The 2009 scores for the 4th and 8th grade Reading portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (aka NAEP, the nation’s report card) were released today. Overall, Washington students performed relatively well compared to their peers. Our 4th graders fell within the national average, and our 8th graders scored slightly higher.
Even so, the proficiency rates among subgroups highlight our achievement gap. Below are the percent of students in each subgroup that scored at or above proficient (i.e. grade level) in Grade 4 and 8:
|
|
Grade 4 |
Grade 8 |
|
White |
40% |
41% |
|
Asian/Pacific Islander |
35% |
42% |
|
African American |
21% |
13% |
|
Latino |
14% |
17% |
|
Native American |
27% |
25% |
|
|
|
|
|
Low-Income |
18% |
21% |
|
Non-Low-Income |
46% |
44% |
We’ve got a 28 percentage point spread between White and African-American 8th graders — this is a problem. And the trend is similarly reflected on state assessments. I, for one, am troubled.
Can you, or anybody, tell me what it means to label a child “African American” for these purposes?
What IS an African American child, for statistical purposes? Does that tell us ANYTHING? Is the child one-half irish, one quarter Italian, one quarter Somali? Does this term mean something for educators?
While it is true that racism has, and does occur, and it behooves us to pay attention to its ramifications, the term as used here is completely meaningless.
Please focus on the poverty figure, this is much more straight-forward as a predictor of needs and outcomes.