August 26, 2016

A traditional view of school performance in Los Angeles County suggests schools located in and near the downtown core of Los Angeles are failing to close the achievement gap.

This view rests on the premise that all schools should be judged similarly, regardless of their student population. However, the data strongly suggest otherwise.

## TableGrob (1 x 3) "arrange": 3 grobs
##   z     cells    name           grob
## 1 1 (1-1,1-1) arrange gtable[layout]
## 2 2 (1-1,2-2) arrange gtable[layout]
## 3 3 (1-1,3-3) arrange gtable[layout]

This view also fails to account for barriers to learning that many of LAC's students face outside of the classroom - in their neighborhoods and at home.

But if you adjust for each school's context, a different truth emerges about school quality in Los Angeles County. There is actually plenty to celebrate.