IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT AND CLOSING GAPS BETWEEN GROUPS

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IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT AND CLOSING GAPS BETWEEN
GROUPS

• Prepared for the National Evaluation Institute
• Education Trust, 2003

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What Do We Know About Student Achievement?
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12th Grade Achievement In Math and Science is Up
Somewhat
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High School Achievement Math and Science
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress.
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In Reading, 12th Grade Achievement is Headed
Downward
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HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT READING AND WRITING
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What about different groups of students?During
seventies and eighties, much progress.
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Gaps Narrow 1970-88NAEP Reading 17 Year-Olds
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends
in Academic Progress (p. 107) Washington, DC US
Department of Education, August 2000
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Gaps Narrow 1973-86NAEP Math Scores, 13 Year-Olds
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends
in Academic Progress (p. 108) Washington, DC US
Department of Education, August 2000
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Between 1988-90, that progress came to a haltand
gaps began to widen once again.
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Gaps Narrow, Then Hold Steady or Widen NAEP
Math Scores, 17 Year-Olds
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Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends
in Academic Progress (p. 108) Washington, DC US
Department of Education, August 2000
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Some gains in elementary, even middle grades.
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But Value Added in High School Declining
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Value Added Declining in High School Math
Age 13-17 Growth
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress
updated with 2000 NAEP results.
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Reading Students Entering Better Prepared, But
Leaving Worse
Source NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress
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After 1988, Gaps Mostly Widen NAEP Reading, 17
Year-Olds
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Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends
in Academic Progress (p. 107) Washington, DC US
Department of Education, August 2000
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Where are we now?
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Where Are We Now?NAEP 4th Grade Reading All
Students, 2002
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By Race, Ethnicity 4th Grade Reading 2002
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By Family Income4th Grade Reading 2002
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Where Are We Now? NAEP 8th Grade Mathematics All
Students 2000
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NAEP 8th Grade Mathematics Race, Ethnicity 2000
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AT END OF HIGH SCHOOL?
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African American and Latino 17 Year Olds Do Math
at Same Levels As White 13 Year Olds
Source NAEP 1999 Long Term Trends Summary Tables
(online)
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African American and Latino 17 Year Olds Read at
Same Levels as White 13 Year Olds
Source Source NAEP 1999 Long Term Trends
Summary Tables (online)
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Not Surprisingly, These Patterns Also Clear in HS
Graduation, College Entry and Graduation Rates
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Students Graduate From High School At Different
Rates
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 1998 (p. 20-513), Detailed Tables
No. 2
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Highest Achieving Low-Income Students Attend
Postsecondary at Same Rate as Bottom Achieving
High Income Students
Source NELS 88, Second (1992) and Third Follow
up (1994) in, USDOE, NCES, NCES Condition of
Education 1997 p. 64
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Highest Achieving Low-Income Students Attend
Postsecondary at Same Rate as Bottom Achieving
High Income Students
Source NELS 88, Second (1992) and Third Follow
up (1994) in, USDOE, NCES, NCES Condition of
Education 1997 p. 64
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ADD IT ALL UP...
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Of Every 100 White Kindergartners
(24 Year-Olds)
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 2000, Detailed Tables No. 2
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Of Every 100 African American Kindergartners
(24 Year-Olds)
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 2000, Detailed Tables No. 2
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Of Every 100 Latino Kindergartners
(24 Year-Olds)
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 2000, Detailed Tables No. 2
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Of Every 100 American Indian/Alaskan Native
Kindergartners
(24 Year Olds)
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College Graduates by Age 26
Source Tom Mortenson, Research Seminar on Public
Policy Analysis of Opportunity for Post
Secondary, 1997.
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WHY?
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What We Hear Adults Say

• Theyre poor
• Their parents dont care
• They come to schools without breakfast
• Not enough books
• Not enough parents . . .

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But if theyre right, then why are poor and
minority children performing so high in...
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Some schools...
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Wrigley Elementary

• 78 Low-Income
• 3rd Highest Performing in State in Reading
• 6th Highest Performing in State in Writing

KENTUCKY
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Source Education Trust analysis of data from
National School-Level State Assessment Score
Database (www.schooldata.org).
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Source Education Trust analysis of data from
National School-Level State Assessment Score
Database (www.schooldata.org).
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Source Education Trust analysis of data from
National School-Level State Assessment Score
Database (www.schooldata.org).
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Mount Royal Elementary/Middle, Baltimore, MD

• 99 African American
• 73 Low-Income
• Highest Performing in State on states 5th grade
  Math test.
• Top 10 of state in 5th grade reading.

MARYLAND
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Pimlico Elementary, Baltimore, MD

• 100 African American
• 94 Low-Income
• Top 1 in improvement on the states 5th grade
  Math test.

Maryland
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Hambrick Middle School,Aldine, TX

• 94 African American and Latino (state 56)
• 85 low-income (state 50)
• Has performed in the top fifth of all Texas
  middle schools in both reading and math in both
  7th and 8th grades over a 3-year period.

