The Choice Channel

“Math scores for fifth-grade students displaced to Texas after last year’s hurricanes are lagging significantly, mirroring similar low scores in reading. Just 45 percent of the 2,396 fifth-graders who enrolled in Texas schools after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita passed the math portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, according to the Texas Education Agency. Statewide, 81 percent of Texas fifth-graders passed the April 4 math exam. Students must pass the test before they can advance to sixth grade. Officials blame students’ low scores on New Orleans’ poor schools, the trauma of being abruptly uprooted from their homes, and the possibility some children were put in the wrong grade after arriving in Texas with no records.” (04/27/06)