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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Day: December 7, 2011

National Assessment of Educational Progress

  • Students in big-city schools show gains in latest NAEP ‘report card’, By Amanda Paulson, December 7, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “Students in America’s largest cities are making gains in math, in many cases faster than students in the nation as a whole. Reading scores in those large cities – just as in the nation – have largely remained flat for the past two years. And in some cities – including Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, and Houston – students have made particularly striking gains over the past eight years, while in other cities progress has lagged…”
  • D.C. schools have largest black-white achievement gap in federal study, By Lyndsey Layton, December 7, 2011, Washington Post: “D.C. public schools have the largest achievement gap between black and white students among the nation’s major urban school systems, a distinction laid bare in a federal study released Wednesday. The District also has the widest achievement gap between white and Hispanic students, the study found, compared with results from other large systems and the national average. The study is based on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, federal reading and math exams taken this year by fourth- and eighth-graders across the country…”
  • DPS ratings on national report card rise, but still among worst big cities in reading, math, By Chastity Pratt Dawsey, December 7, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “The Detroit Public Schools scores on the Nation’s Report Card have inched up, but the district continues to rank worst among large cities in reading and math, results released today show. DPS fourth- and eighth-grade students were among those in 21 cities that took the rigorous National Assessment of Educational Progress tests this year as part of the Trial Urban District Assessment…”
  • Some New York City scores drop in U.S. student tests, By Winnie Hu, December 7, 2011, New York Times: “New York City students scored slightly lower on federal math tests this year compared with 2009, according to scores released Wednesday morning, even as scores of their counterparts in other big cities inched upward. The results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the nation’s report card, showed that the city’s fourth-grade math average dropped 3 points to 234 (on a scale of 500) from 2009, the last time the exams were taken. While federal education officials cautioned that the changes were too small to be significant, that dip diverged from the trend nationally and for other large cities. In 2011, the average fourth-grade math score rose by one point nationally, and two points for cities with populations of 250,000 or more…”
  • Baltimore students remain in bottom third on test vs. other cities, By Liz Bowie, December 7, 2011, Baltimore Sun: “Baltimore’s scores on a rigorous national math and reading test were in the bottom third of other large urban school districts across the country, though students showed some progress in math. The scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress were released Wednesday morning at a press conference at City Springs Elementary and Middle School in Baltimore…”

Medicaid Reform – Florida

  • Researchers warn proposed changes to Florida’s Medicad could drop 600,000 poor children from rolls, By Sonja Isger, December 7, 2011, Palm Beach Post: “Proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid program that would have parents pay a monthly $10 premium per person for coverage threatens to undo the strides Florida has made in getting health care to the state’s poorest children, researchers warned Wednesday. The premium, combined with several other changes state lawmakers approved last session but that await a federal OK, could lead to 800,000 parents and children leaving the program, concluded a team from the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University. About 82 percent of those who would drop out of Medicaid coverage would be children, 98 percent of whom live below federal poverty levels, the report stated…”
  • Study: Fla. Medicaid premiums too high, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), December 7, 2011, Miami Herald: “New premiums and copay proposals for Florida Medicaid beneficiaries, including $100 for every non-emergency ER visit, are among the highest in the country and a new study warns it could cause hundreds of thousands to drop out because they can’t afford to pay them, according to a report released Wednesday by Georgetown University…”