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Prince Edward County High, Farmville VA
(715 students 55 African American and Latino)
Sources Virginia Department of Education Web
site, http//www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/200
2SOLpassrates.html.
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Dispelling the Myth
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Some districts...
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Aldine, TX Raising Achievement for All While
Narrowing Gaps
Source Texas Education Agency-Academic
Excellence Indicator System Report 1994 through
2001.
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Aldine, TX Raising Achievement for All While
Narrowing Gaps
Source Texas Education Agency-Academic
Excellence Indicator System Report 1994 through
2001.
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And some entire states...
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4th Grade Math African American Gains Between
1992 and 2000
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables
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4th Grade Math Latino Gains Between 1992 and 2000
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables
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8th Grade Math African American Gains Between
1990 and 2000
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables
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8th Grade Math Latino Gains Between 1990 and 2000
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables
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Delaware Gains in Grade 4 Reading Outpace the
Nation, 1998-2002
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables
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Big Differences Among States in the Performance
of the Same Group.Take a look...
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1996 Grade 4 NAEP MathAfrican American Only
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1996 Grade 8 NAEP MathLatino Only
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1998 Grade 8 NAEP WritingLatino Only
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Minority and/or poor students in some states
outperforming white and/or non-poor students in
others.
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8th Grade Writing African Americans in Texas
Perform as Well or Better Than Whites in 7 States
Source NCES, National Assessment of Educational
Progress
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What Students Say Yes, some blame themselves.
But they also say...

• some teachers dont know
• their subjects
• counselors underestimate our
• potential
• principals dismiss concerns
• expectations wretchedly, boringly low.

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What Do We Know About The Places that are
Improving Results?
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Element 1 They Make No Excuses. Everybody
Takes Responsibility for Student Learning.
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They dont

• Blame student performance on the kids and their
  families
• Spend excessive amounts of time documenting their
  demographics or,
• Screech about the inappropriateness of state
  standards for THEIR kids.

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They Do

• Embrace meaningful state standards and
  assessments as valuable benchmarks and leverage
  points
• Accept the need for public accountability for
  results
• View poverty and family problems as barriers that
  can be surmounted and, most important...

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• They build SYSTEMS to support teachers,
  administrators, parents and students themselves
  to move toward standards.

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Element 2 They Have Clear and Specific Goals For
What Students Should Learn in Every Grade Level
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Historically, most of the really important
decisions about what students should learn and
what kind of work was good enough left to
individual teachers.
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Result? A System That

• Doesnt expect very much from MOST students and,
• Expects much less from some types of students
  than others.

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Why Kids Drop Out

• Students mainly consider dropping out because
  they are not engaged by the school.
• Students are most likely to cite the following
  reasons for considering dropping out
• School was boring (76) and
• They were not learning enough (42).

Source Metropolitan Life, Survey of the American
Teacher 2002 Student Life School, Home
and Community, p. 9.
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Students can do no better than the assignments
they are given...
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Grade 10 Writing Assignment
A frequent theme in literature is the conflict
between the individual and society. From
literature you have read, select a character who
struggled with society. In a well-developed
essay, identify the character and explain why
this characters conflict with society is
important.
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Grade 10 Writing Assignment
Write a composition of at least 4 paragraphs on
Martin Luther Kings most important contribution
to this society. Illustrate your work with a
neat cover page. Neatness counts.
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A Work in Poor Schools Would Earn Cs in
Affluent Schools
Source Prospects (ABT Associates, 1993), in
Prospects Final Report on Student Outcomes,
PES, DOE, 1997.
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Good Standards Can Help Focus

• But not if they sit on the shelf.
• Must be clear and specific about what students
  should learn at every grade level.

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Element 3 All Students in Curriculum Carefully
Lined Up With Those Goals
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High Performing Districts Elementary School
Curriculum

• Usually common across schools
• Model lessons that teachers may use.

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What about high school?
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Leading districts, states making college prep the
default curriculum.
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Element 4 They monitor student progress
regularly.
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High Performing Districts

• District-wide benchmark or snap-shot assessments,
  at least every 6-9 weeks
• Task pools on which teachers may draw in building
  their own assessments
• Support for teachers to learn more about
  assessment strategies and,
• Creation of vehicles for teachers to meet
  together to discuss assignments and student work.

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High Performing Districts also ACT on results
from benchmark assessments

• if data show that student isnt achieving,
  student gets extra
• if data show that many students in one classroom
  arent achieving, teacher gets extra support.

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Element 5 Leading Districts, States Provide
Extra Instruction for Students Who Need It
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When Kids Are Behind, Schools Must Provide More
Instruction and Support

• Kentucky provides extra time for struggling
  students in high-poverty schools
• Maryland offers extra dollars for 7th and 8th
  graders who need more support

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And if you dont live in a smart state?

• Many schools, districts finding ways to double,
  even triple, amount of time spent on literacy,
  math.

