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.#
