Charter Schools in Detroit: Test Scores don't measure up

A Detroit News analysis of Michigan Merit Exam results show of 25 charters in Detroit or nearby, only 6 had higher math or science proficiency scores than the Detroit Public School's average, (Charter high schools in Detroit not making grade, Detroit News, July 7, 2011, Mike Wilkinson)

Failing Detroit schools moved to a new system

The Associated Press reported the Governor, Rick Snyder, and Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Roy Roberts, are moving the worst of Detroit schools to a new school system.  Eastern Michigan University is partnering with Detroit on the plan and will train teachers hired at the new system's schools.  Snyder also announced the creation of a program to raise money to help Detroit students attend college.

Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the US

"The Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts report provides basic information from the Common Core of Data about the nation's largest public school districts in the 2008-09 school year. The data include such characteristics as the number of students and teachers, number of high school completers and the averaged freshman graduation rate, and revenues and expenditures." Data from Detroit Public Schools (listed in the report as Detroit City School District) is included in this report. As reported in IES Newsflash

Rebuilding Detroit Public Schools: A Documentary

Michigan Radio looks at school reform in Detroit and New Orleans in its 2 week series Rebuilding Detroit Schools: A Documentary.
Their stories include interviews with students and transcript from a special call-in show hosted by Charity Nebbe called “A Tale of Two Cities: Lessons the Motor City Can Learn From the Crescent City,", which aired on both Michigan Radio and WWNO New Orleans.

Detroit Students Score Record Low on National Math Scores

"Sixty-nine percent of fourth-graders and 77 percent of eighth-graders scored below basic skill levels in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a standardized test that serves as a nationwide yardstick in measuring student learning." Robert Bobb, DPS Emergency Financial Manager, blames "school principals and a failing curriculum that doesn't prepare students for the national test." (Detroit News, 12/8/09)

More about the NAEP, scores and the instrument at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/mathematics/