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Thursday, August 17, 2006

Minority Students Lag Behind Peers

By Amy Miller And Gabriela C. Guzman
Journal Staff Writers
    Minority students continued to lag far behind their Caucasian and Asian counterparts in Albuquerque's public schools.
    American Indians, African- American and English Language Learners earned some of the lowest scores on the state's standardized test, according to 2006 results released by the state Wednesday.
    For example, 9.9 percent of American Indian sixth-graders tested at or above their grade level in math, 7.4 percentage points lower than in 2005. Thirty-six percent of their Caucasian and 39 percent of their Asian classmates tested at or above grade level.
    "It's alarming that (the achievement gap) is not closing fast enough," Superintendent Elizabeth Everitt said. "But you also see we have some increases in almost every grade."
    English Language Learners did make significant gains in reading and math in several grades. The percentage of third-grade English Language Learners reading at grade level or above jumped 6 percentage points from 2005 to 38.9.
    But Albuquerque students in almost every grade struggled with math. Just over 47 percent of third-graders tested at grade level, the highest percentage of any grade. Only 21 percent of sixth-graders did.
    Statewide, math achievement peaked in the third grade with 44 percent of students at grade level. In the sixth and seventh grades, proficiency is at about 22 percent.
    "We are not anywhere near where we need to be," New Mexico Education Secretary Veronica Garcia said. She said while some improvements in student achievement were made this year, they were not significant.
    "It's not just about closing the gap but improving proficiency for all students," she said.
    Albuquerque students performed significantly better in reading than in math. Fifth-grade Caucasian students topped the list, with 77 percent reading on grade level.
    Statewide, 56.6 percent of 11th graders read at or above grade level— the highest percentage for all grades.
    Federal law requires all students be at grade level by 2014.
    In total, 201,000 New Mexico students in grades 3 through 9 and in grade 11 were tested in reading and math last spring. Students in grades 3 through 9 were also tested in science.
    Of those tested, about 54 percent were Hispanic, 31.2 percent were Caucasian, and 11.2 percent were American Indian. The remaining 3.7 percent were Asian and African- American students.
    Minority students statewide also scored well below their Caucasian and Asian classmates.
    While close to 73 percent of Caucasian 11th graders read at grade level, only 48 percent of Hispanic and African- American students do. American Indian students are close with 46.8 percent.
    The percentage plummets to 34.2 for students learning English.
    This is the second time students were given the state's revamped proficiency tests.
    Garcia said her department is using a variety of techniques to further shrink the gap that divides minority and Caucasian students. Among them are teacher training, free meals for students and structured reading programs.
    Districts with Native American populations often find students come to school lacking a foundation in English or their tribal language, Garcia said.
    In the Gallup-McKinley County Public Schools, where 80 percent of the students are Navajo, the district adopted a reading program heavy on phonetics and has begun to see students make strides, superintendent Karen White said.
    There was also good news in Albuquerque and across the state:
   

Albuquerque's Hispanic fifth-graders improved their math proficiency seven percentage points to 28.4;
   

New Mexico's fourth-grade African-American students improved their reading proficiency from 44.4 percent in 2005 to 50.5 percent in 2006.
    But achievement dropped for many students, including those from traditionally high-performing groups.
    Reading proficiency among Asian students decreased in five out of eight grades tested. The steepest drop came in eighth grade, where proficiency went from 70.7 percent to 64.6 percent.
    During the press conference, Garcia heralded six students who earned perfect scores on the math or science portion of the tests. Four of the students were from Albuquerque Public Schools and two were from Rio Rancho.

E-MAIL Journal Staff Writers Amy Miller And Gabriela C. Guzman