Superintendent of Schools SUBJECT: ACHIEVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COUNCIL OF THE GREAT

Today, the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) released the fifth installment of their annual report, “Beating the Odds. ” The report examined reading and mathematics achievement data for 65 CGCS member school districts during the 2003-04 school year. The report highlighted several encouraging findings. Urban-area school districts continued to experience gains in mathematics and reading achievement when compared to the previous four years. These gains were achieved despite considerably higher proportions of historically underachieving demographic groups such as free or reduced-price lunch recipients and limited English proficient students than in suburban and rural areas. Urban school districts have also had to contend with issues such as teacher shortages and school overcrowding. In 2003-04, 95.4 % of CGCS member school districts registered mathematics gains for more than half the grade levels tested, and 70.8 % registered mathematics gains for every grade tested. In the 2002-03 report, only 33.3 % of the member districts demonstrated increases in every grade. A majority (68.3%) of the districts experienced larger mathematics achievement gains in more than half the grades tested than did their respective states. For reading, 89.2 % of the member districts registered gains for more than half the grade level