By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – A new study says Alabama's poor performance in math at certain grade levels cannot only be blamed on disadvantaged students. The study was released earlier this month by Standard and Poor's. It was intended to level the playing field between states with larger populations of poor students and those with a smaller percentage of them. But the study shows that when student poverty was factored out, Alabama continued to perform below expectations in math at fourth- and eighth-grade levels. The state did fall within reading expectations for both grade levels. Education officials credit the Alabama Reading Initiative for that progress, saying it has helped make strides in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms across the state. State officials say they're now looking to the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative to improve math grades.