DPS science scores worst among 17 cities
The low scores Detroit students earned on the test known as “the nation’s report card” were unsettling but not surprising, said school officials who have been working to implement a plan for change since last year. The Detroit Public Schools posted the worst science scores among 17 large cities that took part in the 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment, or TUDA, results released Thursday show. DPS already ranked last on the reading and math scores for 2009 — according to previous announcements — with the math scores ranking the worst in the history of the test. Robert Bobb, the DPS emergency financial manager, said he expects scores to increase in the next three to four years as academic changes take hold. In 2010, the district implemented 120 minutes of reading and math in kindergarten through eighth grade and extended after-school and summer school enrichment classes, among other changes, he said. “We continue to align DPS curriculum to the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) standards so our students can compete against any child in any state in this nation,” Bobb said The 2009 school year was the first time DPS took part in the TUDA. The DPS school board agreed in 2008 to participate in order to benchmark the district’s progress. As part of the TUDA, a sampling of fourth-and eighth-graders took the NAEP test, an exam that students across the country struggle to pass. In Detroit, 74% of the fourth-graders scored below basic-level understanding in science; 23% scored at basic level; 4% scored at proficient and no students scored as advanced. Among all 17 large districts that included Detroit, an average of 44% of fourth-graders scored below basic; 36% scored at basic; 19% scored at proficient and fewer than 1% scored as advanced. Among DPS eighth-graders tested in science, 80% scored below basic-level understanding; 17% at basic level; 3% scored at proficient and no students scored as advanced. Among all 17 large districts, an average of 56% of students scored below basic; 27% at basic level; 16% at proficient and 1% as advanced. “I want to commend the Detroit Board of Education,” school board president Anthony Adams, who joined the board in 2009, said of the decision to take part in the test. “Let us use this information constructively.” • CONTACT CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY: 313-223-4537 OR CPRATT @ FREEPRESS.COM
Robert Bobb, the district’s emergency financial manager, said he expects scores to increase in the next three to four years as academic changes take hold.
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