ISAT gold for CPS

The longer students spend in Chicago Public Schools, the better they perform on state tests, according to a new report by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago.

Black and Latino students in CPS fare especially well the longer they remain in the district: The report’s analysis found they outperform minority students elsewhere in the state by the 8th grade.

Nearly 90 percent of Chicago’s students are black and Latino, compared to about 30 percent statewide. Because of the achievement gap between minority students and their white peers, Chicago’s students collectively lag behind other Illinois students by about one grade level.

“This suggests that if Chicago Public Schools had a similar racial and ethnic composition as the rest of the state, it would outperform the rest of the state,” says John Easton, the Consortium’s executive director.

2006 ISAT Average Reading Scale Scores