“West Virginia Middle School Students Speak Out About the Achievement Gap” is available from The Education Alliance.
A small study of middle school students in West Virginia suggests that some African-American students may think standardized tests are not important to them because they don’t have an impact on their grades in school.
The study’s conclusions were based on focus groups—conducted by the Charleston, W.Va.-based Education Alliance—with 31 black 8th graders and 32 economically disadvantaged white 8th graders. The report also says many of the white students who participated in the focus groups said they felt ignored by teachers, which hurt their motivation in school.
