On Wisconsin's Learning Gap

Alan Borsuk:

The education achievement gaps between African-American and white children in Wisconsin remain among the worst in the United States, according to an analysis released Wednesday by an influential education group.

To a degree that's good news. That's better than in 2004, when a similar analysis by the Journal Sentinel showed the proficiency gaps in several key measures between African-American and white children were larger in Wisconsin than in any other state.

Using more recent results of the same series of tests - the National Assessment of Educational Progress - the Education Trust found that in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math, Wisconsin was near the bottom of the list, which included the states and the District of Columbia. In eighth-grade math, Nebraska had a bigger gap. In fourth-grade reading, Wisconsin was sixth from worst in gap size and eighth from the bottom when it came to the average score of black students.

The results, said Daria Hall, a senior policy analyst for the organization and the main author of the report, "show just how far Wisconsin has to go in order to ensure that all kids, particularly poor kids and kids of color, are getting equal opportunities to meet high standards."

Hall - herself a graduate of Milwaukee Public Schools - said Wisconsin should look to states with much smaller gaps and with gaps that have been narrowed in recent years to see what it should do. She named Massachusetts and Delaware as examples.

Massachusetts has eliminated funding gaps between school districts serving high-income and low-income students, she said. But it's not only about money, she added. The state has created rigorous education standards and accountability systems.

Tony Evers, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said the analysis showed that the scores of African-American and Latino students in Wisconsin had risen in recent years while the scores of white students stayed flat - which he called "slightly good news."

Edtrust Wisconsin Report 500K PDF. Edtrust.org.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 14, 2006 6:11 AM
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