"Cooking the Numbers" - Madison's Reading Program

Joanne Jacobs:

From the Fayetteville, NC Observer:

Superintendent Art Rainwater loves to discuss the Madison Metropolitan School District’s success in eliminating the racial achievement gap.

But he won’t consult with educators from other communities until they are ready to confront the issue head on.

“I’m willing to talk,” Rainwater tells people seeking his advice, “when you are willing to stand up and admit the problem, to say our minority children do not perform as well as our white students.”

Only then will Rainwater reveal the methods Madison used to level the academic playing field for minority students.

This is an odd statement. The racial achievement gap is accepted as an uncomfortable fact everywhere; it is much discussed. No superintendent in the U.S. — except for Rainwater — claims to have eliminated the gap.

Today, Rainwater said, no statistical achievement gap exists between the 25,000 white and minority students in Madison’s schools.

Impressive, but untrue, writes Right Wing Prof, who looked at Madison reading scores across all grades.

I found a graph comparing Madison to five similar districts in Wisconsin, all of which do much better than Madison on fourth-grade reading.

Joanne was in Milwaukee and Madison recently to discuss her book, "Our School".

Related Links:

• Diana Jean Schemo's article: Madison's Reading Battle Makes the NYT: In War Over Teaching Reading, a U.S.-Local Clash
• Jason Shephard: Reading Between the Lines: Madison Was Right to Reject Compromised Program
• Mark Seidenberg on Reading First
• Joanne Jacobs on Reading War II
• Third Grade Reading Scores by Ed Blume
• Mark Seidenberg's informal talk on reading education
• "There's something deeply wrong here" and here

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 25, 2007 4:33 AM
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