Dispelling the Myth Working to Close Achievement Gaps Once and for All

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Dispelling the MythWorking to Close Achievement
Gaps Once and for All
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Theres an Elephant in the Room!
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NAEP 8th Grade Mathematics Race, Ethnicity 2000
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NAEP 8th Grade Math Family Income 2000
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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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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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Too Few 17 Year-Olds Demonstrate Strong Reading
Skills
Source USDOE, NCES, 1999 NAEP Summary Data Tables
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Too Few 17 Year-Olds Demonstrate Strong Math
Skills
Source USDOE, NCES, 1999 NAEP Summary Data Tables
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But only a few are going to college anyway
right???
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How Expectations Differ Plans For Students After
High School
Source Metropolitan Life, Survey of the
American Teacher 2000 Are We Preparing Students
for the 21st Century?, September 2000.
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Most High School Grads Go On To Postsecondary
Source NELS 88, Second (1992) and Third (1994)
Follow up in, USDOE, NCES, Condition of
Education 1997, Supplemental Table 9-1
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Even Low Achieving Grads Go On To Postsecondary
Source NELS 88, Second (1992) and Third Follow
up (1994) in, USDOE, NCES, Condition of
Education 1997, p. 64
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What happens when they get there?
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College Freshmen Not Returning for Sophomore Year
Source Tom Mortensen, Postsecondary Opportunity,
No. 89, November 1999
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African American and Latino Freshmen Complete
College at Lower Rates
Source Adapted from Adelman, Clifford, U.S.
Department of Education, Answers in the
Toolbox, 1999.
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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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What About WORK?
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• 70 of the 30 fastest-growing jobs will require
  an education beyond high school
• 40 of new jobs will require at least an
  associates degree
• Even trade apprenticeship programs demand
  higher-level math, science and reading skills.

Sources Getting Ready Pays Off!, US DOE, October
2000. And, in BLS, Occupational Employment
Projections to 2008, in NAB, Workforce Economics,
vol. 6, Issue 1, Spring 2000. And, on NATEF
website, www.natef.org.
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Requirements forTool and Die Makers

• Four or five years of apprenticeship and/or
  postsecondary training
• Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and statistics
• Average earnings 40,000 per year.

National Association of Manufacturers, GetTech
website
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Requirements forSheet Metal Workers

• Four or five years of apprenticeship
• Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and technical
  reading
• Average earnings 32,000 per year.

National Association of Manufacturers, GetTech
website
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Requirements for Avionics Technicians

• Postsecondary training
• Physics, chemistry, advanced mathematics,
  computers, electronics
• Average earnings 40,000 per year.

National Association of Manufacturers, GetTech
website
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No Turning BackOur goal now must be to
prepare all students for entry-level college work
and success in the modern workplace.
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And that means closing the gap!
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Does it have to be this way?
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What We Hear Adults Say

• Their parents dont make enough money
• Their parents dont care
• Their friends discourage them
• They arent interested in tough classes
• They come to schools without breakfast
• Not enough books at home
• Not enough parents . . .

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In other words, schools and districts and states
are powerless.
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But if thats right, then why are poor and
minority children performing so high in ...
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Some schools ...
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Mount Royal SchoolBaltimore, MD

• About 81 Low-Income
• About 99 African American
• Highest 5th grade math results in the state for
  two years in a row (1999-2000), and in top ten
  for three years in a row (1999-2001).

Source Maryland Department of Education Website.
1999 and 2000 scores.
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Flying High Longfellow School, Mount Vernon, NY

• About 83 Low-Income
• About 98 African American
• In 2001, performed as well or better than 97 of
  NY schools in math and 88 of NY schools in
  language arts.

Source Education Trust. Dispelling the Myth
Online. www.edtrust.org .
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Flying High Lincoln SchoolMount Vernon, NY

• About 43 Low-Income
• About 63 African American and Latino
• In 2001, performed as well or better than 94 of
  NY schools in math and 89 of NY schools in
  language arts.

