By Fritz Edelstein
March 29, 2004

Students in the nation's big-city school systems posted gains in math and reading on state-mandated assessments in the first year of implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. A just released report by the Council of Great City Schools entitled Beating the Odds shows improvement of public school students who scored at or above proficiency on their respective state tests in fourth and eighth-grade reading and math in 61 urban school districts in 37 states.

The report compares 2003 state test results with those in 2002. The data indicate a 4.9 percent increase in the scores of fourth graders in reading and a 6.8 percent increase for fourth graders in math. Improvements by eighth-graders in reading and math were not as substantial as those in fourth grade. These were 1.1 percent in reading and 3 percent in math.

This is the fourth annual report by the Council. Beating the Odds provides city-by-city analysis of how inner-city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set by their respective states to measure student achievement and to hold districts and schools accountable under the statute.

If one were to look at the trends for math and reading, these also reveal progress. Of all grades tested in math, 84.6 percent showed gains in math scores from the previous year and 44.1 percent improved scores faster than their states. In reading, the scores indicate that 72.1 percent of all grades tested showed gains and 38.3 percent improved scores faster than their states.

This is encouraging progress and indicates that the urban school districts are working harder than ever before to be more accountable in an effort to improve the education of all children in their city.

The report is available on line at www.cgcs.org