Schools that Serve African American Children Well

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Schools that Serve African American Children Well

• Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D.
• Executive Director,
• National Center for Urban School Transformation
• California School Boards Association Conference
• Coalition of CA Black School Board Members
• November 27, 2007

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National Center for Urban School Transformation
Dedicated to identifying, studying, and promoting
the best practices of Americas highest achieving
urban schools in a manner that supports urban
districts in transforming teaching and learning
http//edweb.sdsu.edu/ncust
3rd Annual Symposium May 7th - 9th, 2008 in San
Diego
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Bottom Lines

• Substantial achievement gaps, rooted in issues of
  race and ethnicity, exist throughout California
  and our nation.
• Yet, substantial variation exists in the levels
  of academic success experienced by African
  American students in various schools and
  districts.
• There would be no racial achievement gap if all
  schools educated children of color to the level
  of quality provided in our best gap-closing
  schools.

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Evidence of Gaps

• State and National Data

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CA Academic Performance Index Scores(elementary
schools)
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Black and Latino 17-Year-Olds Read at Same Levels
As White 13-Year-Olds
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004
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Black and Latino 17-Year Olds Do Math at Same
Levels As White 13-Year Olds
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004
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Evidence of Variation in Results

• State, District, and School Data

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Achievement Levels for Diverse Populations Vary
Across States

• 8th grade Black students in MA read 1.5 grade
  levels higher than their counterparts in CA.
• 8th grade students meeting low-income criteria in
  49 states have higher NAEP reading scores than
  their counterparts in CA.
• In math, 4th grade Black students in NJ, MA, TX,
  and VA perform more than a full grade level
  higher their counterparts in CA.
• Black 8th grade students in TX, OR, and CO scored
  higher than the overall average for 8th grade CA
  students on the NAEP mathematics test.

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There is a 21 point gap between Black 8th graders
in Los Angeles and Boston (roughly equivalent to
2 years of learning)
SOURCE U.S. Department of Education, Institute
of Education Sciences, National Center for
Education Statistics, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), 2007 Trial Urban
District Reading Assessment.
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NCUST 2008 Excellence in Urban Ed Award Minimum
Criteria

• Urban school
• Majority low-income
• No selective admissions
• Exceeded state AYP criteria for past 2 years
• Proficiency rates higher than state average, top
  10 of similar schools
• Small achievement gaps

• Low suspension/ expulsion rates
• High graduation rates
• High attendance rates
• No disproportionate enrollment in special
  programs
• Other evidence of student success

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Gideons Elementary SchoolAtlanta, Georgia

• Enrollment 550
• 96 African American
• 88 Low-Income
• 96 proficient in English/language arts
• 94 proficient in mathematics
• 48 EXCEED state standards in English

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Cecil H. Parker Elementary Mount Vernon, New York

• Enrollment 450
• 99 African American
• 73 Low-Income
• 91 proficient in reading
• 96 proficient in mathematics

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Columbus Alternative High SchoolColumbus, OH

• Enrollment 611
• Grades 9-12
• 60 African American
• 59 low-income
• 97 proficient in reading
• 95 proficient in mathematics
• 82 proficient in science

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What Would It Take?

• Lessons from Gap-Closing Schools

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Truth 1

• Its About Attitude

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Leaders Believe

• In schools with better learning results for Black
  students, school leaders believe they can make a
  difference in the lives of all children. They
  envision a better future for students and they
  are clear about 1) how they need to change and 2)
  how the school needs to change in order to make
  the vision real.

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Leaders Inspire Vision

• Leaders help people reconnect with their highest
  motivations for working with children of color.
  Leaders use the appeal of serving children well
  much more than fear of sanctions. They help
  stakeholders adopt a compelling vision of
  outstanding teaching and learning. Leaders do
  more than post a mission statement on a wall,
  they build a sense of mission in the lives of
  people who work in the school.

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Leaders Are Goal-Driven

• In high-performing urban schools, leaders keep
  attention to key goals at the forefront of the
  daily life of their schools. Goals are not
  simply slogans they are reasons for coming to
  work.
• Ambitious, multi-year goals are broken into small
  tasks that people perceive as actionable and
  attainable.

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Leaders Challenge Disbelievers

• Leaders use local data and data from similar
  schools to dispel myths about the academic
  limitations of Black children.
• Leaders take on disbelievers in a respectful, but
  forceful way. They refuse to allow others to
  shape the school culture in a negative manner.

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Leaders Inspire Caring

• Schools that achieve better learning results for
  children of color have climates that help
  students know they are valued, respected, and
  loved.
• Leaders inspire their colleagues to create a
  culture in which students and families are
  sincerely valued. Leaders model efforts to value
  and respect colleagues, students, and families.

