(Washington Post) — The gulf in academic achievement separating public schools in the District’s poorest neighborhoods from those in its most affluent has narrowed slightly in some instances but remains vast, an analysis of 2011 test score data show. Children in Ward 7 and 8 schools trailed their Ward 3 peers in reading and math pass rates by huge margins — from 41 to 56 percentage points — on this year’s D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System exams. The tests are given annually to students in grades 3 through 8 and 10. The figures, made public last week, show that despite some signs of overall progress, students in schools east of the Anacostia River — who represent nearly a third of the city’s traditional public school enrollment — have yet to be lifted by a reform effort that will enter its fifth year this month.
