Test Scores Show Black, White Gap Eileen Marotte's ESL students at Milwaukee's Journey House were asked recently to comment on the impact of illiteracy. Their comments were truthful -- and eye-opening. "If you can't read, you always need someone to help you," said Rita Alba and Gilberto Cajigas. "If you can't read, you will not succeed. There will be no opportunities -- no open door," said Javier Ramos and Maria Delgado. "Reading is important for life. If you can't read it holds you back like a weight on you," said Rosa Dorantes and Keely Simmons. "If you can't read, you can't be free," said Sherry Rodriguez and Rodrigo Valbuena. Those comments took on added meaning recently with the release of important statistics by the U.S. Department of Education. The agency found that the average reading ability of fourth- and eighth-grade black students in Wisconsin is the lowest of any state. It also found Wisconsin's black-white reading gap to be the largest in the country. "I find it very distressing to look at this," said Elizabeth Burmaster, superintendent of the state Department of Instruction. "There isn't anything more important. "This is the civil rights issue of our country," she added. It is an issue many people in Wisconsin confront every day. 1 million adults need services The federal study shows the problem is starting with kids. The study is called the National Assessment of Educational Progress. It reports test scores used to see if the No Child Left Behind Act is working. The Act was created in 2002. It aims to get all kids doing math and reading at their proper grade level by 2014. President George Bush called the results "outstanding." "We are going in the right direction, and we don't need to let up now," Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said. Still, there are major problems. In Wisconsin, the reading gap between black and white students is the most alarming figure. For example, white fourth-graders had an average test score of 229. Blacks averaged 191. This makes for a 38-point gap. The eighth-grade gap among black and white students was 39 points. The gap is increasing. It went up four points from 1998 to 2007. "It's upsetting to me," said Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent William Andrekopolous. The figures are new evidence of the issues affecting blacks in Wisconsin. They include rising poverty, job loss, crime and high single-parent and teen birth rates. "It's not just an achievement gap," Burmaster said. "It's an economic gap. It's a gap in health. It's a quality of life gap." All of those things influence test scores -- and illiteracy. "I know we've got to do better in school. There is no question about that," said Wendell Harris, of the NAACP Milwaukee chapter. But, he said, "It's families." "We can't keep making excuses for parents," Harris said. Literacy resources Greater Milwaukee Journey House Racine Literacy Council Kenosha Literacy Council, Inc. Literacy Council of Greater Waukesha Literacy Council of Brown County Literacy Network Sources: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article by Alan Borsuk; www.wisconsinliteracy.org |