Race-based student achievement goals spark controversy

By Chip Skambis

A five-year plan approved this month by the Florida Department of Education has sparked controversy by setting different standards of student success based on race.

For example, 38 percent of black students now read at or above grade level on statewide assessments, while the same is true of 69 percent of white students. The plan's goal is to have black children reading at 75 percent and white children at 88 percent by the 2017 to 2018 school year.

Setting race-based achievement goals has some educators questioning what the plan means.

Different goals send the message that not all children can be successful, some argue. It could create a culture in which students achieve less.

Katherine Hahn edited this story online.