Poverty Influences Tests, Study Finds

A new study commissioned by the California Teachers Assn. confirms what educators have long known about student achievement: Schools with mostly economically and linguistically disadvantaged students perform at far lower levels than those with affluent children.

The study examined how schools statewide fared on California’s new Academic Performance Index, which ranks campuses on the basis of their Stanford 9 test scores.

Schools at the bottom of the index serve dramatically higher percentages of poor students who are still learning English compared with schools at the top of the index. The lowest performers also have fewer fully credentialed teachers than those at the top.

According to the study, 93% of students at the state’s lowest performing elementary schools qualify for subsidized lunches--the leading indicator of school poverty--compared with just 7% of students at the highest ranking schools.