Achievement Gaps in the SEDL Region:

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• Achievement Gaps in the SEDL Region
• What Data Tell Us

Closing the Achievement Gap School Resources
and Beyond SEDL Policy Forum 2004 September
27-28, 2004Austin, Texas
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Goals of This Session

• To describe the achievement gap in the five-state
  region
• To examine federal and state data that reveal the
  relationship between student achievement and
  demographics
• To build awareness of additional gaps relating
  to socio-economic resources and deficits that may
  impact student success

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ofts
The Achievement Gap and SEDL Policy Work
SEDLs policy unit creates and promotes
research-based knowledge for policy audiences to
support improved student achievement for all
learners. The achievement gap is of particular
interest to our work as

1. a critical policy issue in SEDLs region
2. the basis of current federal NCLB policy
3. highlighting key features of our current research
   on resources and student achievement

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SEDL Regional Educational Laboratory

• Serves Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
  and Texas
• Nationwide network of 10 labs
• Conducts research on what it takes to improve
  student achievement

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SEDL Resource Allocation Research

• Examination of Resource Allocation in Education
  Connecting Spending to Student Performance,
  completed in 2003
• Investigation of State Education Databases to
  Support Policy Research on Resource Allocation,
  currently in progress
• Does Teacher Salary Matter to Elementary and
  Middle School Achievement in High Need Areas?, to
  be completed in 2005
• Four Study States Arkansas, Louisiana, New
  Mexico, Texas

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What did We Learn From Our Research About
Bringing Data-based Evidence to the Achievement
Gap Problem?

• Socio-economic differences must be considered
  when addressing the achievement gap
• Measuring critical factors that influence
  educational outcomes is a challenge, especially
  with regard to whole-child well-being
• Data are improving our ability to identify
  achievement gap patterns from state to state

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State-by-State Analysis of Socio-Economic and
Achievement Data
ofts

• Introductory page
• DIVIDER PAGE

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SEDL Region Percent of Children Under Age 19, in
Poverty, and Without Health Insurance, Average
for 2001, 2002, and 2003
Source U.S. Census Bureau at or Below 200
Poverty Level
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SEDL Region Minority Student Enrollment Public
Elementary and Secondary Schools 2002-2003
Source National Center for Education Statistics
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SEDL Region Public High School Graduation Rate
by State and Race 2001
Source National Center for Education
Statistics Hispanic student cohorts were too
small to be included in rates for AR and OK.
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State-by-State Achievement Data
ofts

• Introductory page
• DIVIDER PAGE

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Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading ResultsPercent
Scoring At or Above the Basic Level,
Race/Ethnicity, Free/ Reduced Priced Lunch,
Arkansas
Source National Center for Education
Statistics NAEP reading tests were not
administered for 1999, 2000, 2001.
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Fourth-Grade State Literacy ResultsPercent
Scoring At Proficient Level. Race/Ethnicity,
Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Arkansas
Source Arkansas State Department of Education
Source Arkansas State Department of Education
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Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading ResultsPercent
Scoring At or Above the Basic Level,
Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch,
Louisiana
Source National Center for Education
Statistics NAEP reading tests were not
administered for 1999, 2000, 2001.
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Subgroup Performance Scores (GPS)Race/Ethnicity
, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Louisiana
Source Louisiana Department of Education GPS
based on 60 LEAP, 30 IOWA, 10
attendance/drop-out rate all grades tested
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Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading ResultsPercent
Scoring At or Above the Basic Level,
Race/Ethnicity, Free/ Reduced Priced Lunch, New
Mexico
Results for Blacks for 1998 36 and 2003 45 no
data for 2002 Source National Center for
Education Statistics NAEP reading tests were
not administered for 1999, 2000, 2001.
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Fifth-Grade TerraNova ReadingMedian National
Percentiles, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced
Lunch, New Mexico
Source New Mexico Public Education Department
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Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading ResultsPercent
Scoring At or Above the Basic Level,
Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch,
Oklahoma
Source National Center for Education
Statistics NAEP reading tests were not
administered for 1999, 2000, 2001.
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Fifth-Grade Reading ResultsPercent Scoring At
or Above the Satisfactory Level, Race/Ethnicity,
Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Oklahoma
Source Oklahoma State Department of Education
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Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading ResultsPercent
Scoring At or Above the Basic Level,
Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Texas
Source National Center for Education
Statistics NAEP reading tests were not
administered for 1999, 2000, 2001.
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Fourth-Grade TAAS Reading ResultsPercent
Passing, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced
Lunch, Texas
Source Texas Education Agency
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What Do the Data Tell Us?

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, regional
  child poverty rates are high compared to the U.S.
  rates, and the uninsured rate in Texas is almost
  double that of the 8 U.S. rate.
• High school graduation rates reveal that
  non-white subgroups are the least likely to
  graduate, according to the National Center for
  Education Statistics.
• Data from the National Assessment of Educational
  Progress show that the greatest achievement gaps
  in elementary-level reading exist between Black
  and White students, except in NM where it exists
  between Native Americans and Whites.

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State-by-State Analysis of Achievement,
Demographics, and Resources
ofts

• Introductory page
• DIVIDER PAGE

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Data Used for the Maps
Data Sources
Common Core Data, National Center for Education Statistics U.S. Census Bureau State Departments of Education
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Data Used for the Maps
Socio-Economic Conditions Socio-Economic Conditions
Student poverty Percent of students on free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL)
Minority enrollment Percent of students who are non-white
Parent education Percent of population with children in public schools without a high school diploma
Public assistance Percent of households with children in public schools with public assistance income
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Data Used for the Maps
Student Achievement
Arkansas Benchmark Exam, 4th grade, composite math/literary scaled score Louisiana LEAP, 4th grade, percent passing, math and English language arts New Mexico TerraNova, 4th grade, median composite score Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests, 5th grade, percent at satisfactory or above, reading and math Texas TAAS, 4th grade, percent passing, reading and math
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Data Used for the Maps
Resources
Expenditures per pupil AR Total expenditures NM Net operating expenditures OK Total general fund expenditures Teacher salaries TX Teacher basepay Teacher quality LA Percent of classes taught by highly qualified teachers (certified and teaching in-field)
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Data Used for the Maps
Level Of Analysis
Arkansas 75 Counties Louisiana 66 School Districts New Mexico 89 School Districts Oklahoma 77 Counties Texas 254 Counties Note In AR, OK, and TX, district-level data were aggregated to the county level for ease of display
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Data Used for the Maps
Mapping Process
To create the maps, SEDL researchers Computed correlations to find the strongest relationships between variables in each state Created ranges for each variable by dividing the school districts or counties in each state into 3 groups with an equal number of districts/counties in each group
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AR Public Assistance
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LA Parent Education
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NM Minority Enrollment
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OK Student Poverty
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TX Minority Enrollment
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LA Min. Enrol./Stud Pov.
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TX Stud. Pov./Par. Educ.
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NM Min. Enr./Stud. Ach.
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AR Stud.Pov/Stud.Ach.
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LA Stud.Pov/TchrQual
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AR StudPov/Expend
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TX Stud.Pov/TchrSal
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LA StudAch/TchrQual
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OK StudAch/Expend
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NM StudAch/Expend
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For Further Information

• Celeste Alexander calexan_at_sedl.org
• Debra Hughes Jones djones_at_sedl.org
• Diane Pan dpan_at_sedl.org
• Zena Rudo zrudo_at_sedl.org
• Lotte Smith-Hansen lsmith_at_sedl.org
• Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
• www.sedl.org