Report: Nearly all of Newark's most disadvantaged students attend failing schools
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| Mayor Cory Booker and Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson, together in an October photo. Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger |
NEWARK — A report released today by Newark Public Schools details an alarming finding — nearly all of Newark's most disadvantaged elementary and middle school students attend failing schools.
The report, commissioned by the district and prepared by consulting company Parthenon, analyzed student proficiency in math and reading, college readiness and test score growth in 85 charter and district schools across the city. Charter high schools were excluded from the analysis.
It classified about 14,000 K-8 students as "highest need," looking at factors such as poverty, race, language barriers or special needs. Kids were ranked in three groups. Among the neediest group, fewer than 5 percent of students are enrolled in a charter or district school with high test scores and high test score growth, the report found.
Officials from the district, the Newark Charter School Fund and the Foundation for Newark's Future said they hope to use the report's findings as a benchmark to boost learning among targeted groups of students that are struggling the most across the