| DCPS Achievement Gap Blamed on Officials, Demographics, Lack of Funding |  |  |
| DOROTHY ROWLEY |
| THURSDAY, 29 DECEMBER 2011 |
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data shows the efforts of former D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Michelle Rhee and current Chancellor Kaya Henderson failed to reduce achievement gaps, or guarantee to that children would receive at least an adequate, "average" education, regardless of the school they attended. The report also concluded that in the DCPS system which is about 80 percent African-American, the gap in achievement between black and white students was the widest in the country. For example, 4th-grade math students in the District scored an average of 212 points out of a possible 500 while white students scored 262 points. This equates to a 50-point difference—twice the national average. (The gap in New York City and Philadelphia, on the other hand, is about 20 points.) The DCPS |