Schools Chancellor Joel Klein does not take questions from reporters without considering how the answers will make him look. So it seems noteworthy that Klein has decided to publicly discuss New York City’s results on a prominent national reading exam.
On Thursday, Klein will join a panel of people lined up to speak about the latest scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress for reading, commonly known as NAEP, in urban school districts. Results for each state have already been released and New York State students’ showed no significant progress in the last eight years. But seeing Klein’s name on the list I can’t help but wonder if the city will have a different story.
In 2007, the last time that New York City students took the NAEP reading exam, the city’s fourth graders had made some progress since 2002, but its eighth graders’ scores had not significantly changed since 2003.
Media Advisory Reading Results for Urban Students on Nation’s Report Card to be Released on May 20 What: Release and Release and discussion of The Nation’s Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Reading 2009. The results detail the performance of 4th- and 8th-grade students who participated in 18 of the largest U.S. school districts that voluntarily participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA). Districts that have participated since 2003 or 2005 include Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Cleveland; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; San Diego; and Washington, D.C. This report is the first time seven additional districts were assessed in reading, including Baltimore City; Detroit; Fresno, Calif.; Jefferson County (Louisville), Ky.; Miami-Dade; Milwaukee; and Philadelphia. Who: Michael Casserly, Executive Director, Council of the Great City Schools; David W. Gordon, Superintendent of Schools, Sacramento County, Calif.; and Reporting and Dissemination Chair of the National Assessment Governing Board Brenda Hall, Superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools; Stuart Kerachsky, Deputy Commissioner, National Center for Education Statistics; and Joel I. Klein, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools (via satellite). When: Thursday, May 20, 2010 10-11 a.m. EST The event will be Webcast live at http://nationsreportcard.gov.