On Jan 31, 2011, at 6:53 AM, Michael Pollak wrote:
> Two of the three major international tests -- the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the Trends in International Math and Science Study -- break down student scores according to the poverty rate in each school. The tests are given every five years. The most recent results (2006) showed the following: students in U.S. schools where the poverty rate was less than 10 percent ranked first in reading, first in science, and third in math. When the poverty rate was 10 percent to 25 percent, U.S. students still ranked first in reading and science. But as the poverty rate rose still higher, students ranked lower and lower. Twenty percent of all U.S. schools have poverty rates over 75 percent. The average ranking of American students reflects this. The problem is not public schools; it is poverty. And as dozens of studies have shown, the gap in cognitive, physical, and social development between children in poverty and middle-class children is set by age three.
The OECD says that U.S. schools do a worse job compensating for poverty than do other countries'. A major reason is the dependence on local funding, which reinforces rather than counters inequities.
Doug