Closing Achievement Gaps in California What, Why and How

1
Closing Achievement Gaps in California What,
Why and How?

• April 2, 2004
• Russlynn Ali
• Director, The Education Trust-West

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Achievement Gaps A Civil Rights Issue

• Achievement gaps start early and get bigger the
  longer students are in school.
• Correlated to demography. But correlation is NOT
  causation. They are NOT inevitable.

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Where Are We Now?
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AT 4th GRADE?
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AT 8th GRADE?
Note In 8th grade, students take different
course-specific tests in math depending on what
course they enroll in. These results show
proficiency of all 8th graders, regardless of
what course they are taking.
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In High School?
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And Lets Be Clear. Its Not Our Demographics.
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Poor White 4th Graders in California Read At A
Lower Level Than Poor White Students in Almost
Every State
California
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White 8th graders in California Read at a Lower
Level than White 8th Graders in Almost Every
Other State
California
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What About Achievement For Different Groups of
Students?
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Black and Latino 4th Graders Read Below White
Second Graders
Source EdTrust West Analysis of California
Department of Education, 2003
White
Black
Latino
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Latino and Black 8th Graders Read At or Below
White 5th Graders
White
Black
Latino
Source California Department of Education
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Latino and Black 11th Graders Read Below White
7th Graders
White
Black
Latino
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Are the Gaps Closing Over Time?
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Latino-White Gaps Closing Only Slightly
2003 Gap 33 points
1992 Gap 37 points
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Schools With Greater than 50 Latino Students
Still in Bottom Two API Deciles
Source Unpublished analysis by WestEd and the
Education Trust West, 2004.
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Black-White Gaps Closing Only Slightly
1992 Gap 36 points
2003 Gap 31 points
18
Schools With Greater than 50 African American
Students Still in Bottom Two API Deciles
Source Unpublished analysis by WestEd and the
Education Trust West, 2004.
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We know this because there are poor and minority
children excelling in some schools, districts and
even entire states.
BUT IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY
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A Tale of Two Schools in Los Angeles
Source California Department of Education
http//www.cde.ca.gov
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A Tale of Two Schools in Los Angeles
Source California Department of Education
http//www.cde.ca.gov
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A Tale of Two Schools in Los Angeles
Source California Department of Education
http//www.cde.ca.gov
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A Tale of Two Schools in Los Angeles
Source California Department of Education
http//www.cde.ca.gov
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A Tale of Two Schools in Los Angeles
Source CDE DataQuest
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Gaps Narrow in Some Whole Districts Long Beach
Unified
Source Research by the National Center for
Educational Accountability
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ENTIRE STATES4th Grade Reading Latino Gains
Between 1998 and 2003
Keep in mind that 10 points on the NAEP scale is
equal to approximately one year of growth.
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables.
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What Do We Know About the Places That Are
Improving Results?
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Successful schools and districts show us that
low performance is not inevitable.
Failure to Assure that All Students Reach
Proficiency is a Function of School System
Practices NOT The Students
Avoidable GAP
Source Jean Rutherford, National Center for
Education Accountability, Leaving Less to Chance,
from 2003 Education Trust Conference,
www.2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/ProductCategory/plenary
.htm
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• Where there is an Achievement Gap, there are
  Practice Gaps. Period.
• Successful schools and districts close them.

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Element 1 They Have Clear and Specific Goals For
What Students Should Learn in Every Grade
LevelALIGNED TO ASSESSMENTS
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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.
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
32
Grade 7 Writing Assignment
Essay on Anne Frank Your essay will consist of
an opening paragraph which introduced the title,
author and general background of the novel.
Your thesis will state specifically what Anne's
overall personality is, and what general
psychological and intellectual changes she
exhibits over the course of the book You might
organize your essay by grouping psychological and
intellectual changes OR you might choose 3 or 4
characteristics (like friendliness, patience,
optimism, self doubt) and show how she changes in
this area.
Source Unnamed school district in California,
2002-03 school year.
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Grade 7 Writing Assignment

• My Best Friend
• A chore I hate
• A car I want
• My heartthrob

Source Unnamed school district in California,
2002-03 school year.
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Result? A System That
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals

• Doesnt expect very much from most students and,
• Expects much less from some types of students
  than others.
• Leaves a lot to chance

