Although the news in New York City three days ago (9/22/06) was disappointing, some of the results were postive for the city. However, the real problems, and their real causes sometimes get obscured by such stories. For example, the real cause of these declines is linked to vocabulary and content knowledge that is not getting well taught to students in earlier grades: 

The steady erosion of student achievement through eighth grade offers a particularly bleak outlook on New York State’s chances of meeting the goal of No Child Left Behind, which seeks 100 percent proficiency in reading and math among all categories of students by 2014 and imposes sanctions on schools and districts for failing to make annual progress. Since the state began testing in the fourth and eighth grades in 1999, the middle school results have lagged behind.

In one disappointment for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the state results cast doubt on extraordinary gains by the city’s fifth graders last year. The state results showed 56.7 percent of the city’s fifth graders on or above grade level, a decline of about 10 percentage points from the previous city test.

The pattern in New York State can be found in Michigan and Florida and is showing up around the country as states expand their testing systems. Some researchers say the problem is not in middle schools, where the scores are weak, but in earlier grades. E. D. Hirsch Jr., the author of a recent book, “The Knowledge Deficit,” said students do not learn enough vocabulary and content knowledge at younger ages. (The rest of the New York Times story).

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