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Leaders Create Environments in Which Educators
Feel Valued

• Leaders foster powerful collaborations that make
  individuals feel supported and valued.
• Leaders understand the power of mutual respect.
  They create cultures in which trust is
  commonplace and people know they belong.
• Leaders build in people a sense of efficacy a
  feeling that together, they can accomplish
  anything!

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Truth 2

• Its About Access

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Successful Schools Teach Black Students More

• In high-achieving schools, challenging academic
  content has become standard in every classroom at
  every grade.
• All students receive access to rigorous academic
  coursework. Often this means some courses have
  been eliminated or re-written. Content has been
  upgraded and students are being challenged to
  learn new skills.
• Leaders in successful urban schools eliminate
  pseudo-prerequisites to challenging content and
  they ensure that the real prerequisites are
  taught.

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Leaders Inspire Pursuit of Goals

• In high-performing urban schools, leaders help
  students dream new futures. They help students
  know that educators care deeply about their
  personal success and well-being. They help
  students understand how decisions today impact
  goals tomorrow.
• Similarly, leaders help parents renew hope for
  their childrens future. They help parents
  understand the actions that must be taken to
  ensure children access to their goals.

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Teachers Cant Provide Access to Content They
Dont Know

• In schools with impressive results for Black
  students, administrators and teachers regularly
  engage in opportunities to deepen their knowledge
  of key academic content. Teachers acknowledge
  their need to learn and grow and they help
  construct opportunities to improve their mastery
  of content.
• Professional development is part of the culture
  of these schools. Professional development
  includes opportunities for learning, trying,
  receiving feedback, and trying again.

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Depth is More Critical Than Breadth

• Teachers in high-achieving urban schools do not
  teach everything however, they teach the most
  important things exceptionally well.
• Faculties in high-achieving schools use data to
  identify and prioritize the key standards that
  must be taught exceptionally well.

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Truth 3

• Its About Assessment

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If You Dont Know Its Been Learned, You Dont
Know Its Been Taught

• In high-achieving urban schools, educators use
  frequent interim assessments to gauge student
  progress toward learning key content.
• Great teachers see assessments more as starting
  blocks than finish lines. They use results to
  improve instruction immediately.
• Assessment information is mined for clues about
  how to improve student understanding of key
  learning objectives. Leaders display data that
  help educators understand how teaching can
  improve.

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Professional Development is Directly Linked to
Assessment Results

• In successful schools, assessment results help
  determine professional development needs.
• As professional development initiatives are
  implemented, assessment results are used to gauge
  the effectiveness of those efforts.

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Truth 4

• Its About Adaptation

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Students Learn When They Are Taught In Ways That
Help Them Learn

• In high-achieving urban schools, educators are
  continuously learning how to adapt instruction in
  ways that help students learn well.
• Educators learn to instruct in ways that are
  responsive to the learning strengths,
  backgrounds, cultures, interests, and prior
  knowledge of students.
• Educators learn to instruct in ways that make
  learning exciting and fun.

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Great Schools Have Great Safety Nets

• Strong schools have systems for promptly
  identifying students who are having difficulty
  learning key content. As well, they have systems
  for responding effectively.
• Intervention programs are evaluated regularly to
  ensure they are meeting student needs.

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Leaders Create Environments in Which Parents Feel
Valued

• Leaders create schools where parents know they
  are more than welcome they are valued as part of
  a team focused on helping their children succeed
  in life. Parents know they are valued whether
  they help at school or not.
• Parents know what their children are expected to
  learn and they know how to support their childs
  learning.
• The school finds multiple ways to celebrate the
  contributions of parents and build their capacity
  to help their children learn.

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Truth 5

• Its About Accountability

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Leaders Monitor Progress

• In high-performing urban schools, leaders monitor
  both student performance and teacher
  instructional improvement regularly. Leaders
  spend significant time observing instruction.
  They know what progress is made and where
  attention is needed.
• Leaders analyze data in ways that allow them to
  assess the impact of programs, policies, and
  practices.

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Leaders Make Every Minute Count

• In high-performing urban schools, leaders help
  ensure that instructional time is used wisely and
  distractions are minimized.
• Leaders help maximize coordination across
  disciplines so that academic skills are
  reinforced in powerful ways.

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Leaders Celebrate Achievement

• Leaders use data about progress toward goals to
  celebrate big and small accomplishments.
• Leaders continuously remind people about the the
  ways in which their efforts will change lives.
  By acknowledging progress, they inspire
  commitment, which generates more progress, which
  leads to greater acknowledgement of effort, ad
  infinitum.

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How NCUST Hopes to Help

• Presentations to district leaders, principals,
  and teachers on high-performing urban schools
• School assistance visits to help principals and
  district leaders identify opportunities for
  improvement
• NCUST website

• Continue to identify and study high-performing
  urban schools and districts
• NCUST annual symposium
• Executive Instructional Leadership Program for CA
  Urban Districts