Posts tagged Achievement Gap
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How can we close our persistent education achievement gaps in DC?
Despite overall college-readiness gains, race and income-level gaps have actually grown in the most DC student test scores. What should the city do to address this problem? Keep reading…
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No longer a rookie to extended class time, H.D. Cooke takes on another extended school year
This year, summer break at eleven DC public schools started a month later than the rest of the public schools in the city. Teachers say the extended school year experiment is working, helping students remember what they've learned in the past year and permitting educators to better reflect and plan. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Power to the people
No rainbow representation; Shaw pilot; Hot in here; Pointing fingers; Mulder delayed; Mind the gap; Jarvis is my co-pilot; 200 years in 2 minutes. Keep reading…
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Struggling readers in DC’s high schools need help from professional tutors
Many students in DC’s high-poverty middle and high schools have reading skills far below their grade level, and they’ve become disengaged from school as a result. We can get them back on track if we’re willing to invest in paid, professional tutors who will work with them intensively. In Ward 8’s three DC Public School middle schools, only about 25%… Keep reading…
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Volunteer tutors aren’t the answer to DC’s reading crisis
Some observers are pinning their hopes on volunteer tutors as a low-cost way of narrowing the achievement gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers. But there are limits to what volunteer tutors can do. A leading nonprofit tutoring organization deploys minimally trained volunteers to teach reading comprehension as a set of skills. The problem is that to… Keep reading…
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DC’s attorney general has okayed DCPS’s plan to help males of color. But that may not be the end of the story.
DC’s attorney general has decided that a District initiative to help boys and young men “of color” doesn’t violate laws against sex discrimination. But there are large holes in his argument. In January, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson unveiled a $20 million initiative called Empowering Males of Color (EMOC). Keep reading…
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DCPS plans to give Wilson High School less money to serve more students
DC Public Schools plans to cut Wilson High School’s budget next year by 10%, even though the student body is expected to grow by 10%. Parent groups and the school’s principal are protesting, arguing that the cuts will hurt the most vulnerable students at the relatively affluent school. Next year’s proposed budget will effectively reduce the school’s… Keep reading…
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DC’s charter schools boost learning for poor and minority students
DC’s charter schools do a better job than its traditional public schools when it comes to educating low-income and minority students, according to a recent national study. But the study indicates that white and Asian students fare better in the traditional sector. The study ranked DC’s charter sector sixth in the nation among 41 urban school districts for… Keep reading…
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Removing the superintendent won’t fix the broken culture at Montgomery’s public schools
Montgomery County school superintendent Josh Starr resigned this week. Many community members are wondering what went wrong. While Starr had a lot of supporters, his role in a MCPS culture that didn’t take criticism well may have been his undoing. A week ago, Bethesda Magazine reported that four of the eight school board members didn’t support renewing Starr’s… Keep reading…
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DCPS spotlights the needs of African-American and Latino males
DC Public Schools has announced a new initiative that will train a “laser-like focus” on African-American and Latino males, two groups that fare worst on many measures of academic achievement. But the effort, which includes a new all-boys high school, will inevitably leave some students in relative darkness. DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson recently unveiled… Keep reading…