Thanks to the Kaiser Foundation and other nonprofits, Tulsa has taken the lead in early education and many other social service efforts. Their humane and science-based efforts probably explain why Tulsa Public Schools third-graders score higher than their counterparts in Oklahoma City (and Chicago).
Over the next five years, however, Tulsa students’ progress from third to eighth grade is the nation’s seventh slowest, according to data from Stanford’s Center for Education Policy Analysis that focuses on the 200 largest school districts in America. Tulsa student growth advances only 3.8 years over the next five. By contrast, OKCPS students progress 4.4 years from third to eighth grade. Chicago student performance increases by six years during those years...