First National Assessment Results Released for Big-City School Districts

For the first time ever, results on a common yardstick of reading and writing achievement were released today for six of the nation's largest urban school districts.

The data for grades 4 and 8 come from urban district samples—in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C.—that were part of the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The performance of students in all six districts was lower than the national averages in most categories, but there were significant variations.

In nearly all cases, more students met NAEP standards and were closer to national averages in writing than in reading. Average scores in fourth grade were closer to those for public school students nationwide than the averages at grade 8, where more urban students fell behind.

Student writing at grade 4 was particularly strong. Fourth graders in New York City exactly matched the proportion of public school students nationwide reaching NAEP standards—85 percent at or above Basic and 27 percent at or above Proficient. Results for Houston also were similar to those for public school students nationwide.

Data from the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA), conducted in late January, February, and early March of 2002, are a baseline from which changes in achievement can be measured. All six districts participated voluntarily. In each district a representative sample of students took NAEP under uniform conditions at the same time the assessment was given to representative samples nationwide and in participating states. National and state results were released earlier.

All six urban districts have high proportions of low-income and minority students. Three of the districts—Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago—also have high proportions of students who are limited English proficient. Except for New York City and Houston in fourth grade writing, average scores and the percent reaching Proficient in both subjects and grades were significantly below those for public school students nationwide.

"Clearly, the urban districts have a huge challenge in bringing student performance to acceptable levels," said Charles E. Smith, Executive Director of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). "The willingness of school district leaders and the Council of the Great City Schools to put their schools on the line with NAEP is a clear signal that they are serious in their efforts to be accountable and strongly committed to improving achievement."

The National Assessment is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a principal component of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. Policy for the assessment, including its content and standards, is set by the independent, 26-member Governing Board, which released the reports.

The trial urban district assessments were authorized by Congress in 2001 after receiving strong support from NAGB and from the Council of the Great City Schools, an association of the nation's large urban school districts. Overall, about 38,000 students in 650 schools participated in 2002. The program was expanded in the winter of 2003 to include four additional districts—Boston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Cleveland, and San Diego. For 2002 no grade 8 data were reported for New York City because its school participation rate fell below the minimum needed to assure a representative sample.

The District of Columbia also participated in the state-level NAEP, as it has since 1990, because of its unique status as a federal jurisdiction. This is the first time the D.C. results have been compared in NAEP to other large cities.

Among the six districts, the proportion of fourth graders from low-income families, based on eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunch, ranges from 88 percent of enrollment in Chicago to 72 percent in Houston, compared to 43 percent of public school fourth graders nationwide. Black and Hispanic enrollment in grade 4 ranges from 95 percent in the District of Columbia and 93 percent in Atlanta to 76 percent in New York City. Students from these two minority groups comprise 35 percent of public school fourth-grade enrollment nationwide.

In 2002 among low-income students nationwide, 46 percent reached the Basic achievement level in fourth grade reading. About the same proportion of these students reached Basic in New York City (42 percent) and Houston (40 percent). In the other four districts the proportion was lower—Chicago (30 percent), Atlanta (29 percent), Los Angeles (27 percent), and District of Columbia (25 percent).

Among those with higher family incomes who were not eligible for the federal lunch program, 76 percent reached the fourth-grade Basic reading achievement level nationwide. For this group, a relatively small minority in the big-city school districts, the proportion reaching Basic was highest in Houston (72 percent) and Chicago (65 percent).

For different racial groups in urban districts, the pattern of performance is mixed:

Among black students, achievement is at or above the national public school averages for blacks in all subjects and grades tested in New York City and Houston. In Chicago it is below the averages at grade 4 but matches them at grade 8. In Atlanta and Los Angles the achievement of black students matches the national black average in fourth grade writing but falls below it in fourth grade reading and in both subjects at grade 8. In Washington, D.C. it is below the national black averages in both reading and writing at fourth and eighth grades.
Among Hispanic students, eighth-grade achievement is around the national public school average for Hispanics in both reading and writing in all the participating districts except Los Angeles. In grade 4 reading, Hispanics were comparable to the national Hispanic average in New York City, Houston, and Washington, D.C., but below it in Chicago and Los Angeles. In grade 4 writing, Hispanics in all districts except Los Angles scored around the national average. Results for Hispanics are not reported for Atlanta because the sample is too small.
Although white enrollment is relatively small, white students in all of the urban school districts scored at or above the national averages for whites except those in Los Angeles in eighth-grade writing.

The urban NAEP results are reported in two publications, The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2002: Trial Urban District Assessment and The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2002: Trial Urban District Assessment and in brief snapshot reports on individual districts. These reports and complete data from the district-level assessments are available on the Internet at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard. Additional statements and information may be obtained at http://www.nagb.org.

NAEP publications may be ordered by calling toll-free 1-877-4ED-PUBS (1-877-433-7827) or from Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Orders may also be placed through e-mail at customerservice@edpubs.org or via the Internet at http://www.edpubs.org.