09/19/12Task Force to Be Formed to Address Widening Achievement Gap as Test Scores Fall
LJWorld.com (09/19/12) Rothschild, ScottKansas Education Commissioner Diane DeBacker says that a task force will be created to address the achievement gap among students, noting, "we need to be looking at that at a state level." She plans to seek assistance from the Kansas African American Affairs Commission, Kansas Hispanic and Latino Affairs Commission, and the Midwest Equity Assistance Center at Kansas State University to address achievement gaps among certain student groups. The state experienced its first declines in student math, reading, science, and history test scores, and they were most significant among minorities, English-language learners, students with disabilities, and students from low-income families. This year, only 85.7 percent of all students reached the top three achievement levels in reading, down from 87.6 percent in 2011. The level among black students fell to 65.7 percent this year from 73.9 percent last year. In science, only 51.7 percent of black students met the standards this year, down 13.9 percent from 65.6 percent in 2011. During the previous 12 years, the gaps between these groups and white students had been shrinking.
