U.S. SCHOOLS Test scores show big cities fall behind in math, reading

Cleveland is one of the cities included in setting the city benchmark.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pupils in some of the nation's largest urban school districts score below the national average on federal math and reading tests, scores released today show.
But in these urban centers, where large numbers of disadvantaged kids live, pupils compete well when compared with national peers of the same race, ethnicity or economic level.
Ten school districts volunteered to set the city benchmark in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, regarded as the nation's report card on a range of subjects. The goal is to give these cities a valid way to compare themselves with areas that share problems and population trends and to track their progress on a test known for its stringent scoring.
Across the country, in reading, only 30 percent of fourth-graders and eighth-graders reach at least the key level, proficient, which means competency over difficult material. In math, 31 percent of fourth-graders and 27 percent of eighth-graders do at least that well.
In almost every case, the city pupils did worse, the new scores show. That means less than three out of 10 pupils achieved at the level they should have, based on federal standards.
One exception
The sole exception was Charlotte, N.C., where pupils met the national average in reading and exceeded it in math. Charlotte has far fewer minorities than the other areas, and black and Hispanic pupils typically score below whites on standardized tests. This achievement gap has fueled changes that include much more aggressive federal oversight of education.
Yet Charlotte also has tried to enroll more black pupils in high-level math courses, said Ross Wiener, policy director of The Education Trust, which advocates for poor and minority pupils. The variation in scores among the urban districts shows how much state and district policies affect pupil learning, he said.
The chosen school districts account for one out of eight of the nation's poor pupils, one out of seven minority pupils and one out of six pupils with limited English.
Beyond Charlotte, the districts are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City and San Diego. The District of Columbia was included for comparison, although its results were released earlier with state and national numbers.
Overall, Charlotte, New York City, San Diego, Boston and Houston had the highest percentages of pupils performing at a proficient level or better.
Will scores erode myth?
Darvin Winick, chairman of the independent board that oversees the test, said the scores should erode the myth that pupils in urban districts can't compete. City comparisons to national averages can obscure the fact that, in a few cases, black pupils in the cities scored better than blacks nationwide, as also was the case for some Hispanic pupils.
Still, notable performance gaps with whites persisted.
"I'm not saying it's a positive finding for minorities. What I'm saying is it's not the urban district environment that's driving it," said Winick, an education adviser to President Bush when Bush was governor of Texas. "It just removes that as one of the excuses: 'We can't educate them because they're in the inner city."'
Education Secretary Rod Paige commended the districts for taking part. His views of the results were less rosy than those of Winick, whom Paige appointed to his post.
"The achievement gap in these districts is something that I find truly worrisome," Paige said. "It is a problem nationally, but in some of the districts, it is abysmal. ... As a nation, we must stand united against a culture that mocks academic success in certain communities."