IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT AND CLOSING GAPS BETWEEN GROUPS

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IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT AND CLOSING GAPS BETWEEN
GROUPS

• 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Opportunity Gaps in American Education
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Many Opportunity Gaps in American Education, But
Three Make the Biggest Difference of All

• Curriculum
• Standards, Assignments and,
• Quality Teachers

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Curriculum Differences

• Begin during elementary years
• Biggest during high school.

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Low-Income Students Less Likely to be Enrolled in
a College Preparatory Track
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. National
Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 Second
Follow-Up, 1992 in A Profile of the American
High School Senior in 1992.( p. 36) Washington,
DC US Department of Education, June 1995.
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
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African American and Latino 10th Graders Less
Likely to be Enrolled in a College Preparatory
Track
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. National
Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 First
Follow-Up Student Study.
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Percentage of High Scoring Students Placed in
Algebra in One Southern California School District
Source The Achievement Council, Inc. Los
Angeles, CA. Unpublished. 1991
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Low Quartile Students Gain More From College Prep
Courses
Grade 8-12 test score gains based on 8th grade
achievement.
Source USDOE, NCES, Vocational Education in the
United States Toward the Year 2000, in Issue
Brief Students Who Prepare for College and
Vocation
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Challenging Curriculum Results in Lower Failure
Rates, Even for Lowest Achievers
Ninth-grade English performance, by high/low
level course, and eighth-grade reading
achievement quartiles
Source SREB, Middle Grades to High School
Mending a Weak Link. Unpublished Draft, 2002.
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Differences in Standards, Assignments
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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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Big Differences in Teacher Quality
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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 Out of Field 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 Out of Field
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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Devastating Impact
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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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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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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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Element 2 They Have Clear and Specific Goals For
What Students Should Learn in Every Grade Level
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Element 3 They Place All Students in Curriculum
Carefully Lined Up With Those Goals
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Element 4 They monitor student progress
regularly and act immediately to provide extra
help when assessments show students are behind.
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Element 5 They invest generously in helping
teachers improve their skills and knowledgeand
they work hard to make certain that poor children
get their fair share of our strongest teachers.
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In the end, its mostly just common sense.
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NCLB is about pushing more districts, schools to
adopt these effective practices.
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Rather than rallying their colleagues to move in
these directions, many education leaders are
responding to the challenge of NCLB in the
following ways.
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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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• 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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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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Our job is to turn that around.
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The Education Trust

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