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Higher scores, opt-out rates in wealthier districts

Aug 21, 2015 6:46 am
Bill Mahoney is reporting at Politico New York students from wealthier districts statewide tended to perform far better on this year's Common Core math exam than their peers in less affluent districts. At the same time, students in those same districts opted out of the test in greater number, according to Politico's analysis. The highest scores on the math exam were recorded in the Quogue [KWOG] Union Free School District on Long Island. In that district, 91 percent of the students who took the test passed. The Hamptons district also has the state’s lowest childhood poverty rate, per capita, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Quogue also reported an opt-out rate of 10 percent. While Quogue might be an extreme example, the trend it suggests holds true across the state. According to data released by the New York State Education Department last week, more than 63 percent of the students in the state's wealthiest districts passed the exam, a rate more than three times higher than the percentage of students who passed in New York's poorest districts. Read the full story at Politico New York.