Source Maryland Department of Education Website.
1999 -2001 scores.
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Closing Gaps Lincoln School, Mount Vernon, NY
Source New York State Department of Education.
Analyses by Student Subgroup of School
Performance in English Language Arts and
Mathematics for Lincoln School in Mount Vernon
City School District. March 7, 2002.
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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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Are there NO myth-busting secondary schools?
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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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Hambrick Middle School, Aldine, TX
Source New York State Department of Education.
Analyses by Student Subgroup of School
Performance in English Language Arts and
Mathematics for Lincoln School in Mount Vernon
City School District. March 7, 2002.
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Kecoughtan High School, Hampton, VA
(1,800 students 40 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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Norview High School, Norfolk, VA
(1,560 students 70 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
2002.
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Aldine, TX Raising Achievement for All While
Narrowing Gaps
Source Texas Education Agency-Academic
Excellence Indicator System Report 1994 through
2002.
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And some entire states ...

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Latinos in Virginia Write as Well or Better Than
Whites in 7 States
Source Education Trust, Education Watch Online,
www.edtrust.org
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And Its Not Just About Poverty Either ...
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Closing These Gaps Demands Aggressively
Collecting Information and Digging Deeper with
Data On All Levels
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Its Time to Recognize Two Kinds of Education
Gaps
Achievement Gaps
Opportunity Gaps
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Achievement Gap Data

Opportunity Gap Data

A More Complete Picture!
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Digging Deeper on Teacher Quality

• Whats in an average?
• The comparison we usually make

Illinois Classes Taught by Out-of-Field
Teacher 22
U.S. Classes Taught by Out-of-Field Teacher 24
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Digging Deeper on Teacher Quality

• Disaggregate to complete the picture

Illinois Classes Taught by Out-of-Field
Teacher 22
Low-Minority Schools 17
High-Minority Schools 37
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Digging Deeper on Teacher Quality

• Disaggregate by race and poverty

Illinois Classes Taught by Out-of-Field
Teacher 22
Low-Poverty Schools 15
High-Poverty Schools 47
Low-Minority Schools 17
High-Minority Schools 37
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What Is Taught Matters Too!Students Can Rise to
theLevel of the Curriculum and the Assignments
Given Them.
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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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Why Not Adopt a Common, Grade-by-Grade, Rigorous
Curriculum?
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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
• San Diego doubles time in literacy and
  mathematics for kids below grade level

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What If Youre Not in a Place Like That?
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The Full Year Calendar
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Less Summer Vacation
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Less Weekends, Holidays, Summer Vacation
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Less Professional Development Days Early
Dismissal/Parent Conferences
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Less Class Picnic, Class Trip, Thanksgiving
Feast, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukkah, Awards,
Assembles, Concerts
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Less State and District Testing
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Bottom LineRoughly 13-15 8-hr Days of
InstructionPer SubjectPer Year
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TAKE IT BACK!!!!!
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Without the possibility of action, all knowledge
comes to one labeled file and forget,
and I can neither file nor forget.

• -- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

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Demanding and Acting on Data
He demanded more data. And soon he realized that
white students far outnumbered blacks in advanced
middle-school math classes. Promptly, he
tore up the schedules of 8,000 middle-schoolers
and started reassigning them. He cant really be
ripping up a summers worth of scheduling and
starting over, teachers gasped when they heard.
This cant be happening, parents wailed when they
called his office.
Source Washington Post Magazine, November 10,
2002.
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If we had the courage and creativity to change
these patterns?
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What If We

• Put all students in a rigorous, college-prep
  curriculum
• Made sure all poor and minority students had
  top-notch teachers
• Gave those teachers the resources they need to do
  the job well and
• Found the time to provide extra help to all
  students who fall behind ?

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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.Eric
HanushekStanford University
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www.edtrust.org
College Begins in Kindergarten