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On August 6, 2018, The Delaware News Journal published an article by Jessica Bies on 2018 test scores from Delaware public schools and cited DelawareCAN:
But not everyone is happy with the way those successes were highlighted last week. While the education department touted “steady” achievement gains, much of the progress was below the canal, DelawareCAN Director Atnre Alleyne pointed out.
He wanted to know what was happening in New Castle County and Wilmington.
“We’re seeing very little change from last year’s results, and yet state leaders want us to focus on a few pockets of growth that don’t scale up to an overall system moving in the right direction,” he said in statement. “Kudos to Laurel and Seaford, and to all the classrooms that show us gains are possible — especially with students that have been traditionally poorly served. But what are our state leaders doing about the schools where 5 percent of kids or less are proficient in key areas?”
Statewide scores are flat and Priority Schools — the lowest performing 5 percent of Title I schools in the state — saw marginal growth in the past two to three years, Alleyne said.
In the Christina School District, a particular point of emphasis for the Carney administration, just a third of students are proficient in math and just 40 percent are proficient in reading, he said.
“All year long, the governor and state education officials have been talking about helping students in Wilmington and the Christina School District,” Alleyne said. “I find it telling they said so little today about the kids in those schools.”