Thursday, May 4th, 2006

What’s In A Name? Not Much, Says The Daily News

The Daily News reports that some city schools fell short of what was advertised:

At six out of the 11 middle schools that have the word “science” in their official name, the majority of eighth-graders failed last year’s state science exam, new data reveal.

“Maybe those kids weren’t concentrating,” said a seventh-grader at the Academy of Environmental Science in East Harlem, where only 15% of students met the state standards.

At the Math, Science and Technology Through the Arts Intermediate School in West Farms, the Bronx, kids fared even worse: 13% of eighth-graders passed the exam last year, down from 18% in 2004.

. . .

The science schools weren’t the only ones not living up to their billing. At the Bronx Writing Academy, more than 80% of eighth-graders failed the English Language Arts exam.