Education Trust, Inc.

1
Gaining Traction in Our High SchoolsCritical
Leverage Points for Change

• The Education Trust
• Kentucky District Leadership Teams

2
First, some good news.

• After more than a decade of fairly flat
  achievement and stagnant or growing gaps, we
  appear to be turning the corner.

3
NAEP Reading, 9 Year-OldsRecord Performance for
All Groups
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
4
NAEP Math, 9 Year-Olds Record Performance for
All Groups
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
5
NAEP Reading, 13 Year-Olds
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
6
NAEP Math, 13 Year-OldsIncreases and Record
Performance for All Groups
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
7
Bottom LineWhen We Really Focus on Something,
We Make Progress
8
Clearly, much more remains to be done in
elementary and middle school

• Too many youngsters still enter high school way
  behind.

9
But at least we have some traction on these
problems.
10
The Same is NOTTrue of High School
11
Age 17 Math and Science NAEP Long-Term Trends
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress and
NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress.
12
Age 17 Reading and Writing NAEP Long-Term
Trends
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress.
13
Gaps between groups wider today than in 1990
14
NAEP Reading, 17 Year-Olds
21
29
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
15
NAEP Math, 17 Year-Olds
20
28
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
16
Value Added in High School Declined During the
Nineties
17
Value Added Declining in High School Math...
Scale Score Growth, From Age 13 to Age 17
Note Scale score gains reflect the difference
between the scale scores of 17-year-olds and the
scale scores of 13-year-olds four years prior.
Source NCES, 1999. Trends in Academic Progress.
Data from Long Term Trend NAEP
18
... Still
Scale Score Growth, From Grade 8 to Grade 12
Note Scale score gains reflect the difference
between the scale scores of 12th Graders and the
scale scores of 8th Graders four years prior.
Source NAEP Data Explorer, http//nces.ed.gov/nat
ionsreportcard/nde
19
Reading Students Entering High School Better
Prepared, But Leaving Worse
Total 288
Total 290
Source NCES, 1999. Trends in Academic Progress.
Data from Long Term Trend NAEP
20
Not just a pattern on NAEP.State assessments
show similar trends.
21
Hormones?
22
Students in Other Countries Gain far More in
Secondary School

• TIMSS

23
PISA
24
PISA 2003 US 15 Year-Olds Rank Near The End Of
The Pack Among 29 OECD Countries
Source NCES, 2005, International Outcomes of
Learning in Mathematics, Literacy and Problem
Solving 2003 PISA Results. NCES 2005-003
25
2003 U.S. Ranked 24th out of 29 OECD Countries
in Mathematics
Source Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), PISA 2003 Results, data
available at http//www.oecd.org/
26
Problems are not limited to our high-poverty and
high-minority schools . . .
27
U.S. Ranks Low in the Percent of Students in the
Highest Achievement Level (Level 6) in Math
Source Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), PISA 2003 Results, data
available at http//www.oecd.org/
28
U.S. Ranks 23rd out of 29 OECD Countries in the
Math Achievement of the Highest-Performing
Students
Students at the 95th Percentile
Source Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), PISA 2003 Results, data
available at http//www.oecd.org/
29
U.S. Ranks 23rd out of 29OECD Countries in the
Math Achievement of High-SES Students
Source Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), PISA 2003 Results, data
available at http//www.oecd.org/
30
Problems not limited to math, either.
31
PISA 2003 Problem-Solving, US Ranks 24th Out of
29 OECD Countries
Source NCES, 2005, International Outcomes of
Learning in Mathematics, Literacy and Problem
Solving 2003 PISA Results. NCES 2005-003
32
More than half of our 15 year olds at
problem-solving level 1 or below.
Source OECD Problem Solving for Tomorrows
World. 2004
33
One measure on which we rank high?Inequality!
34
PISA 2003 Gaps in Performance Of U.S.15
Year-Olds Are Among the Largest of OECD Countries
Of 29 OECD countries, based on scores of
students at the 5th and 95th percentiles.
Source Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), PISA 2003 Results, data
available at http//www.oecd.org/
35
These gaps begin before children arrive at the
schoolhouse door.

• But, rather than organizing our educational
  system to ameliorate this problem, we organize it
  to exacerbate the problem.

36
How?

• By giving students who arrive with less, less in
  school, too.

