Exams scores in urban Texas schools are low compared to their suburban and rural counterparts. But a study released on Feb. 25, 2009 shows that the Dallas Independent School District is one of the top ten districts in the county who has successfully increased it's "Z-score" - a number that represents a school district's exam achievement in comparison to the state average.
The score is still significantly low, but according to The Brown Center on Education Policy, "Big city schools have made significant gains. While all school districts have notched achievement gains, the big city districts made even larger gains than other districts. They are closing the gap with suburban and rural districts, slowly, to be sure, but they are clearly making progress."
In the poorest urban school districts, improvement was much slighter, if at all:
In 2000,Dallas was outscored by every single
school district in Texas
CompareDallas to Delano :
Dallas
Also from the Dallas Morning News: "Unlike their more affluent counterparts, urban school districts are more likely to grapple with high drop out rates, mobile or migrant students, poverty, limited/non-English speaking pupils and, in some cases, less qualified math and science teachers, experts say."
Both Dallas and Delano suffer from these problems, and both school districts are working on increasing college participation. But creating a quality education system depends, on a much deeper level than test scores, on the environment at large. The society must support a need for education, and reward higher qualifications. There is a big difference between improving test scores and inspiring achievement. Delano does not support a culture of higher education because students are trapped in the cycle of agricultural living. So what about Dallas? The same problems, but a different, more successful model? Or just the same problems?
The score is still significantly low, but according to The Brown Center on Education Policy, "Big city schools have made significant gains. While all school districts have notched achievement gains, the big city districts made even larger gains than other districts. They are closing the gap with suburban and rural districts, slowly, to be sure, but they are clearly making progress."
In the poorest urban school districts, improvement was much slighter, if at all:
In 2000,
Compare
Also from the Dallas Morning News: "Unlike their more affluent counterparts, urban school districts are more likely to grapple with high drop out rates, mobile or migrant students, poverty, limited/non-English speaking pupils and, in some cases, less qualified math and science teachers, experts say."
Both Dallas and Delano suffer from these problems, and both school districts are working on increasing college participation. But creating a quality education system depends, on a much deeper level than test scores, on the environment at large. The society must support a need for education, and reward higher qualifications. There is a big difference between improving test scores and inspiring achievement. Delano does not support a culture of higher education because students are trapped in the cycle of agricultural living. So what about Dallas? The same problems, but a different, more successful model? Or just the same problems?
Leave a comment