The city's public school children have scored impressive gains in mathematics, and there's every reason to believe that they are standing on the verge of even greater achievement.
In every grade from 3 through 8, more kids performed at or above grade level on the statewide math exam this year than did last year, and in every grade the number of students scoring at the lowest level fell substantially. Can you imagine what principals, teachers and pupils should be able to do when the school reforms engineered by Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein take full effect this fall - along with a big boost in education spending?
Overall, 65% of third- through eighth-graders tested as proficient, up 8 percentage points. That included a whopping 82% of third-graders and 74% of fourth-graders. Children in sixth and seventh grade posted double-digit gains, to 63% and 56%, respectively, Even eighth-graders, long mired in failure, improved almost 7 points to just under 46%.
At the same, time, less than 11% scored at the bottom, down 5 points, while the achievement gap among racial and ethnic groups narrowed. The percentage of black and Latino kids scoring at or above grade level increased at twice the rate as the scores among whites and Asians, and the percentage of those at the lowest level declined three times as fast.
Following the rise in English test scores released last month, the math exam confirms that Bloomberg and Klein's approach is getting results. Ending social promotion, winning teachers contract reforms that boosted instructional time and sending a clear message that schools must be held accountable for student performance have all contributed to improved learning.
Next year, Bloomberg and Klein are giving teachers the ability to closely track how well students are learning, so those who lag can get immediate special attention. And the mayor and chancellor are giving parents report cards that will grade how individual schools are working. The trends are moving in the right direction after years of stagnation, and the innate abilities of thousands of kids are finally being unlocked.
