I read the new American Federation for Children/Step Up for Students study on choice for Black students in Florida, and found a bit of inspiration in the following charts:
These charts compare the NAEP scores for Black students attending Florida charter schools to those of statewide averages for Black students. I asked myself, “Self, how would this look if we combined these two charts into one chart?”
In the chart below, 10 points approximately equals an average grade level worth of work on these exams, so Florida charter students were looking good in 2019.
Next, I said to myself, “Self, what if we compared the scores of Florida Black charter school students to statewide averages for white students?”
Here’s what that looks like:
So, a couple of things to note: Florida’s Black charter students had a level of reading achievement similar to white students nationally as well as in Florida. Second, a large achievement gap remains in math.
So, put it all together and it looks like this:
We clearly have a great many miles to go. Some will crawl, others will walk. Some, like Florida, relatively speaking, have been running.
As Dr. King said: Keep moving.
