"New data from the Department of Education shows a decrease in the racial achievement gap among high school students in the United States.
According to the data, almost every single racial and ethnic subgroup has seen increases in their graduation rates, at a higher rate than their white peers, in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years."
The 2012-2013 school year saw an overall increase in grad rates across the U.S. at 81%, up from 79%. African.-Americans had a 3.7% point increase in rates and Hispanics had a 4.2% point increase over a 2 yr period. Several groups had grad rates rise aat a faster pace than the national average and the overall rate of white students: American Indian, low income, ESOL students and students with disabilities. Oddly, Asian/Pacific Islanders rates dropped below white students' rate. http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/data-shows-us-graduation-achievement-gaps-narrowing/
This is good news for narrowing the racial disparity in graduation rates. Maybe we should keep the Common Core testing that includes PARCC testing referred to in Taylor Guerrant's post.
Another article reported Gov. Kasich saying that the Common Core Standards which track schools' effectiveness in teaching academics were established by governors and education professionals and are designed at the state level, expecting local school boards to design curriculum to meet higher standards.
http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/kasich-calls-talk-of-common-core-repeal-in-ohio-hysteria/
This data shows promise in the nation's education, though it can only be speculated that it is because of the initiatives taken by Obama's administration. There are so many factors that go into students success and thinking about the different reasons why minority students drop out makes me wonder if the common core has been able to truly divert them. The numbers are encouraging though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is an interesting connection. That is really exciting that minorities are beginning to achieve higher levels! I wonder what all of the factors contributing to this are, however this is definitely an exciting spin on the common core standards. I haven't heard many positive things in regards to common core so the fact rates are increasing is great. It would be interesting to discover if this is in response to common core or in spite of common core.
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