The newest national academic test results once again find California's fourth- and eighth-graders stuck near the bottom in reading ability, outperforming only Washington, D.C., according to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP).
While the reading achievement was the most dramatic outcome, California's kids also performed poorly in other measures of learning, drawing a scathing reaction from The Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based organization that analyzes public school data in California.
"Our state leaders insist that we have some of the highest standards in the nation," said Arun Ramanathan, the group's executive director. "What good are high standards if we fail to ensure that our students can master them?"
Not only is California's overall achievement ranking among the lowest but, as the group points out, the wide gaps between African-American and Latino youngsters on one hand and white and Asian-American students on the other remain unchanged, as they have been for a decade or more.
"While we have seen a slight narrowing of the achievement gap on our state assessments, that trend is absent in these national test results," state schools Supt. Jack O'Connell said. "It's critical for the future of our state and nation that we close the achievement gap and prepare all students for successful futures. We must continue to focus our efforts ever more diligently on finding and using effective strategies that help all students learn to their full potential."
The latest NAEP scores provide more fodder for California's perennial debate over its schools, pitting advocates of structural, such as establishing more charter schools, against the education establishment's demands for more money. It was played out recently in writing California's application for the Obama administration's "Race to the Top" grants, for which the state failed to qualify, and is the chief issue in this year's three-way contest to succeed O'Connell.
The full NAEP report can be found here.
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