Report: 77 Percent at Baltimore High School Read at ‘Elementary Level,’ Are ‘Pushed Through’ the System

A White Plains High School student walks between classes, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Whi
Mark Lennihan/AP

Seventy-seven percent of a Baltimore, Maryland, high school student population reads at an “elementary school level” and “some at a kindergarten level,” according to a teacher who says the students are “pushed through” the system anyway.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to WBFF, a Patterson High School teacher told the outlet that it is “social promotion,” and that “the system has failed them.”

Patterson is one of Baltimore City Schools’ largest high schools, with a $12 million budget and a graduation rate of 61 percent.

The scores of iReady assessments, which gives the school district data on student math and reading competency, were provided to Project Baltimore by the teacher.

Seventy-seven percent of Patterson’s 628 students tested at an elementary school reading level or below. Indeed, while about 14 percent of the students tested at a first grade reading level, just over 11 percent of the high school students displayed a kindergarten reading level.

All told, 12 students, or 1.9 percent, actually tested at grade level, according to WBFF.

When asked how it was possible all these students even reached high school with such low reading competencies, the teacher replied that they are “pushed through,” lamenting that “they’re not ready for the workforce. They’re not ready for further education.”

“It’s heartbreaking,” the teacher said. “It’s heartbreaking to see a child that, when you talk to them outside of the classroom setting, of what are your dreams? And they have these amazing dreams and hopes for the future.”

Baltimore City School policy, it appears, functionally encourages student failure, as they have a policy that requires advancing students who have failed classes.

Before ninth grade, for example, even if a student completes zero work, they are required to be placed in the subsequent grade level — but will be offered “tailored learning opportunities” over the summer. After ninth grade, students who fail courses will not earn the credit required to advance to the next grade level in a given class, but it appears, by the reading scores, students have been able to advance.

These policies, which have resulted in such dismal reading competency levels, are “killing the lives of thousands of black kids,” according to former Baltimore City Council member Carl Stokes. The school districts’s website shows that 74.3% of its student population is African American.

In a statement to WBFF, the school district said, “iReady scores do not provide a complete or final picture of student performance,” and blamed, in part, virtual learning and the pandemic for the scores.

“You realize that with the skills that they have, with the level that they’re at, they’re going to have to work a thousand times harder to achieve,” the teacher said. “Our children need a future.”

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.

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