<p>I suspect this is multicausal
we certainly have problems in our district- and part of the problem is that those who are working on it ( IMO) have been inside the system for too long- because when those who have been working on the same problems along side the school system- and having success with that, try and work with the school district-the affected communities "freak out", because someone is trying to change things.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Despite concerted efforts by educators, the test-score gaps are so large that, on average, African-American and Hispanic students in high school can read and do arithmetic at only the average level of whites in junior high school.</p>
<p>The gaps between African-Americans and whites are showing very few signs of closing, Michael T. Nettles, a senior vice president at the Educational Testing Service, said in a paper he presented recently at Columbia University. One ethnic minority, Asians, generally fares as well as or better than whites.</p>
<p>The reports and their authors, in interviews, portrayed an educational landscape in which test-score gaps between black or Hispanic students and whites appear in kindergarten and worsen through 12 years of public education.</p>
<p>Some researchers based their conclusions on federal test results, while others have cited state exams, the SATs and other widely administered standardized assessments. Still, the studies have all concurred: The achievement gaps remain, perplexing and persistent.</p>
<p>The findings pose a challenge not only for Mr. Bush but also for the Democratic lawmakers who joined him in negotiating the original law, known as No Child Left Behind, and who will control education policy in Congress next year.
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<p>There are pockets of real success however- and while I hestitate to say- that academic success or failure depends on the home environment- I do see parents who from my " lower middle class caucasian perspective" aren't helping their kids by labeling all problems they have with the schools/district as because of their color. I have had better results working for the solution I want- rather than why it happened-I can complain ( and I do) about how the schools/district set my daughter back years in her education- but that isn't going to change anything- and not get any real satisfaction. The satisfaction comes from seeing how far she has come- once we set the goal and worked backward to where we were.</p>
<p>My D school has a great graduation rate of African Americans- one of the best in the state- ( actually higher than the state average for all students)it helps a lot that there is a culture of high expectations and role modeling from the community and alumni.
It also helps that Seattle- doesn't have the violence/poverty concerns that some other urban areas around the country do.</p>
<p>Still, I don't understand why our district spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees to be able to assign students to schools outside their neighborhoods because of race, when they could have used income as an assignment criteria for free.</p>
<p>They could have used the money they saved by providing better summer programs- for students who perhaps need the extra time to get up to grade level. 180 days of school ( including 1/2 days) isn't really enough to get a lot of students where they need to be- we need to stop thinking in old patterns and expecting different results.</p>