Seven years after former governor Gray Davis’ comprehensive school reforms, California’s overall test scores are improving but achievement gaps are growing in some grades, according to a new study released by a joint Stanford and Berkeley think tank.

Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) measures California schools’ test scores every five years. Its latest report, “Crucial Issues in California Education 2006: Rekindling Reform,” announced yesterday that achievement gaps have grown in middle schools and have not declined in elementary schools. PACE also reports that based on national standards, the number of students performing proficiently in reading at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels has remained stagnant as well.

According to the report, the achievement gap between eighth graders of middle-class families who were proficient in English language arts and those of poor families has risen by five percentage points. In 2003, the number of students from middle-class families who were proficient was 28 percentage points greater than that of students from poor families. In 2006, the gap increased to 33 percentage points. In math, the gap has grown by two percentage points.

“We now see that rules and penalties hitting many schools don’t motivate educators and students in the long run,” said Bruce Fuller, a UC-Berkeley professor of education and public policy contributing to the study, in a press release. “Sacramento expects educators to deliver world-class educational standards on a third-world budget.”

However, it may be that California also has a less stringent set of standards. According to the report, about 1,000 schools meet California test standards, but not those of national tests.

“Washington is further complicating accountability reforms, failing to reward schools that show robust progress in boosting student achievement,” Fuller said. According to PACE, California has not only the most students, but also the most diverse bunch of them in the nation. Sixty-five percent are minorities, while schools house 35 percent more students than the national average, according to 2005 figures. However, these numbers alone are not sufficient to explain California’s growing achievement gap.

“We cannot blame stalling test scores on the demographics of our kids,” Fuller said. “Our research team suggests that accountability with crisp incentives for growth, freeing up school principals from layers of regulation and stronger resources overall would rekindle California’s reform momentum.”

The PACE analysts recommended four additional policy changes to address the problem. They suggested refocusing government leaders in Sacramento to better track district and school performance, simplifying and clarifying school finances, creating a program specifically geared towards boosting the performance of ESL students and aiming to renew gains in schools with lower performance ratings. The report commended Governor Schwarzenegger and the California state teachers unions for budgeting $2.6 billion to school aid in low-income and blue-collar communities, a definite first step toward possible improvement.