KIDS MOVE AHEAD, BUT STILL TRAIL NATION L.A. STUDENTS LAG IN MATH, READING SKILLS.Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Unified's fourth- and eighth-graders improved their math and reading skills over the past two years, but still lagged behind other urban school districts, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study released Thursday. The 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. tracked the performance of fourth- and eighth-grade students in 11 large urban school districts based on assessment tests. ``The gains, according to the NAEP NAEP National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP National Association of Environmental Professionals NAEP National Association of Educational Progress NAEP National Agricultural Extension Policy NAEP Native American Employment Program people, are statistically significant and substantiate ... our own state results. We've been on an upward trend,'' said Esther Wong Esther Wong was born August 13, 1917 in Shanghai, China, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1949. She was a punk rock and New Wave music promoter. She got started as the owner of "Madame Wong's" clubs, and when Polynesian bands weren't filling her restaurants, she decided to try , the LAUSD's assistant superintendent for planning, assessment and research. ``We feel we're on the right track in terms of the reform movement.'' Wong said one reason why the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. might have lagged behind other cities is because 43 percent of its students are English-language learners. She also noted that a whopping 92 languages are spoken in the district. Other districts included in the study were Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , San Diego and Washington, D.C. Stephanie Germeraad, spokeswoman for the National Assessment Governing Board, said while the districts vary in population and ethnic makeup, ``it is the closest thing you can get to an apples-to-apples comparison for these districts.'' In math, LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) students in both the fourth and eighth grades improved over their average 2003 scores, moving up from 216 points to 220 for the fourth-graders, and from 245 to 250 for the eighth-graders. The percentage of students who scored as proficient also increased several points in both age groups. But the district's average scores still lagged behind those in the other large central cities. On average, those fourth-graders scored 8 points higher in math than their LAUSD counterparts and eighth-graders overall scored 15 points higher than local students. In reading, LAUSD students' gains were less significant. Fourth-graders only improved 2 points from 2003, from 194 to 196, and eighth-graders only improved 5 points, from 234 to 239. Again, LAUSD students' average reading scores were much lower than those in other large central cities. On average, fourth-graders scored 10 points higher and eighth-graders scored 11 points higher than their LAUSD peers. Nationwide, average scores in reading in large central cities were lower than the national score, except for Charlotte, where the average was higher for fourth-graders, and Austin, where the score was not significantly different. In math, Austin and Charlotte again had higher average scores than the nation, while the other cities in the assessment review scored below the national average. The NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States; conducts studies . It began assessing performances with the results in 2002 with reading and writing assessments and continued in 2003 and 2005 with reading and mathematics. Lisa M. Sodders, (818) 713-3663 lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com |
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