learning Sciences Institute Peabody College Vanderbilt University
David Grissmer Senior Management Scientist Rand Corporation	Ronald F Ferguson Economist & Senior Research Associate Harvard University
Linda Powell Pruitt Senior Fellow Wagner School of Public Service New York University	Katherine Blasik Assistant Superintendent Broward County Public Schools
John Simpson Superintendent Norfolk Public Schools	Michael Nettles Executive Director Center for Policy Evaluation and Research Educational Testing Service
Glee Ivory Holton Director of Development MDRC