NEWS

Press of Atlantic City: Report: Achievement gap narrows in New Jersey schools
October 2, 2009

By DIANE D'AMICO, Education Writer, 609-272-7241

New Jersey schools are making progress in closing the so-called "achievement gap" between black, Hispanic and low-income students and their white suburban classmates, according to a national report released Thursday.

But the gap is still wide, and the authors of the report said all states must make more progress more quickly to achieve the No Child Left Behind goal of having all children meet state standards.

New Jersey officials put a positive spin on the report, with Education Commissioner Lucille Davy calling it a clear sign that the state's approach to improving teaching and learning is working.

"We are on the right track, but much hard work remains," Davy said. She credited Gov. Jon S. Corzine for his support of education and public preschool in a new release release issued by the Governor's Office.

Corzine's gubernatorial opponent, Chris Christie, has been critical of the performance of students in urban schools, noting their low graduation rates and lack of educational options.

The New Jersey data show black, Hispanic and low-income students making sometimes dramatic progress over the past five years, but still lagging a good distance behind, as the scores of white and Asian students also improved.

For example, in fourth-grade math, the percentage of black students passing the state test improved from 39 percent in 2002 to 68 percent in 2008. Hispanics improved from 53 percent to 76 percent and all low-income students improved from 45 percent to 72 percent.

But the performance of white fourth-graders improved from 80 to 92 percent and Asian students improved from 86 percent to 95 percent.

The report by the Center on Education Policy found that nationally, the achievement of minority and low-income students has gone up, and the achievement gap has narrowed in most states, although the gap is still large.

Barbara Keshishian, president of the New Jersey Education Association, called the report "encouraging" on the union's Web site.

"This shows that our reform efforts are working and should not be abandoned," she said. "We need to keep moving forward."

New Jersey remains among the top-spending states on education.