No Child Left Behind has created lofty goals for public educators across the country, but the students and teachers of Oklahoma City Public Schools are breaking through the glass ceiling of narrowing the achievement gap. With an 84.5 percent free and reduced lunch student population in 2003-2004 for the district, some of our most economically challenged, minority schools posted some of the highest student test scores across the district. In some cases, these schools with outstanding scores have as much as 99 percent of their student population eligible for the free and reduced lunch program.

After a close comparison of student test scores from the 03-04 state-mandated tests some of the schools with high percentages of students eligible for the free and reduced lunch programs are leading in the area of student achievement on the 5th and 8th grade CRT tests. Over the past 18 months our teachers and students have worked very hard to meet the expectations of the state and NCLB and the district has worked on the administrative level to provide support to the teaching staff so they can better deliver instruction in the classroom.

But it is not just within our own district that we are breaking through the glass ceiling of narrowing the achievement gap. A careful and thorough comparison of Oklahoma City Public Schools’ State API scores (Academic Performance Index) from the ’03-’04 school year with those from schools in the surrounding suburban school districts also shows that our students and teachers are making great strides across the board.

We have schools such as Monroe Elementary with 57 percent of their students eligible for the free and reduced lunch program with an API score of 1291 out of a possible 1500. That puts this school among the top ranking 35 elementary schools in the metropolitan area. Other top ranking schools with a large percentage of students qualifying for the free and reduced lunch program include Westwood Elementary, Ridgeview Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Rancho Village Elementary, Van Buren Elementary, Linwood Elementary, Johnson Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary. All of these schools have an API score of 1200 or higher and a free and reduced lunch student population of 60 percent or more.

Schools from surrounding districts with an API score of 1200 or more have much lower percentages of students qualifying for the federal free and reduced lunch program. Research has repeatedly shown a very strong correlation between socioeconomic standing and academic achievement. Generally, the higher a family’s income the more prepared the children are for school and therefore more likely to score better on achievement tests. It’s very encouraging to see our students and teachers achieving academically in spite of the odds.

The district’s planning and research department has spent a great deal of time analyzing our student CRT (Criterion Referenced Test) test scores and API scores. A scatter plot (you will need Adobe Reader to view this file) comparing our API scores to school scores in the surrounding suburban school district has been developed and the school district would be happy to share that information with anyone interested.

This recent success in the area of academic achievement hasn’t come without the implementation of several proven instructional strategies and programs. Some of the changes made within the past 18 months to enhance learning in classrooms across the district include reducing the student/teacher ratio in some of our lowest performing schools, placing instructional facilitators who work to support teachers in low-performing schools and administering assessment tests twice a year to measure student progress.

The information below provides a more visual example of the district’s recent academic progress in narrowing the achievement gap, a primary goal of NCLB. When compared to schools in the state with limited numbers of students eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program, Oklahoma City Public Schools is a shining example of how NCLB standards allow school districts to leave no child behind.