FL urban districts in top tier on NAEP

place ribbonsFlorida got mixed news from the latest results on the “nation’s report card,” which looked at student achievement in some of the nation’s biggest, urban school districts.

On the one hand: Flat scores.

On the other: Top-tier scores.

Released Wednesday, the 2013 math and reading scores on the closely watched National Assessment of  Educational Progress didn’t budge much for the two Florida school districts, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough, that were among 21 that participated nationwide. The tests are given every other year to representative samples of fourth- and eighth-graders.

Six districts saw statistically significant increases in math scores in at least one grade level since 2011, the last time they took part. Five scored higher in at least one grade level in reading. Miami-Dade and Hillsborough, which includes the city of Tampa, were not among them. The Washington D.C. district was the only one with gains in both subjects and both grades.

On the upside, the Florida districts outpaced most of the others with results for black, Hispanic and low-income students and students with disabilities.

Hillsborough’s students with disabilities ranked No. 1 on all four tests. Their counterparts in Miami-Dade finished No. 2, No. 3, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Those eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch in Hillsborough scored in the top four on all four tests, while those in Miami-Dade did so on three of four.

“With Hillsborough and Miami Dade students far outpacing other urban districts across the country, it’s clear that our teachers and schools are continuing to succeed,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a written statement. “This is just the latest in a number of national comparisons that demonstrate our teachers and schools are helping to make Florida the nation’s best place to pursue the American Dream.”

The percentage of poverty in the 21 districts varies considerably, with the number of students eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch averaging 73 percent. In Miami-Dade, it’s 74 percent; in Hillsborough, it’s a second-best 58 percent.

Florida has been a national leader in NAEP gains for the past 15 years, an era marked by tough, top-down accountability measures like school grades and an explosion in school choice options. At the same time, its overall proficiency rates remain cause for concern.

The same goes for the districts.

Low-income students in Hillsborough and Miami-Dade finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, among the 21 districts in eighth-grade reading. But 62 percent of those students in Hillsborough and 75 percent of them in Miami-Dade still scored “below basic.”

Unlike with the NAEP state scores, there isn’t much data with the Florida districts to get a sense of progress over time. Hillsborough was added to the urban NAEP roster in 2011, Miami-Dade in 2009.

NAEP urban FRL

NAEP urban SWD

 

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan accentuated the positive with the national results, saying they showed academic performance in the nation’s biggest cities was improving at a faster clip than the nation as a whole.

“While we still have a lot of work to do to close achievement gaps in our largest cities, this progress is encouraging,” he said in a written statement. “It means that in 2013, tens of thousands of additional students in large cities are Proficient  or above in math and reading than was the case four years earlier. In particular, three districts that pressed ahead with ambitious reforms — the DC Public Schools System, Los Angeles, and Fresno — made notable progress since 2011.”

Other coverage: Hechinger Report, Education Week, FlypaperStateImpact Florida.


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BY Ron Matus

Ron Matus is director for policy and public affairs at Step Up for Students and a former editor of redefinED. He joined Step Up in February 2012 after 20 years in journalism, including eight years as an education reporter with the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times). Ron can be reached at rmatus@stepupforstudents.org or (727) 451-9830. Follow him on Twitter @RonMatus1 and on facebook at facebook.com/redefinedonline.

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