New standardized test results are out Thursday for Oregon students. They show low-income and minority students continue to lag behind.
Oregon students in third grade through high school took tougher, longer exams last spring. They're connected to new "Common Core" standards.
The results, though, show the same gaps as previous tests.
Barely one quarter of Latino and African-American students met the benchmark for 3rd grade reading. Only one-third of low-income students did. More than half of white 3rd graders met that benchmark. Older students didn't do much better.
Salam Noor is Oregon's deputy superintendent of public instruction.
Noor: "Although in some categories we saw improvement, but they're not significant enough to suggest that the gap is actually closing."
The gaps are just as large on the math exams.
Officials say there are districts worth applauding. African-American, Native American, and Hispanic students in Beaverton outperformed the Oregon average for those student groups.
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