By J.D. LaRock
March 31, 2003

As the strict requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act loom large over the nation's schools, a new report by the Council of Great City Schools suggests urban school districts are up to meeting the law's challenge that all students reach proficiency in reading and mathematics achievement over the next twelve years. According to Beating the Odds III, almost all of the nation's largest urban school districts have posted improvements in reading and math achievement over the last several years. It also found that many urban school districts appear to be closing the achievement gap between white and minority students.

The report compared standardized test scores in the nation's 59 largest school districts between 1995 and 2001. It found:

• Nearly 90 percent of urban school districts increased their math scores in more than half the grades tested.
• About 83 percent of urban school districts increased their reading scores in more than half the grades tested.
• Roughly 69 percent of fourth grades tested in urban school districts narrowed the achievement gap in math between white and African-American students. A similar percentage of fourth grades narrowed the gap between white and Latino students in math.
• Some 81 percent of fourth grades tested in urban school districts narrowed the achievement gap in reading between white and African American students. About 48 percent of fourth grades tested in urban school districts narrowed the gap between white and Latino students in reading.

In general, the report indicates that urban school districts had more difficulty reducing the achievement gap between white and minority students in the higher grades. However, urban school systems appear to be improving their standardized test scores more quickly than their states as a whole. And many city school systems are reducing the racial achievement gap more quickly than their states overall.

Urban schools "are getting a running start" in meeting the rigorous benchmarks of the No Child Left Behind Act, said Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of Great City Schools. "The data suggest that improvement is possible on a relatively large scale — and not just school-by-school — and that it can be accomplished under the most challenging circumstances," he added.

Compared to the average American school district, students in the 59 urban districts the report analyzed were almost twice as likely to come from low-income families or to have English as their second language. The average per-pupil expenditure in the districts studied was $327 higher than the national average, though many of the large districts included in the report — such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Norfolk — had lower per-pupil expenditures than the statewide average.

Beating the Odds III singled out several urban school districts for especially noteworthy progress. According to the report, the school districts in and around Albuquerque, Anchorage, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Portland OR, and San Francisco posted math scores that met or exceeded their state averages in all grades. In Albuquerque, Anchorage, Greenville, Tampa, San Diego, and San Francisco, reading scores met or exceeded the state average in all grades tested.

According to the Council of Great City Schools, the school districts that made the most progress had several things in common. Among other things, they started their reforms at the elementary grade level, instead of trying to fix everything at once; provided additional resources to better-train teachers and administrators; and provided intensive reading and math instruction to middle and high school students, even at the expense of other subjects. "If students can't read," said Anchorage superintendent Carol Comeau, "they're not going to pass their other classes where reading is involved."

The complete text of Beating the Odds III can be found at the Council of Great City Schools' website www.cgcs.org.