Why have smart, low-income NC students been excluded from advanced classes?
“About this time every year, roughly 5,000 North Carolina 8-year-olds show they’re ready to shine. Despite the obstacles of poverty that hobble so many of their classmates, these third-graders from low-income homes take their first state exams and score at the top level in math. With a proper push at school, these children could become scientists, engineers and innovators. They offer hope for lifting families out of poverty and making the state more competitive in a high-tech world. But many of them aren’t getting that help, an investigation by The Charlotte Observer and The (Raleigh) News & Observer reveals. Thousands of low-income children who get ‘superior’ marks on end-of-grade tests aren’t getting an equal shot at advanced classes designed to challenge gifted students.”