Strike two
Ok, so you say the achievement gap is actually only closing noticeably with 4th grade math scores? Let's take the spin up a notch.
[Source: NYT]
Now, if that were actually the case, we'd expect to see different regions of the country which get different influxes of immigrants to show different results. Not so much.
4th grade reading, average score by region:
West: 2003 -- 210, 2005 -- 211
South: 2003 -- 215, 2005 -- 217
Midwest: 2003 -- 220, 2005 -- 220
Northeast: 2003 -- 223, 2005 -- 224
Additionally, there are some really intruiging results if you look at it by the kids who have a language other than English spoken at home (largely immigrants) -- they actually do better. The stagnation is coming from the good ol' born-and-bred Americans (of course, when the superior gain can still be counted on one hand, no one's really on a bullet train).
4th grade reading, average score by amount of language other than English spoken in the home:
Never
2003 -- 219
2005 -- 220
Once in a while
2003 -- 222
2205 -- 222
Half the time
2003 -- 213
2005 -- 214
All or most of the time
2003 -- 203
2005 -- 206
The last category is the only one that's a statistically significant difference.
So, what was that again, Madame Secretary?
"In an interview, Ms. Spellings called attention to the improvement in math by fourth graders. She said the less robust increases and outright declines in some reading scores were understandable in part, because the nations schools are assimilating huge numbers of immigrants.
"We have more non-native speakers, there are lots of so-called at-risk, hard-to-educate students, and in spite of that, steady progress is being made," she said. "We're on the right track with No Child Left Behind."
[Source: NYT]
Now, if that were actually the case, we'd expect to see different regions of the country which get different influxes of immigrants to show different results. Not so much.
4th grade reading, average score by region:
West: 2003 -- 210, 2005 -- 211
South: 2003 -- 215, 2005 -- 217
Midwest: 2003 -- 220, 2005 -- 220
Northeast: 2003 -- 223, 2005 -- 224
Additionally, there are some really intruiging results if you look at it by the kids who have a language other than English spoken at home (largely immigrants) -- they actually do better. The stagnation is coming from the good ol' born-and-bred Americans (of course, when the superior gain can still be counted on one hand, no one's really on a bullet train).
4th grade reading, average score by amount of language other than English spoken in the home:
Never
2003 -- 219
2005 -- 220
Once in a while
2003 -- 222
2205 -- 222
Half the time
2003 -- 213
2005 -- 214
All or most of the time
2003 -- 203
2005 -- 206
The last category is the only one that's a statistically significant difference.
So, what was that again, Madame Secretary?
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at 7:47 PM.
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