A new report from the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) finds that the nation's largest school districts are making significant gains on state tests, often improving faster than rural and suburban districts. Eighty-seven percent of grades in big-city districts posted gains in math between 1997 and 2002, and 44 percent improved faster than the state average. In reading, 72 percent of grades improved, with 47 percent bettering the state average. "Relentless and sustained focus...on improving achievement" is responsible for the gains, according to Michael Casserly, the executive director of CGCS.
"City Districts Show Gains in Series of School Tests," by Greg Winter, The New York Times, March 25, 2003.
The report, Beating the Odds: A City-by-City Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments is available at http://www.cgcs.org/pdfs/bto3.pdf.