37
Some of these lesses are a result of choices
that policymakers make.
38
NationInequities in State and Local Revenue Per
Student
Source The Education Trust, The Funding Gap
2005. Data are for 2003
39
But some of the lessesindeed, perhaps the
most devastating onesare a function of choices
that educators make.
40
Choices we make about what to expect of whom
41
Students in Poor Schools Receive As for Work
That Would Earn Cs in Affluent Schools
Source Prospects (ABT Associates, 1993), in
Prospects Final Report on Student Outcomes,
PES, DOE, 1997.
42
Choices we make about what to teach whom
43
Fewer Latino students are enrolledin Algebra 1
in Grade 8
Source CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and
Mathematics Education, 2005
44
Fewer Latino students are enrolledin Algebra 2
Source CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and
Mathematics Education, 2001
45
And choices we make about Whoteaches whom
46
More Classes in High-Poverty, High-Minority
Schools Taught By Out-of-Field Teachers
High poverty Low poverty
High minority Low minority
Note High Poverty school-50 or more of the
students are eligible for free/reduced price
lunch. Low-poverty school -15 or fewer of the
students are eligible for free/reduced price
lunch. High-minority school - 50 or more of
the students are nonwhite. Low-minority school-
15 or fewer of the students are nonwhite.
Teachers lacking a college major or minor in the
field. Data for secondary-level core academic
classes. Source Richard M. Ingersoll, University
of Pennsylvania. Original analysis for the Ed
Trust of 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey.
47
Poor and Minority Students Get More
Inexperienced Teachers
High poverty Low poverty
High minority Low minority
Teachers with 3 or fewer years of experience.
Note High poverty refers to the top quartile of
schools with students eligible for free/reduced
price lunch. Low poverty-bottom quartile of
schools with students eligible for free/reduced
price lunch. High minority-top quartile those
schools with the highest concentrations of
minority students. Low minority-bottom quartile
of schools with the lowest concentrations of
minority students
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
Monitoring Quality An Indicators Report,
December 2000.
48
Results are devastating.

• Kids who come in a little behind, leave a lot
  behind.

49
By the end of high school?
50
African American and Latino 17 Year-Olds Read at
Same Levels As White 13 Year-Olds
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
51
And these are the students who remain in high
school.

• What do those numbers look like?

52
Students Graduate From High School At Different
Rates 4-Year Graduation Rates
Data is for the class of 2003.
Source Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, The
Manhattan Institute, 2006. Leaving Boys Behind
Public High School Graduation Rates.
53
ADD IT ALL UP...
54
Of Every 100 White Kindergartners
(25-to 29-Year-Olds)
Source US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
Census. March Current Population Surveys,
1971-2003, in The Condition of Education 2005.
http//nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2005/section3/indi
cator23.aspinfo
55
Of Every 100 African American Kindergartners
(25-to 29-Year-Olds)
Source US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
Census. March Current Population Surveys,
1971-2003, in The Condition of Education 2005.
http//nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2005/section3/indi
cator23.aspinfo
56
College Graduates by Age 26
SES is a weighted variable developed by NCES,
which includes parental education levels and
occupations and family income. High and low
refer to the highest and lowest quartiles of SES.
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
Coming of Age in the 1990s The Eighth Grade
Class of 1988 12 Years Later, March, 2002.
http//nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid20
02321
57
So What Can We Do?
58
Many educators have concluded that we cant do
much.
59
What We Hear Many Educators Say

• Theyre poor
• Their parents dont care
• They come to schools without breakfast
• Not enough books
• Not enough parents . . .

60
But if they are right, why are low-income
students and students of color performing so high
in some schools
61
Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School
62
Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High Elmont, New
York

• 75 African American
• 12 Latino
• 11 Asian/Pacific Islander/American Ind.
• 3 White

Source http//emsc33.nysed.gov/repcrd2004/cir/280
252070002.pdf
63
Elmont MemorialHigh Achievement in Mathematics
Source http//emsc33.nysed.gov/repcrd2004/overvie
w-analysis/280252070002.pdf
64
Elmont Memorial High Achievement in English
Source http//emsc33.nysed.gov/repcrd2004/overvie
w-analysis/280252070002.pdf
65
University Park Campus School
66
University Park High SchoolWorcester, MA

• Grades 7-12
• 70 poverty
• 50 ELL
• Most students enter at least two grade levels
  behind.

67
University Park Results 2004

• 100 of 10th graders passed MA high school exit
  exam on first attempt.
• 87 passed at advanced or proficient level.
• Fifth most successful school in the state,
  surpassing many schools serving wealthy students.
  

