79% of Chicago 8th Graders Not Proficient in Reading

[key2thecup]

U.S. Department of Education:79% of Chicago 8th Graders Not Proficient in Reading

Seventy-nine percent of the 8^th graders in the Chicago Public Schools are not grade-level proficient in reading, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and 80 percent are not grade-level proficient in math.

Chicago public school teachers went on strike on Monday and one of the major issues behind the strike is a new system Chicago plans to use for evaluating public school teachers in which student improvement on standardized tests will count for 40 percent of a teacher’s evaluation. Until now, the evaluations of Chicago public school teachers have been based on what a Chicago Sun Times editorial called a “meaningless checklist.”

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education administered National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests in reading and math to students around the country, including in the Chicago Public Schools. The tests were scored on a scale of 0 to 500, with 500 being the best possible score. Based on their scores, the U.S. Department of Education rated students’ skills in reading and math as either “below basic,” “basic,” “proficient” or “advanced.”

Nationally, public school 8^th graders scored an average of 264 on the NAEP reading test. Statewide in Illinois, the 8^th graders did a little better, scoring an average of 266. But in the Chicago Public Schools, 8^th graders scored an average of only 253 in reading. That was lower even than the nationwide average of 255 among 8^th graders in “large city” public schools.

With these NAEP test results, only 19 percent of Chicago public school 8^th graders rated proficient in reading while another 2 percent rated advanced—for a total of 21 percent who rated proficient or better.

79 percent of Chicago public school 8^th graders were not grade-level proficient in reading. According to the U.S. Department of Education, this included 43 percent who rated “basic” and 36 percent who rated “below basic.”

In the 8^th grade math test, Chicago public school 8^th graders scored an average of 270 out of 500, compared to an average of 274 for 8^th graders in “large city” public schools, and 283 for 8^th graders nationally as well as statewide in Illinois.

With these NAEP test results, only 17 percent of Chicago public school 8^th graders rated proficient in math while another 3 percent rated advanced—for a total of 20 percent who rated proficient or better.

Thus, 80 percent of Chicago public school 8^th graders were not grade-level proficient in math. According to the U.S. Department of Education, this included 40 percent who rated “basic” in math and 40 percent who rated “below basic.”

http://cnsnews.com/n...ficient-reading

[King Heffy]

And yet, still smarter than their hockey heroes.

[Sharpshooter]

[SukhKular]

Are we surprised?

[Dittohead]

Obamas children

[c00kies]

I bet that number is lower than the reading proficiency of members on this forum

[Sharpshooter]

Obamas children

[NoShowWilly]

need to find books these children are interested in. i was a very slow reader up until about grade 7 when i started reading the screech owls series. mom bought me the series and went from there.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Why waste an education on future Walmart employees?

[MC Fatigue]

does the US government really care? an uneducated public is blissful and ignorant. perfect cannon fodder for the next war they cook up.

[Tystick]

Wow... I thought that percentage would have been higher lmao

[Hobble]

You think texting would have helped a bit, but maybe they are all just using "U", "thx", "dis" etc...

[KFBR392]

Compared to Bruins' fans these kids are probably geniuses.

[WHL rocks]

According to article in OP.

Chicago is only is less than 1% below national average for Math and .5% behind on English for "big city" public schools.

253/500 VS 250/500 is not a big deal at all. IF the 250/500 is the problem than the US national average for "big city" schools should be of huge concern.

[WHL rocks]

The teachers are on strike even though they are amongs the highest paid in the US @ 76k per year that could increase by 16% over the next 4 years.

[Durl Dixsun]

Why waste an education on future Walmart employees?

[Buddhas Hand]

But George W. Bush assured us no child would be left behind...did he lie??

[Fathoms]

This is what 100 years of socialized education gets you. While it is true that if your goal is too engineer a population of citizens intellectually and emotionally defenseless against the predations of government and industry the system is working beautifully, it is also true that if your goal is to actually educate than your belief in the system is a faith based one. This is because the system itself is faith based. The fact of the matter is that schools ignore most of what the research says on how psychological development and learning take place because assisting children to grow up is nothing more than the hook that gets people to buy into the system, when in actual fact its nature and purpose is anything but benevolent. If you read Peter Gray's blog Freedom to Learn, or any of Alfie Kohn or John Taylor Gatto's books you can understand why taking on the task of helping children to become responsible and well-educated adults is something schools consistently succeeds at failing to do.

[Heretic]

[Pouria]

Meanwhile Chicago teachers union has gone on strike, & denied a $400M + 16% payraise, Chicago teachers have the highest average teacher pay rate in the country at $76,000/year.