Education Week - January 8, 2014 - 7

Los Angeles, D.C. Outshine Urban Peers in NAEP Gains
Scores hold steady
in other large cities
By Lesli A. Maxwell
Reading and mathematics achievement
on national tests stagnated in
many big-city districts since 2011,
but rose notably in a few, especially in
the historically low-performing school
systems in the District of Columbia
and Los Angeles, where students
demonstrated progress in both reading
and mathematics.
In math, four out of 21 urban dis-
tricts saw statistically significant
gains in average scores in the 4th
grade from 2011 to 2013, while three
did so in 8th grade, according to data
released last month from the Trial
Urban District Assessment, or TUDA,
a specially collected and analyzed
set of test results on district-level
achievement on the National Assessment
of Educational Progress.
The District of Columbia system,
with 45,000 students, was the only
TUDA participant to make significant
gains in math in both grades, while
the 640,000-student Los Angeles district
did so in 4th grade. Detroit was
the only system to lose major ground
in math on TUDA, posting a 6-point
drop in average scores at the 8th
grade level, compared with 2011.
The urban assessment program incorporates
results for charter schools
in a handful of TUDA districts, including
Los Angeles, but not for the District
of Columbia.
On the reading exam, five out of
the 21 districts that participated
in TUDA posted significant gains for
at least one grade level from 2011
to 2013, an improvement from two
years ago when the Charlotte-Mecklenburg,
N.C., district was the only
one to do so.
This year, both the District of Co-
lumbia and Los Angeles saw reading
gains of statistical significance
at both grade levels. Houston, which
was awarded the Broad Prize for
Urban Education earlier this year,
was the one TUDA participant to fall
back in reading achievement, with
4th graders there posting average
scores that were 5 points lower than
in 2011. (NAEP officials suggested
that the drop in Houston could be
attributed in part to the district's
higher rates of inclusion of students
with disabilities and English-learners
in the 2013 test administration.)
Outpacing the Nation
In the decade since TUDA results
in reading and math were first reported,
nine out of the 10 originally
participating districts posted greater
score gains than the nation in both
subjects, Sean P. "Jack" Buckley, the
outgoing commissioner of the National
Center for Education Statistics,
which administers NAEP, said in
a call with reporters.
"Our gains have been significantly
larger than in the nation
in the last decade and are evident
however one looks at the data," said
Michael D. Casserly, the executive
director of the Council of the Great
City Schools, a policy and advocacy
group that represents most of the
nation's largest school systems. "We
are encouraged, but not satisfied.
These results give us confidence
ARE DISTRICTS MAKING PROGRESS?
While large cities' NAEP gains have slowed recently, their progress
from 2003 to 2013 outpaced the national average in both reading
and mathematics.
2003 Scores
4th Grade Mathematics
District of Columbia
Los Angeles
Large Cities
(average)
Nation (average)
4th Grade Reading
District of Columbia
Los Angeles
Large Cities
(average)
Nation (average)
that urban education can, and is,
being improved across the country."
But racial and socioeconomic
achievement gaps remain stubbornly
large in most urban districts, including
those that demonstrated the most
progress. In Los Angeles, for example,
white 4th graders scored 38 points
higher in reading than their Hispanic
peers. In the District of Columbia,
white 4th graders posted an average
reading score that was 60 points
higher than their African-American
peers'. And that gap was nearly identical
to the one between the District
of Columbia's 4th graders who qualify
for free and reduced-price meals
and those who do not: Low-income
students had an average reading
score that was 58 points lower than
their more affluent peers'.
In a written statement, U.S. Secretary
of Education Arne Duncan
singled out the performance in the
District of Columbia, Los Angeles,
and Fresno, Calif., a 73,000-student
system where 8th graders posted significant
progress in both math and
reading.
"The 2013 TUDA results show student
performance in large cities continues
to both improve overall and
that large-city schools nationwide are
improving at a faster pace than the
nation as a whole," Mr. Duncan said.
"While we still have a lot of work to
do to close achievement gaps in our
largest cities, this progress is encouraging.
It means that in 2013, tens of
thousands of additional students in
large cities are proficient or above
in math and reading than was the
case four years earlier. In particular,
three districts that pressed ahead
with ambitious reforms-the D.C.
Public Schools system, Los Angeles,
and Fresno-made notable progress
since 2011."
Among the most striking results
this year came from the District of
Columbia, where students in both
tested grades showed statistically significant
progress in math and reading-the
only district to do so in 2013.
