District leaps forward in math

Some GREAT news from DC, reinforcing the amazing work Michelle Rhee is doing:

D.C. public schools made outsize gains in mathematics during the past six years, according to a federal report card released Tuesday that shows the city school system, long derided as one of the nation's worst, is progressing faster than most of its urban peers.

The advances do not put the city schools anywhere near the same league as high-flying suburban systems such as Montgomery, Fairfax or Arlington counties. But the results suggest that reform efforts under controversial D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and her predecessor have begun to pay off in better student performance.

Once routinely ranked last in math among major urban systems, D.C. public schools are now roughly on par with such cities as Los Angeles, Baltimore and Milwaukee. The National Assessment of Educational Progress found that the D.C. system was the only one of 11 studied in 2007 and 2009 to make significant strides in grade 4 and 8 math scores, in an analysis that excluded charter school scores. Its gains in fourth grade since 2003 were triple those found in the nation as a whole and roughly double those for all large cities.

"We grew significantly, whereas other districts remained pretty flat," Rhee said. "That, for us, speaks pretty loudly."

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District leaps forward in math
Gains on national tests stand out among results for city school systems

By Nick Anderson and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 9, 2009

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/08/AR2009120801570_pf.html