Nation's Report Card NAEP Urban District Assessment in Reading NAEP Urban District Assessment in Math NAEP Homepage Online Chat

I'm very happy to see more local school districts courageously volunteering to take the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card. Stepping up to the assessment plate indicates how serious they are about improving academic performance for all students. Participating in the Nation's Report Card for urban districts shows that these participants understand the importance of testing and how it can be used as a solid analytical tool for improvement.

The three million students in these 10 large urban districts are demographically different from many of their peers elsewhere nationally: they are almost twice as likely to be economically disadvantaged and are more likely to be minorities. These children are often the ones who are left wandering in the academic shadows of their more privileged peers. But thanks to the leadership of President Bush, we as a nation have put our foot down—under the No Child Left Behind Act, we will no longer allow some children to get a quality education while others are simply brushed aside.

Testing is an important part of the historic No Child Left Behind Act, which requires that states conduct annual assessments in mathematics and reading in grades three through eight. Both No Child Left Behind and the Nation's Report Card emphasize the importance of testing and that testing results be broken down by subgroups so we can find out where improvement is needed with all students.

There was a bright spot in that there were reading gains at the 4th grade level in the large central cities (cities with populations of more than 250,000). However, average scores for all but one of the 10 cities highlighted in the report are below the national average in mathematics and reading, reflecting the tough road ahead. Thanks to these assessments, we now have a better sense of where these districts are and where they need to go. This is something we can work on together. The cities involved realize this is a partnership and that is one reason they participated—they know that the federal government, states and local districts have to work in unison to improve education across America for all children. The department will always be a willing member of this partnership, one that will hold people accountable for improving education for America's youths.

The achievement gap in these districts is something that I find truly worrisome. It is a problem nationally, but in a few of the districts tested, it is abysmal—double the national average at the fourth-grade reading level for blacks versus their white peers. As a nation, we must stand united against a culture that mocks academic success in certain communities. We must not allow the culture of mediocrity to take away some of our most promising, bright young minds simply because of their skin color, accent or accident of geography.

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