Yet no city has been able to reproduce that success on a large scale. The algebra gateway. More than half of 4th and 8th graders fail to reach the most minimal standard on national tests in reading, math, and science, meaning that they probably have difficulty doing grade-level work. The challenges are many. Most urban students lack access to the rigorous curricula, well-prepared teachers, and high expectations that would make better achievement possible.
Performance is worst in high-poverty urban schools, where the majority of students are poor.
In these schools, two-thirds or more of students perform below the basic level on national tests. Somehow, simply being in an urban school seems to drag performance down. Students in urban schools where the majority of children are poor are more likely to do poorly on tests than their peers who attend high-poverty schools outside cities. Urban students generally do worse than nonurban students, and urban students in high-poverty schools do worst of all. Urban districts such as Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, New York, and San Francisco report that test scores are rising.