Poverty levels have a direct correlation with test scores

[flashl]

By CHALLEN STEPHENS
Times Staff Writer

Poverty levels have a direct correlation with test scores

For the last two years Stone Middle School dominated Huntsville football, posting back-to-back undefeated seasons, earning two city championships and winning its latest title in a 48-8 rout of a cross-town rival.

Teams traditionally mark championship seasons with coat-and-tie banquets, paid for by parents or boosters. But Stone hasn't had the budget for a banquet, said Coach Dennis Canterberry. It is, according to system figures, the middle school with the greatest concentration of poverty in Madison County.

Schoolwide poverty largely explains differences in test scores between elementary schools throughout Madison County. As children grow older, the influence of poverty on reading and math scores grows stronger.

By middle school, the gaps between the haves and havenots become entrenched.

But the ways in which poverty affects achievement aren't always obvious, as it influences everything from PTA budgets to where teachers choose to work.

At Stone, teachers tell numerous success stories: Students who won state contests or earned full scholarships to college. But often the stories involve overcoming disadvantages.

Last year, a small group of boys from Stone, working with physics and advanced math, beat contestants from 16 other schools to become the only rocket-building team from North Alabama to reach the national competition.

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[provis99]

1. so essentially,

poor people are poor because they are dumb. Just what I'd expect from a newspaper in Alabama.

[flashl]

2. At least they acknowledge

"the ways in which poverty affects achievement aren't always obvious, as it influences everything from PTA budgets to where teachers choose to work."