Proud of Their F

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

This article in the NYT today pointed out, at least to me, why disaggregation of test scores is such an important part of NCLB. While many of the wealthy white kids graduating from Princeton, NJ's, school system go on to top-tier universitites, there's a racial achievement gap that minority parents have been upset about for years. One can see why it's been a persistent problem, if sentiment like this is around:

In any case, there can be a tone of defensiveness, even smugness, among certain school leaders in Princeton. "We're proud of our F," said Lewis Goldstein, the assistant superintendent, referring to the contradiction between the district's overall success and its standing under No Child Left Behind. "It's as if you handed in your homework and the teacher handed it back and you got a 98 on it and an F. That's the situation we're in."

If Mr. Goldstein's child were Black or Brown, I wonder whether he'd be quite so proud of the F.

11:25 AM :: ::

2 Comments:

I dunno-- doesn't seem to me that the administrators seem too concerned about raising minority kids' achievement in this case. Without disaggregation of test scores, the self-satisfied attitudes of administrators like these would mean nothing would ever change. I hope that this article generates enough outrage that someone feels a little motivation to improve.
By NMD, at September 29, 2005 11:15 AM

Princeton has been treating its minority students like this for years and years. No big surprise. Local newspapers wrote about black parents being annoyed, but everyone could ignore it. And they did. It was swept under the rug via the glowing average SAT scores and the multitudes of white kids going to college.

The only reason that this is now an issue is because of No Child Left Behind.

And NCLB has made this an issue in lots of places much like Princeton. Like Nyack NY, Montclair, NJ; Ann Arbor, MI; Shaker Heights, OH.

You've gotta love NCLB. It's not perfect, but it has outed all the educators who used to ignore the struggles of minority students.
By Jenny D., at October 02, 2005 12:40 PM

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