Another Nail In The Coffin Of Mayor Bloomberg's Education Policy.

The Annenberg Institute has released a devastating report that should put to rest the education reformers claim that a great teacher and not the community is the main factor in a student's educational development.     The report clearly shows that the community the student lived in was the most important factor in his or her academic achievement. For example in New York City the report showed that the majority Black and Latino communities in the City had college readiness rates mostly in the teens. while the mostly White and Asian communities had "college readiness rates" of over 50%.  The Coalition of Educational Justice has produced an interactive map for NYC that lists the "college readiness rates" for each neighborhood and can be found here.

The Annenberg Institute report showed that the student's zip code is the major factor in determining academic achievement and shows that ex Chancellor Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee's claim that “The single most important factor determining whether students succeed in school is not the color of their skin or their ZIP code or even their parents’ income – it is the quality of their teacher.” is simply false. There goes another myth by education reformers that has been refuted by real data. In fact the Mayor's policy of allowing students to travel to different high schools to escape their neighborhoods has proven to be a failure according to the report.  These students continue to underperformed academically and the report concluded that the Mayor's policy of closing large schools and open small schools had no effect on improving student outcomes. According to the report, the more educated the mother was, the more likely her children will have higher "college readiness scores". In other words, it's about the family, especially the mother's education.

In Queens let's look at some of the "college readiness rates"  by community:

Arubundale.....................................................56%
Bayside..........................................................63%
Bellerose/Floral Park.........................................46%
Broad Channel.................................................26%
Cambria Heights............................................ .19%
Clearview.......................................................60%
College Point..................................................39%
Corona..........................................................23%
Douglaston/Little Neck.....................................73%
Far Rockaway.................................................14% 
Elmhurst.........................................................38%
Flushing.........................................................53%
Forest Hills.....................................................59%
Fresh Meadows...............................................59% 
Glendale........................................................46%
Glen Oaks......................................................37%
Hillcrest.........................................................45%
Howard Beach................................................33%
Hunters Point.................................................20%
Jackson Heights.............................................53%
Jamaica........................................................26%
Kew Gardens.................................................45%
Laurelton......................................................19%
Long Island City/Astoria..................................31%
Maspeath.....................................................34%
Middle Village................................................41%
Oakland Gardens............................................65%
Ozone Park...................................................34%
Queens Village...............................................37%
Queensboro Hill..............................................45%
Rego Park......................................................55%
Richmond Hill.................................................29%
Ridgewood....................................................35%
Rockaway Park..............................................50%
Rosedale......................................................17%
South Jamaica..............................................19%
South Ozone Park..........................................27%
Springfield Gardens........................................16%
St. Albans....................................................15%
Suunyside....................................................43%.
Whitestone..................................................55%
Woodhaven..................................................36%
Woodside.....................................................39%

The "college readiness scores" show that in predominately White/Asian communities had rates above 50% while the predominately black communities had rates below 20%.  Interestingly, Latino communities had significantly higher "college readiness scores" than Black communities, at least in Queens.

The Annenberg Institute study just hammers another nail in the coffin of the Mayor's failed education policy and the education reformer myth that a great teacher not poverty is the main factor in student academic success.