NYC Schools Report: Test Scores Linked To Poverty, Attendance
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A new report on public schools in New York City finds a strong link between student test performance and attendance.
The report was released Wednesday by the city's Independent Budget Office.
It states that students who are absent five or fewer days each year pass the tests at a rate more than double that of students who miss 21 or more days a year.
According to the report, girls have a higher attendance rate than boys and when broken down by ethnicity, Asian students come out on top with a 95 percent attendance rate.
Test scores are also linked to poverty.
"Students in New York City public schools overwhelmingly come from lower-income households," the report stated.
Students who are poor enough to qualify for free lunch pass tests at much lower rates than those who are not eligible for subsidized meals. This is especially true for students in grades three through eight.
"Low-income students as it's well-known tend to do worse on their tests than more middle class students," said director of education research at IBO Ray Demonaco. "But we found that low-income students do better when they're in schools that are more integrated, when they're surrounded by kids of all income levels."
More than two-thirds of students qualify for free lunches.
It also found that girls typically score higher on tests than boys.
Among other things, the report also looked at the school system's diversity. It found that Hispanics make up the largest group in the district at nearly 40 percent.
The IBO is publishing similar statistics on each one of the city's 1,533 public schools.
To read the full report, click here.
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