Achievement of Hmong Students in Saint Paul Public Schools

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Achievement of Hmong Students in Saint Paul
Public Schools

• Hmong National Development,Inc.
• Conference - March 2006

Tom Watkins Director of Research, Evaluation and
Assessment Saint Paul Public Schools
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Purpose of Presentation

• Provide a summary of Hmong and Asian student
  demographics, achievement, and other performance
  in Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS)
• Encourage you to use the SPPS Data Center (http
  datacenter.spps.org), discuss the data and
  research findings with others, and let us know
  how we can improve it.

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Overview of Demographics

• Saint Paul is 1! One reason the district has
  the most Hmong students in the USA.
• Hmong students make up about 90 of Asian
  students in SPPS
• The three largest demographic groups in SPPS
• Asian-American students who are limited English
  Proficient (LEP) and receive Free or Reduced
  Price Lunch (FRL)
• Caucasian students who are non-LEP and do not
  receive FRL
• African-American students who are non-LEP and
  receive FRL.

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Facts About English Language Learners in SPPS

• SPPS has the largest population of both Somalis
  and Hmong in the U.S.
• Overall, the Twin Cities is home to the largest
  Tibetan population outside of Tibet and the
  second largest Southeast Asian population.
• The Twin Cities are also experiencing the most
  rapid increase in Hispanic/Latino immigration of
  any urban area in the nation.
• A much higher percentage of MN immigrants come
  as refugees than the national average (about 24
  percent compared to 8 percent nationally).
• 1,100 new Hmong students enrolled in SPPS last
  year.
• In the past decade, overall enrollment has
  increased by 2 while the number of students with
  language barriers has increased by 11.

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Asian American student enrollment in SPPS has
increased from about 5,000 in 1987 to about
14,000 in 1999, and has declined and stabilized
since
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Achievement Outcomes

• Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT10)
  is a national norm-referenced test. Students in
  grades 2-8 in SPPS have taken this test each
  spring since 2003.
• The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) was
  used for determining adequate yearly progress for
  No Child Left Behind from 2002 to 2005.
• The Basic Skills Test has been a graduation
  requirement since 1997. Students currently in
  8th grade and future classes will take the new
  GRAD requirements instead.
• The ACT Assessment is a college placement test,
  taken by half of the students in the class of
  2005.
• Advanced Placement (AP) tests provide an
  opportunity for high school students to gain
  college credit and earn recognition

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In READING on the Stanford Achievement Test, 10th
Edition (SAT10), Hmong students have improved
each year but are still below the national and
district averages
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On the SAT10 in Math, Hmong students have had
large gains and are above the district average.
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On the MCA in Reading, Hmong students have
increased their proficiency in grades 3 and 5,
and are at or near the SPPS average in grades 7
10 where most students have had more time in the
country.
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On the MCA in Math, Hmong students are performing
near or above the district average at each grade
level.
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Over the past six years, there has been a
consistent narrowing of the Asian-Caucasian
Achievement Gap on the Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessment in SPPS (Grades 3 5) in Reading and
Mathematics. Gaps have also been narrowing
between ELL and non-ELL and Free-Reduced and
Non-Free-Reduced.
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On the Basic Skills Test in READING,
Asian-American students demonstrated large
increases, especially in the last year. The
Asian-Caucasian gap decreased significantly from
2000 to 2005.
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On the Basic Skills Test in MATH, scores for
Asian-American students were stable from 2000 to
2004, but then increased significantly in 2005,
narrowing the Asian-Caucasian achievement gap.
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There are still significant achievement gaps
between Asian and Caucasian students on the ACT
Assessment
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Asian-American students have participated in
honors courses at about the same level as the
district over the past few years, and their
current participation rate is higher than the
district
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In terms of Advanced Placement (AP) Test
participation over the past five years, the
number of Asian-American students has been stable
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at the same time, the percentage of
Asian-American students passing AP Tests has not
increased since 2002, and decreased significantly
in 2005.
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Other Outcomes

• Attendance absenteeism by grade.
• Four Year Completion Rate
• NCLB Graduation Rate
• Dropout Rate

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Although Asian-American students generally have
better attendance than other students in SPPS,
the increase in absenteeism at the high school
level is more dramatic.
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Four-Year Completion Rates for Asian-American
students have increased over the past four years
to 70, while the drop-out rate has decreased to
about 10...
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and district-wide the completion rates match the
best rate ever in 2001, and the dropout rate is
the best since this measure was first tracked in
1997.
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On the NCLB Graduation Rate, Asian American
Students and Caucasian students have seen
increases and are the highest performing student
groups. Note The NCLB Graduation Rate is the
graduates divided by the graduates plus dropouts.
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Summary of Strengths

• Asian-American math achievement is generally at
  or above district average, and reading
  achievement is improving over time (MCA and
  SAT10)
• The Asian-Caucasian achievement gap is narrowing
  on the MCA
• Asian-American attendance is better than the
  district average
• Asian-American students have rising graduation
  rates and lower dropout rates both better than
  district average.

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Summary of Challenges

• Asian-American composite ACT score significantly
  below comparable state and national averages
• Asian-American Advanced Placement Test passing
  percentage is significantly lower than district
  average.

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Learn More! Use the Data Center!

• datacenter.spps.org
• School data
• Student data for parents
• District data
• Issue Briefs and Research Reports

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Points of Contact for More Info

• Research and evaluation questions
• Tom Watkins - 651-767-8384 or
• Steve Schellenberg 651-767-8384
• Demographics and enrollment
• Steve Schellenberg 651-767-8384 or
• Cindy Porter 651-767-8371
• Data Center ideas, updates, corrections
• Teresa Fitzgerald 651-793-5578