Education
Trust and Heritage Foundation study results on "high flying" schools are
questionable and
ignore
the role of economic and social conditions on student achievement
The Great Lakes
Center for Education Research and Practice would like to call your attention
to the first in its series of policy briefs on education issues,
Ending the Blame Game on Educational Inequity: A Study of "High Flying"
Schools and NCLB, by Douglas N. Harris of Florida State
University.
Professor
Harris focuses attention on studies from the Education Trust and Heritage
Foundation which claim that 15.6 percent of high-poverty schools are highly
performing and use this data to support the idea that the achievement gap is
mainly the fault of educators. Harris concludes that the actual number of
high-poverty schools which consistently achieve at high levels is 1.1 percent,
and that the cause of this achievement gap is primarily a function of the
economic and social conditions facing students enrolled in these schools.
Contact:
Douglas N. Harris
Assistant
Professor, Florida State University
(850) 644-8166
Teri Battaglieri,
Director
Great Lakes
Center for Education Research and Practice
(517) 203-2940
