March 21, 2006 - HISD is among the nation's leading
urban school districts in improving academic performance,
and a new study released Tuesday shows big city school
districts continuing to climb.
The Council of the Great City Schools reported Tuesday
that urban school achievement in reading and mathematics
on state-mandated tests continues to climb, with evidence
showing a parallel upward trend of big-city school districts
that volunteered to take the often more rigorous federal
test -- the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP).
HISD, Texas' largest school district and the seventh
largest in America, is one of the big-city school districts
that volunteered for the national test. HISD outperformed
most other urban school districts on the NAEP's Trial
Urban District Assessment in 2005.
The new study, Beating the Odds, shows students in 66
major city school systems in 38 states posting new gains
in fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics and reading
on state assessments in 2005.
The NAEP results show that HISD outperforms most urban
districts, which were tested in reading and math for
fourth and eighth graders. The results also show that
HISD made more progress than most of the urban districts
tested.
Fourth-Grade Math
"We're very proud of how well HISD stacks up with
other urban school districts around the country,"
Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. "But we
still have a lot of work to do, as do the other urban
districts. We're proud of our progress, but I'm looking
forward to the day when HISD will beat the national
averages across the board. We want every child to learn."
"The data suggest that improvement can be attained
and sustained in the nation's inner cities," said
Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council
of the Great City Schools.
The study released Tuesday showed that 58.5 percent
of urban school students in the study scored at or above
proficiency in fourth-grade math on their state assessments,
a 14 percentage point increase from
>44.5 percent in 2002 on state tests. For eighth
graders, the percentage climbed to 45.7 percent compared
from 37.3 percent in 2002.
Nationally in reading, urban schoolchildren also posted
gains, but not as fast as in math. From 2002 to 2005,
the percentage of fourth graders scoring at or above
proficiency in reading/language arts on state tests
rose to 54.4 percent from 43.3 percent in 2002 - an
11.1 percent gain. For eighth graders, the percentage
increased to 39.7 percent from 36.1 percent in 2002.
NAEP Scores
In examining fourth-grade math and reading scores nationally
on the NAEP, data show that the gains coincide with
the state trends, but at lower percentages of students
scoring at or above proficiency on what
is generally considered a more rigorous exam than most
state tests, the Council reported Tuesday.
Some 24 percent of fourth graders in math scored at
or above proficiency in 2005 on NAEP nationally, a 4
percentage point hike from 20 percent in 2003, the first
year of urban NAEP math results, the Council reported.
In reading, 20 percent reached or went beyond the proficiency
level in 2005, a 3 percentage point increase from 17
percent in 2002.
Minority students in HISD did very well on the NAEP's
Trial Urban District Assessment, which compares performance
by large city school districts like HISD that volunteered
for the test. African-American fourth graders at HISD,
for example, beat not only the other 10 urban districts
in reading, but also topped the national average.
HISD minority students outperforming others
Average reading scores for 4th grade African-American
students
HISD 207
Texas average 206
National average 199
Large city average 196
Charlotte 206
New York 206
Boston 203
Austin 200
San Diego 198
Atlanta 194
Cleveland 193
Chicago 190
Los Angeles 187
Washington DC 187
The Trial Urban District Assessment was created by
NAEP authorities to test large samples of students in
urban districts.
HISD's progress from 2003 to 2005 was better than that
of most urban districts tested. For example, in reading
achievement by fourth graders, HISD's gain of four points
from 2003 to 2005 was tied for the most progress among
the 10 urban districts with scores from the two years.
HISD's progress at fourth grade reading was far better
than the national average, which rose one point.
HISD makes more progress than most urban districts
Average reading scores for 4th grade students
2003 2005 Increase
HISD 207 211 4 Points
National Average 216 217 1 Point
Texas Average 215 219 4 Points
Atlanta 197 201 4 Points
Washington DC 188 191 3 Points
New York 210 213 3 Points
Charlotte 219 221 2 Points
Cleveland 195 197 2 Points
Los Angeles 194 196 2 Points
Boston 206 207 1 Point
Chicago 198 198 0
San Diego 208 208 0
The release Tuesday of the Council's sixth annual
report on Beating the Odds gives city-by-city analysis
of how inner-city schools are performing on the academic
goals and standards set by their respective states to
measure student achievement and to hold districts and
schools accountable for results.
City-by-city profiles of the sixth edition of Beating
the Odds can be found on the Council's web site at http://www.cgcs.org
(For more information, contact the HISD Press Office
at 713-556-6393)
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