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High Performing Districts Elementary School
Curriculum
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals

• Usually common across schools
• Model lessons that teachers may use.
• In High School
• Enroll them as if they are going on to college,
  and let them be empowered to make the choice!
• All students enrolled in the A-G Curriculum

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WHY?
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
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Students of all levels will learn more . . .
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
Grade 8-grade 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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And They Will Fail Less
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
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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Why A-G For All? Preparation for Work
New Jobs Increasingly Require Higher Level
Education
Employment Policy Foundation tabulation of BLS
Statistics
Cite CCCO presentation?
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Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
Ready for Work Ready for College College
isnt for everyone. But A-G is.

• Requirements for Plumbers
• Apprenticeship and/or postsecondary training
• High Level Mathematics
• Physics

• Requirements for
• Sheet Metal Workers
• Four or five years
• of apprenticeship
• Algebra, geometry,
• trigonometry and
• technical reading

• Requirements for
• Auto Technicians
• Physics
• Chemistry
• High Level
• Mathematics

Source INSERT NAM WEBSITE Occupational Outlook
Handbook, US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
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American Diploma Project Interviews with
Employers
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals

• They mostly want the same things that higher
  education wants!
• Strong Reading Ability read/comprehend
  informational and technical texts
• Emphatic about literature understanding other
  cultures is necessary with diverse customers and
  co-workers
• Writing ability key
• Mathematics Imperative data, probability,
  statistics and competent problem solvers.
  Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II.

Source Workplace Study by the National Alliance
for Business for the American Diploma Project,
unpublished report, 2002.
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Element 1Clear and Specific Goals

• In the agricultural age, postsecondary
  education was a pipe dream for most Americans.
  In the industrial age it was the birthright of
  only a few. By the space age, it became common
  for many. Today, it is just common sense for
  all
• --National Commission on the High School
  Senior Year, 2001

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Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
High Performing Districts Have Already Made A-G
the Default CurriculumExamples San Jose, New
Haven, Fontana, Dublin
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Achievement Gains at SJUSD Outpace State Between
1998 2001
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals

• SJUSD Latino 11th graders
• Math Math score gains were nearly twice as large
  as Latinos gains statewide.
• Reading Gains in reading kept pace with Latinos
  statewide.
• SJUSD African American 11th graders
• Math SAT-9 Math scores rose 2½ times as much as
  African Americans scores statewide.
• Reading SAT-9 Reading scores rising nearly 7
  times as much as African Americans scores
  statewide.

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Students are Keeping Up with Requirements . . .
Not Dropping Out as Opponents Feared
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
Source Unpublished data from SJUSD, 2002.
2003 by The Education Trust-West
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But Course Titles Dont Guarantee Good
Instruction Good Standards Can Help Focus
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals

• But not if they sit on the shelf.

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Language Arts Curriculum Calibration Analysis
Element 1Clear and Specific Goals
Source DataWorks Education Research, 2002.
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Element 2 Good Teachers Matter More Than
Anything Else
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Element 2 Good Teachers Matter Most
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
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Element 2 Good Teachers Matter Most
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
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Students In Low Performing Schools Are Five Times
More Likely To Have An Underqualified Teacher
Element 2 Good Teachers Matter Most
Source Shields, Patrick M., Humphrey, Daniel
C., Wechsler, Marjorie E., Riehl, Lori M.,
Tiffany-Morales, Juliet, Woodworth, Katrina,
Young, Viki M., Price, Tiffany. (2001). The
status of the teaching profession 2001. Santa
Cruz, CA The Center for the Future of Teaching
and Learning.
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K-3 Teacher Credentials in California Schools
with Different Proportions of Low-Income Students
Element 2 Good Teachers Matter Most
Source Class size reduction in California
1998-99 evaluation findings, 2000, CDE.
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If we had the courage and creativity to change
these patterns?
Element 2 Good Teachers Matter Most
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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
Element 2 Good Teachers Matter Most
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Element 3 Using Programs and Practices Proven to
Work
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ELEMENT III Programs and Practices That
WorkProfessional DevelopmentHigh
Implementation Schools Wipe Out Black/White Gap
in Math Skills Pittsburgh
Note Chart compares students in schools with
similar demographics. Source Briar and Resnick,
CSE Technical Report 528, CRESST, UCLA, August
2000.
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ELEMENT III Programs and Practices That
WorkBlack Students in High Implementation
Schools Outperform White Students in Other Schools
PROBLEM SOLVING
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The Full Year Calendar
ELEMENT III Programs and Practices That
WorkUSE OF INSTRUCTIONAL TIME Analysis of One
California Urban Middle School Calendar
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Less Summer Vacation
Analysis of One California Urban Middle School
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Less Weekends, Holidays, Summer Vacation
Analysis of One California Urban Middle School
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Less Professional Development Days Early
Dismissal/Parent Conferences
Analysis of One California Urban Middle School
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Less Class Picnic, Class Trip, Thanksgiving
Feast, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukkah, Awards,
Assembles, Concerts
Analysis of One California Urban Middle School
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Less State and District Testing
Analysis of One California Urban Middle School
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ELEMENT III Programs and Practices That
WorkUse of Instructional Time?

