Schools serving disadvantaged and minority children teach as much to their students as those serving more advantaged kids, according to a new nationwide US study. Test scores speak more to what happens outside the classroom than how schools themselves are performing.

The results may seem surprising, given that student test scores are normally higher in suburban and wealthier school districts than they are in urban districts serving mostly disadvantaged and minority children.

But those test scores speak more to what happens outside the classroom than how schools themselves are performing, said Douglas Downey, lead author of the new study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University.

«We found that if you look at how much students are learning during the school year, the difference between schools serving mostly advantaged students and those serving mostly disadvantaged students is essentially zero,» Downey said.

«Test scores at one point in time are not a fair way to evaluate the impact of schools.»

Downey conducted the study with David Quinn of the University of Southern California and Melissa Alcaraz, a doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State. Their study was published online recently in the journal Sociology of Education and will appear in a future print edition.

Story Source:
Materials provided by Ohio State University. Original written by Jeff Grabmeier. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.