Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman reported that the well-documented achievement gap between Black and white students closed slightly last year, while overall achievement for ACS students increased by 2.5% in 2023-24.
Tag: achievement gap
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Charter school puts a dent in Asheville’s racial achievement gap
This third-year Asheville public charter school, whose student body is majority Black, has begun to successfully close an achievement gap between white and Black students that has consistently been an issue in Asheville City Schools since it earned a worst-in-the-state designation in 2017.
Buncombe commissioners reckon with racial disparities in education
Just 11% of Black students in grades 3-8 at Asheville City Schools scored as proficient in math, with 13% proficient in reading. Rates were somewhat better in the county system, with 21% of Black pupils proficient in both subjects, but still fell well below those of white, Hispanic and Asian students.
Bad news, good news: The Gospel According to Jerry
“The African American community, in cooperation with UNC Asheville, has established a charter school, the P.E.A.K. Academy, which is specifically designed and staffed to give poor Black and other minority children a fair shot at a quality education.”
City schools get failing grade for closing Asheville Primary
“If we’d had an inclusive process, there could have been a viable solution.”
Letter: City should do more for its vulnerable citizens
“It does not escape me the amount of money that the city of Asheville funnels into the tourism industry here in Asheville, yet we do not have the money or funding to make the communities where these children live safe or enriching.”
Letter: Much we can do about achievement gap
“Hopefully, Mountain Xpress readers will not just see the problem but ask the question, ‘What can I do?’”
Letter: Do we really need good test-takers?
“Where is the evidence that this wholesale testing of children once a year enhances a child’s educational progress or improves our schooling system?”
Letter: City schools must take action to fix achievement gap
“If the district is truly committed to fixing this alarming achievement gap between black and white students, it must work to make specific changes in its own treatment of black students.”
School budgets face scrutiny at special May 7 commission meeting
Speaking at the board’s April 30 budget work session, Chair Brownie Newman emphasized that education officials shouldn’t count on “automatic” growth of county support. “I think they should have to justify all of it,” he said.
Falling short
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Generations of failure: A plea to reform Asheville City Schools
“Oversight in this kind of system — where the board is appointed by a body with no regulatory authority, in a process closed to school employees, families and the community as a whole — is more than a little messed up. It is completely unaccountable, open to all kinds of corruption and anti-democratic, not to mention a lousy use of resources.”
Letter: Narrow the gap of racial disparities with reparations
“Certainly teacher bias in disciplinary actions should be mitigated, but I think we all know that the economic and social disparities between white and black families are closer to the root cause of these issues.”
Asheville forum explores how we can get more involved in community life
“As we talked with people in community forums, we heard about places and events that are bringing people together, from public libraries to town commons to Friday night football games, and people wondered whether we could do more to build off those gathering places.”
Building community and capacity via the Children First/CIS Project POWER/AmeriCorps program
“The Project POWER/AmeriCorps team member is a huge part of helping us serve our mission and a huge asset to the community,” says Kim Clark, operations manager for Asheville Museum of Science.
Letter writer: Groups cooperate to help kids learn to read
“The passionate and well-trained volunteer tutors at the Literacy Council’s Augustine Project and R2S fill a critical need within our community. They help students overcome barriers to educational success, building the child’s confidence alongside their reading, writing and spelling skills.”
Letter writer: Augustine Project also helps young readers
“As an Augustine tutor, I believe, that were Read to Succeed and Augustine Project to collaborate with one another they would be able to better serve the children/families in our community.”
Closing Asheville’s achievement gap, one reader at a time
“Read to Succeed believes that learning to read proficiently early on is the best chance — perhaps the only chance — a child from an impoverished family has to rise out of poverty.”
Asheville City Council, School Board confer on achievement gap, poverty, future plans
At a rare joint meeting yesterday evening, Asheville City Council and the Asheville City School Board conferred on the achievement gap, mutual priorities and the thornier social issues that complicate both their jobs.
Asheville City Council preview: double-header
Provided snow doesn’t intervene, Asheville City Council is starting off the week with two back-to-back meetings: first with a rare joint meeting with the city school board tonight, Feb. 10, and its regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 11.