CPS scores up, but kids aren't ready for college

I want to do a schools post soon, but this is something worth noting with regards to our schools. What can be done? Sun-Times:

The average eighth-grader who easily passed the state math test later scored only a 17.5 on the ACT college entrance exam, the consortium found. That's far below Chicago's districtwide goal of 20, a relatively low score but one that gives a student a shot at minimally competitive colleges. The top ACT score is 36.

Only those students who exceeded state standards had a good chance of getting a 20 on the ACT, the consortium found after tracking 40,000 CPS eighth-graders who took the state math test and then went on to take the ACT between 2005 and 2007.

This finding confirms a disconnect many educators and observers have raised over the last several years: While elementary school test scores have gone way up, scores on the state high school test, which includes the ACT, have stagnated. In Chicago, ACT scores are up significantly since 2001, but this year's 17.6 average is still well below state and national averages.

Also from the Sun-Times, CPS gives students a voice on the drop-out problem:

Concerned about a 55 percent high school graduation rate, Chicago Public School kids spent 1½ years trying to figure out what to do about it, including visiting 12 standout high schools nationwide.

"It turned my life around,'' said Roosevelt High junior Edwin Medina, who was toying with dropping out until he joined Voices of Youth in Chicago Education, or VOYCE, and visited five top-rated schools in Texas.

"I learned students are part of the answer to lowering the dropout rate. We're taking a problem that affects us and finding a solution.''

Read the whole article. Apparently schools CEO Arne Duncan is announcing student-led reforms in eight pilot high schools. Sounds good.

Both articles via, The Capitol Fax morning shorts.