68
Bottom LineAt Every Level of Education, What We
Do Matters A Lot!
69
Some questions for you

• Were these data a surprise to you?
• Do they pretty much reflect what is going on in
  your community, too?
• How well known are these problemsamong
  educators, in the community more generally?
• If not well known, what can you do?

70
MOVING FURTHER, FASTER
71
1. Set Clear, High Goals for Students
72
Even when they start with high dropout rates,
high impact schools dont just aim at preparing
students for a diploma.

• They focus on college.

73
Thats Good, Because Education Pays 2000 U.S.
Median Earnings
Source U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Public Use
Microdata Samples (based on the 2000 Decennial
Census)
74
75 OF NEW JOB GROWTH REQUIRES SOME LEVEL OF
POST-SECONDARY TRAINING
75
Growing Need for Higher Levels of Education
Projections of Education Shortages and Surpluses
in 2012
Shortage
Surplus
Bachelors Degree
Associates Degree
Some College
Source Analysis by Anthony Carnevale, 2006 of
Current Population Survey (1992-2004) and Census
Population Projection Estimates
76
Even if you have your doubts about college, new
ACT study says

• Prepared for college, prepared for workforce
  training are
• SAME THING.

77
2. Put all kidsnot just somein a demanding
high school core curriculum.
78
Single biggest predictor of post-high school
success is QUALITY AND INTENSITY OF HIGH SCHOOL
CURRICULUM

• Cliff Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box, U.S.
  Department of Education.

79
But are most of our kids getting anything that
even remotely resemblesINTENSE?
80
Jake Fall Schedule, Freshman Year
81
Spring Schedule, Freshman Year
82
Fall Schedule, Sophomore Year
83
Spring Schedule, Sophomore Year
84
Fall Schedule, Junior Year
85
Spring Schedule, Junior Year
86
Senior Year?

• Too embarrassing to even show

87
Ed Trust Transcript Study Our Current Favorites

• Pre-Spanish
• Future Studies
• Exploring
• Principles of PE
• Teen Living
• Life Management
• Food Fundamentals
• Winter Activities.

Source Education Trust Analysis of High School
Transcripts 2005
88
Many of these courses not even in district or
school catalog.
89
You should do a transcript review, too.

• Why?

90
College prep curriculum has benefits far beyond
college.
91
Students of all sorts will learn more...
92
Low Quartile Students Gain More From College Prep
Courses
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
93
They will also fail less often...
94
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.
95
And theyll be better prepared for the workplace.
96
Leading districts, states making college prep the
default curriculum.

• Texas, Indiana, Arkansas, Michigan, Oklahoma,
  Kentucky, Kansas.

97
3. Dont leave anything about teaching and
learning to chance.
98
Historically, most of the really important
decisions about what students should learn and
what kind of work was good enough left to
individual teachers.
99
Result? A System That

• Doesnt expect very much from MOST students and,
• Expects much less from some types of students
  than others.

100
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.
101
Students can do no better than the assignments
they are given...
102
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.
103
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.
104
The Odyssey Ninth Grade High-level Assignment
Comparison/Contrast Paper Between Homer's Epic
Poem, The Odyssey and the Movie "0 Brother Where
Art Thou" By nature, humans compare and contrast
all elements of their world. Why? Because in the
juxtaposition of two different things, one can
learn more about each individual thing as well as
something about the universal nature of the
things being compared. For this 2-3 page paper
you will want to ask yourself the following
questions what larger ideas do you see working
in The Odyssey and "0 Brother Where Art Thou"? Do
both works treat these issues in the same way?
What do the similarities and differences between
the works reveal about the underlying nature of
the larger idea?
105
The Odyssey Ninth Grade Low-level Assignment
Divide class into 3 groups Group 1 designs a
brochure titled "Odyssey Cruises". The students
listen to the story and write down all the places
Odysseus visited in his adventures, and list the
cost to travel from place to place. Group 2
draws pictures of each adventure. Group 3 takes
the names of the characters in the story and gods
and goddesses in the story and designs a
crossword puzzle.
106
High Performing Districts

• Have clear and specific goals for what students
  should learn in every grade, including the order
  in which they should learn it
• Provide teachers with common curriculum,
  assignments
• Create ongoing mechanisms for assignment quality
  review
• Do benchmark or snapshot testing along the way,
  getting data back to teachers within 48 hours.