• BOTTOM LINE?
• Teachers are Left with about
• 24 School Days
• OR
• 18 Eight Hour Days Per Subject Per Year

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Element 4 Monitoring and Measuring
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Element IV Monitoring and Measuring

• Administer Common District-wide benchmark or
  snap-shot assessments, at least every 6-9 weeks.
• Get the results immediately in the hands of
  principals, teachers, parents and supplemental
  instruction providers and,
• Create vehicles for teachers to meet together to
  discuss assignments and student work.

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Element 5 Intervene and Adjust
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High Performing Schools and Districts Act
Immediately on Results from Snapshot Assessments
Element 5 Intervene and Adjust

• When the data suggests individual kids are behind
  those kids get immediate help.
• When the data suggests that ½ or more of the kids
  in a class are behind, the teacher gets help.
• No one right way, but high performers have
  consistent methods to intervene and help ...
  whoever needs it . . . when they need it.

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When Kids Are Behind, Schools Must Provide More
Instruction and Support
Element 5 Intervene and Adjust

• Kentucky provides extra time for struggling
  students in high-poverty schools, in whatever way
  works best for the community before school,
  after school, weekends or summers.
• Maryland offers extra dollars for 7th and 8th
  graders who need more support
• San Diego City created more time, mostly within
  the regular school day, by doubling even
  tripling the amount of instructional time in
  literacy and mathematics for low-performing
  students.

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Underlying Everything Is the Cycle of Low
Expectations
Low Expectations
Poor Test Results
Less Challenging Courses
Low Level Assignments/Instruction
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The Cycle of Low Expectations

• Some leaders talk about the challenge of closing
  the achievement gap in one way, a way that is
  unlikely to get us very far, they
• Blame student performance on the kids and their
  families
• Spend excessive amounts of time documenting their
  demographics or,
• Complain about the inappropriateness of state
  standards for THEIR kids.

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The Cycle of Low Expectations

• 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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The Cycle of Low Expectations
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
The Cycle of Low Expectations

• 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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The Cycle of Low Expectations

• Other Leaders Talk About the Challenges in a
  Different Way. 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...
• They build SYSTEMS to support teachers,
  administrators, parents and students themselves
  to move toward standards.

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We are expecting a lot from these young people,
and we should. Because by holding them to high
expectations we are saying, We believe in you.
We know you can succeed...We wont deprive you of
opportunities as an adult, simply because of the
difficulties you face as a child.By saying
this, we are also asking a lot of ourselves, and
we should. Our children deserve to believe in
our commitment to them. As individuals, as a
society, we cant afford to let them down."
The Cycle of Low Expectations
--State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack
OConnell, State of Education Address, 2/11/04
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I think it's a completely reasonable expectation
that all students will have a basic proficiency
in the subjects we teach, and we are working
toward that goal already.  Will it be
difficult? Of course. Is it doable? I certainly
believe it is. We believe in turning our schools
around and we're working to stay on that path. If
we didn't, then we would be shortchanging our
kids.
The Cycle of Low Expectations
-- Joe Farley , Oceanside Unified School District
Deputy Superintendent, North County Times (CA),
1/9/03
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The Education Trust-West
510-465-6444 www.EdTrustWest.org