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Element 6 Good Teachers Matter More Than
Anything Else
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1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
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1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
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1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
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Most teachers--like most other professionals--can
get more and more effective.
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Accordingly, smart states, districts do two
important things

• STOP drive-by workshops
• invest in intensive, focused
• professional development.

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In the meantime, though, weve got to work
toward a more equitable distribution of teachers.
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Virtually every high poverty school has
some spectacularly wonderful teachers, but...
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Classes in High Poverty High Schools More Often
Taught by Misassigned Teachers
Teachers who lack a major or minor in the
field Source National Commission on Teaching and
Americas Future, What Matters Most Teaching for
Americas Future (p.16) 1996.
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Math and Science Classes of Mostly Minority
Students Are More Often Taught by Misassigned
Teachers
Source Jeannie Oakes. Multiplying Inequalities
The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking
on Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and
Science (Rand 1990)
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Poor and Minority Students Get More
Inexperienced Teachers
Teachers with 3 or fewer years of experience.
High and low refer to top and bottom
quartiles. Source National Center for Education
Statistics, Monitoring Quality An Indicators
Report, December 2000.
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High-Poverty Schools Get More Low-Scoring
Teachers
Teachers scoring in the bottom quartile on on
SAT/ACT. High-poverty schools have 2/3 or more
students eligible for reduced-price
lunch. Source Education Week, Quality Counts
2001, January 2001.
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Big Differences Even Within Schools
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Regular Team Sample
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Pre-IB Team Sample
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11-12 IB/AP Teacher Sample
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Devastating Impact
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If we had the courage and creativity to change
these patterns?
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By our estimates from Texas schools, having an
above average teacher for five years running can
completely close the average gap between
low-income students and others. John Kain and
Eric Hanushek
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The Challenge Ahead

• NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

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Statement of Purpose
Closing the achievement gap between high- and
low-performing children, especially the
achievement gaps between minority and nonminority
students, and between disadvantaged children and
their more advantaged peers. 20 U.S.C. 6301
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Some leaders are talking about the challenges in
the new law one way
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• Requiring every group of students in every
  school to be proficient within 12 years, is like
  asking every kid to jump the Grand Canyon.
• educator, Connecticut
• June 10, 2002
• Associated Press

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"It is so inflexible. If any group of kids fails
to meet the standard, the whole school is labeled
as failing. suburban superintendent (used to
doing extremely well under old system of
averages)
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These are what statisticians call
outliersunexplained exceptions in any field
that do not provide models that can be
successfully emulated. Michael Jordan, for
example, is an outlier that he can play at such
a level does not mean that any basketball player
with good training can do so. -Richard
Rothstein The New York Times April 10, 2002
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• "I have difficulty with the standards because
  they're so unattainable for so many of our
  students . . . We just don't have the same kids
  they have on Long Island or Orchard Park.
• Superintendent, New York October 21, 2002, The
  Buffalo News

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They may as well have decreed that pigs can fly
. . . I think the State Board of Education is
dealing with reality, not myth. Some of these
politicians just have their heads in the
sand. -Wayne Johnson, CTA President Los Angeles
Times August 6, 2002
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Think about the messages in what they say

• To parentsabout whose kids matter
• To studentsabout how much educators think they
  can learn and,
• To teachersabout whether they even have to try.

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Other leaders are talking about the challenge in
very different ways.
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• "We know the bar will always be raised. I call it
  a forklift, not a cart, because it's going
  forward and going up. But we are here to educate
  children, and we should have our standards
  raised."
• Martha Stone, assistant superintendent of
  curriculum and instruction, Irving School
  District, TX

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"Neither poverty nor race is an excuse. All
children can rise to the standards and there are
many schools in the data that you have to prove
it. Rick Mills, Commissioner of Education,
New York. March 28, 2002, New York Times
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With proper instruction, students here can blow
other kids away in the humanities. The more you
challenge them, the better they'll do.
Dolores Edwards Sullivan, an English teacher
in the predominantly African American Roosevelt
school district, whose 11th graders are starting
to earn higher marks on state Regents exams.
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Yes, parents may have the greatest impact on how
their children come to us. But we have the
greatest impact on how they leave
us. Superintendent, North Carolina
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• "If you love children, you can't say this law is
  a waste. . . It has to come down to someone
  making sure these kids are getting an education.
• Denise Allen, Kentucky
• November 13, 2002, Lexington Herald Leader

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"At the end of the day, we are responsible for
every child. Will we do it? Certainly. Will we
look good early on? I doubt it." Superintendent
, Wake CountyJune 2, 2002 News and Observer (NC)
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Yes, this is going to be hard. But how we
communicate will play a large role in whether
people will even try.
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This is especially critical for education
researchers.New BRT poll suggest public trusts
researchers MORE than any other sourceexcept
teachers.
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The Education Trust

• For More Information . . .
• www.edtrust.org
• Washington, DC 202-293-1217
• Oakland, CA 510-465-6444