Katrina Refugees Score Lower on Tests

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

Keep swimming , but be sure to fill in the right blank!



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> Katrina Refugees Score Lower on Tests
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> By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 7 minutes ago
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> Young Hurricane Katrina refugees living in Texas scored considerably worse 
> on a statewide standardized exam than Texas children, and thousands of 
> them could be held back.
>
> Teachers and state officials blame the low scores on New Orleans' poor 
> school system, the trauma of being abruptly uprooted from their homes, and 
> the possibility that some of them were put in the wrong grade after 
> arriving in Texas with no records.
>
> The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, a test of reading and math 
> ability, was given in February to third- and fifth-graders, who must pass 
> in order to move up to the next grade. About 38,000 Katrina evacuees are 
> enrolled in Texas schools.
>
> Only 58 percent of evacuees in third grade passed the reading portion, 
> compared with 89 percent of all students. In fifth grade, 46 percent of 
> evacuees passed the reading portion, versus 80 percent among all students.
>
> "We've got kids who are coming into our secondary system and cannot read," 
> Houston school board member Larry Marshall said. "Now that is a tragedy."
>
> Between the two grades, about 2,000 refugees failed. Students who failed 
> will have two more opportunities to pass the test this spring, but some 
> worry the learning gap is too wide to close.
>
> "Unfortunately a lot of the children came to us two and three years 
> behind. It's going to be a struggle for a lot of them to catch up," said 
> Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe.
>
> Educators and administrators warn that holding students back a grade 
> increases the financial burden for the state, which has already spent 
> hundreds of millions of dollars on housing, health care and other services 
> for the half-million refugees who came to Texas after Katrina swamped the 
> Gulf Coast on Aug. 29.
>
> The TEA estimates the state will spend up to $350 million educating 
> refugees this school year.
>
> To help ease the burden on schools, the TEA announced Thursday that all 
> federal aid sent to Texas for educating hurricane refugees will be given 
> to affected districts.
>
> "Our schools have acted in good faith by taking in" the evacuees, Texas 
> Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley said. "They shouldn't be penalized 
> financially for this act of kindness."
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> Associated Press writer Allen Breed contributed to this report.
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