Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010

Rising test scores stir diversity flap

With all that's going on in Wake County, it's no surprise that the latest test results have become caught up in the school diversity controversy.

As noted in Thursday's N&O article, critics of the board majority say this year's results show the socioeconomic diversity policy shouldn't have been scrapped. But critics of the diversity policy think it's a stretch to attribute the gains to the policy.

"While the new board majority speaks about the achievement gap, the problem was being addressed many years ago," said Calla Wright, president of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children.

Wright credited the work of the curriculum management audit implemented under former Superintendent Del Burns with helping focus attention on the achievement gap.

Wright said it will be "interesting to see how people can distort the facts" about the new test results to discredit the diversity policy.

Yevonne Brannon, chairwoman of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, said the test results show the board majority's criticism of staff over academic achievement was "unfair."

Brannon said that abandoning the diversity policy will lead to more high-poverty schools that scare away good teachers and lead to lower academic achievement.

School board member John Tedesco wasn't buying the connection between the diversity policy and the test results.

"This doesn't prove that the assignment model works," Tedesco said of the new results. "This proves that teachers are making it work for our students."

Tedesco said some of the credit can also be given to the attention put on helping minority and low-income students that was generated as far back as last fall's election campaign.

Tedesco said community schools should boost academic achievement even more as kids spend less time on the bus and parents are more able to get more involved in schools closer to where they live.

Terry Stoops, education policy analyst for the conservative John Locke Foundation, cautioned against drawing a direct link between the diversity policy and the new test results.

Stoops said you'll get a better sense of how Wake did when you can compare the gains against the statewide test results coming out Aug. 5.