While the city's more recent im-
205
229
216
228
224
235
234
241
Ý 24 pts
Ý 13 pts*
Ý 11 pts
Ý 7 pts
180 200 220 240 260 280 300
188
206
194
205
204
212
Ý 17 pts*
216
221
Ý 11 pts
Ý 8 pts
Ý 4 pts*
180 200 220 240 260 280 300
*May not add up to totals because of rounding
8th Grade Reading
District of Columbia
Los Angeles
Large Cities
(average)
Nation (average)
8th Grade Mathematics
District of Columbia
Los Angeles
Large Cities
(average)
Nation (average)
provements in academic achievement
are often attributed in large part to
its flourishing charter school sector,
the TUDA results for that city reflect
only the performance of students in
regular public schools.
"I think because DCPS has struggled
for such a long time, some of our lessgenerous
friends believe that any
growth that happens in the city is
only attributable to charters," said
Kaya Henderson, the chancellor of
the District of Columbia system. "We
are equaling or exceeding charter
growth in all areas. I think with parents
making decisions about where
they will entrust their children's education,
these scores will show that
DCPS is a good bet."
Gaps Remain
Overall, however, the District of
Columbia continues to trail average
scores for large cities (those with
populations of more than 250,000)
and the nation in both subjects and
grade levels. The system's 4th graders
posted an average scale score of 206 in
reading this year, compared with 212
for large cities and 221 for the nation.
And the black-white achievement
gaps are larger in the District of
Columbia than for any other TUDA
participant. For example, white 4th
graders in the district posted average
math scores that were 59 points
higher than their black peers'.
Ms. Henderson said the city's vast
socioeconomic divide, which breaks
down largely along racial and ethnic
lines, is an ongoing challenge. In recent
years, the district's demographics
have become whiter and more affluent,
which some say explains the
improving achievement picture.
"We have those gaps, and we will
continue to work on shrinking them,"
she said, pointing to additional investments
the district has been
making in its 40 lowest-performing
schools. "Is it stressful that white,
wealthy students are growing [their
achievement levels] at a faster pace
than poor, African-American stu-
dents? Absolutely, but poor, AfricanAmerican
students are also growing,
and that is a big part of the battle."
The District of Columbia also has
been intensely focused on overhauling
instruction and curricula and
providing professional development
to teachers and principals around
the Common Core State Standards
in math and English/language arts.
In Los Angeles, students posted significant
progress in all categories but
8th grade math, signaling that the
nation's second-largest school system's
focus on rolling out new common
standards and preparing teachers
is paying off, said Mr. Casserly of
the Council of the Great City Schools.
"It's not particularly mysterious
what's been going on in L.A.," he said.
"They've been going about the breadand-butter
work of implementing the
common-core standards and modifying
their curriculum and providing
lots of professional development to
get their teachers ready."
Mr. Casserly said the district's
growth on NAEP is consistent with the
growth it demonstrated earlier this
year on state tests.
John Deasy, the superintendent
in Los Angeles, said the district's
progress is especially remarkable
given the deep budget cuts school
districts in California have endured
in recent years.
"The work we have been doing in
a punishing economic climate is absolute
testimony that poverty is not
destiny," Mr. Deasy said in an emailed
statement to Education Week.
Special Populations
Driving down the numbers of stu-
dents with disabilities and Englishlanguage
learners who are excluded
from taking NAEP is a major goal for
the National Assessment Governing
Board, which sets policy for the national
tests, and most of the big-city
districts made progress in this arena
in 2013.
The district with the highest rate
243
260
245
264
262
276
Ý 17 pts
Ý 19 pts
Ý 14 pts
Ý 7 pts*
276
284
180 200 220 240 260 280 300
239
245
of exclusion of such students was the
Baltimore city school system. There,
14 percent of 4th graders who were
identified as having disabilities were
excluded from the reading test, compared
with an average of 2 percent
for large cities and 2 percent for the
nation. In 8th grade, in Baltimore,
15 percent of students with disabilities
were excluded, compared with 2
percent for large cities and 2 percent
for the nation.
234
250
249
258
Ý 6 pts
Ý 15 pts*
Ý 9 pts
Ý 7 pts*
261
266
180 200 220 240 260 280 300
SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics
While rates of exclusion are decreasing
nationally, Maryland's rates
remain high, especially in reading. On
the 2013 NAEP, the state excluded 62
percent of 4th graders with disabilities
and English-language learners
from taking the reading exam. Nationwide,
the rate was 12 percent.
State education officials have attributed
the high exclusion rates to a
"read-aloud accommodation" the state
provides to some students with disabilities
and English-learners, which
is not allowed on the NAEP exam.
Scan this tag with your
smartphone for a link to "2013
Trial Urban District
Assessment."
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