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Report Raises Questions Over Persistent Achievement Gaps In Guilford County Schools

Keri Brown/WFDD

Guilford County School officials are examining a new study showing racial inequities throughout the entire system. A committee is meeting on Monday evening to discuss the findings.

GCS hired a consultant to analyze its academic and personnel data to find out how race impacts the district.

The report shows an achievement gap between students of color and their white classmates, even when their socio-economic status is taken into account. In other words, the race effect outweighs the income effect. For example, researchers found that in reading and math, white students on free and reduced price lunch outperform black students who are not.

Independent consultant Bay Love, who conducted the study, says this raises a lot of questions about racial inequities across the school system.

“The most significant finding of this report is that racial inequity exists in every corner of Guilford County Schools where we were able to look,” says Love. “It exists in student achievement, it exists in student discipline, it exists in student course assignment, it exists in the kind of scheduling and how scheduling is done in different schools. It even exists in staffing and sourcing. The study raises the most important question of why this is happening.”

At a meeting last week, Superintendent Sharon Contreras was optimistic that there are strategies to close the achievement gaps. She says the district hasn't done enough, and needs to make changes to keep in line with the progress of other school systems.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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