By Emily Alpert
The gap between math scores for black and white students in San Diego Unified grew wider on a national exam despite growing attention to math in the school district.
It’s a troubling change that school officials are still trying to understand. While 58 percent of white eighth graders scored proficient or above on the math tests, only 8 percent of black students did. White students had improved continuously over years; black students improved and then dropped this year.
The math gap between poor students and their better-off classmates also grew. The results are especially disappointing because San Diego Unified devoted more attention to math last year, after Superintendent Bill Kowba announced that it would be a major focus for improvement.