107
4. Make certain that students who arrive behind
get extra help.
108
Take, for example, the matter of reading.

• Kids who arrive behind in readingoften simply
  assigned to courses that dont demand much
  reading.

109
Average High School Percent of Instructional
Time in Reading Intensive Courses
110
Surprise Gaps Grow.
111
Higher Performing High Schools

• Behind students spend 60 additional hours (25
  more time) over 1 year in reading related
  courses)
• Behind students get 240 additional hours over
  4 years!

112
In other words, use of instructional time not
left to chance.
113
5. Focus on courses with high failure rates.
114
In both high schools and colleges, not uncommon
to have 50 of students not successfully
completing key courses.
115
Examine the data

• By course
• By teacher
• By types of students (entering below, average
  or above).

116
Identify teachers getting unusually strong
results ask them to help lead an effort to
redesign the course.
117
Key issue in successful graduation, from high
school and college is

• MOMENTUM!

118
6. Before moving to new school schedules, do
the math.
119
Instructional Time Per Course
120
Bottom Line

• Students who take 4 years of math or English in
  6 period day schedule, get equivalent of one full
  year of additional instruction over those who
  take 4 years in block schedule.

121
New Illinois Study New Schedules Resulting in
Lower Performance on ACT
122
7. Work hard to attract and hold high quality
teachers. And insist that poor children get at
least their fair share.
123
Now 10 years of researchVery big differences
among teachers in their ability to grow student
knowledge and skills.
124
Students in Dallas Gain More in Math with
Effective Teachers One Year Growth From 3rd-4th
Grade
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
125
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
126
Cumulative Teacher Effects On Students Math
Scores in Dallas (Grades 3-5)
Beginning Grade 3 Percentile Rank 57
Beginning Grade 3 Percentile Rank 55
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
127
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
128
Good teachers matter a lot.

• Impact of effective teachers swamps almost every
  other intervention, including class size
  reduction.

129
But some groups of kids dont get their fair
share of quality teachers.
130
More Classes in High-Poverty, High-Minority
Schools Taught By Out-of-Field Teachers
High poverty Low poverty
High minority Low minority
Note High Poverty school-50 or more of the
students are eligible for free/reduced price
lunch. Low-poverty school -15 or fewer of the
students are eligible for free/reduced price
lunch. High-minority school - 50 or more of
the students are nonwhite. Low-minority school-
15 or fewer of the students are nonwhite.
Teachers lacking a college major or minor in the
field. Data for secondary-level core academic
classes. Source Richard M. Ingersoll, University
of Pennsylvania. Original analysis for the Ed
Trust of 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey.
131
Poor and Minority Students Get More
Inexperienced Teachers
High poverty Low poverty
High minority Low minority
Teachers with 3 or fewer years of experience.
Note High poverty refers to the top quartile of
schools with students eligible for free/reduced
price lunch. Low poverty-bottom quartile of
schools with students eligible for free/reduced
price lunch. High minority-top quartile those
schools with the highest concentrations of
minority students. Low minority-bottom quartile
of schools with the lowest concentrations of
minority students
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
Monitoring Quality An Indicators Report,
December 2000.
132
Big Differences EvenWITHINSchools

• Results?

133
Huge Differences in Teachers Effectiveness

• An average student assigned to a bottom
• quartile teacher lost 5 percentile points while
• a demographically similar student with a top
• quartile teacher gained 5 percentile points.

Gordon, R., Kane, T.J., and Staiger, D.O. (2006).
Identifying Effective teachers Using Performance
on the Job. Washington, D.C. The Brookings
Institution.
134
Comparing the Average Student in the Classrooms
of Bottom Quartile and Top Quartile Teachers
10
Gordon, R., Kane, T.J., and Staiger, D.O. (2006).
Identifying Effective teachers Using Performance
on the Job. Washington, D.C. The Brookings
Institution.
135
Massive Impact

• If the effects were to accumulate, having a
• top-quartile teacher rather than a bottom
• quartile teacher four years in a row would be
• enough to close the black-white test score
• gap and,
• Have twice the impact of reducing class size from
  22 to 16.

Source Gordon, R., Kane, T.J., and Staiger, D.O.
(2006). Identifying Effective teachers Using
Performance on the Job. Washington, D.C. The
Brookings Institution.
136
Bottom Line Improving the Value Added of
Teacher Force Has to be at Heart of Our Strategy.
137
Moreover, unless we both improve overall
effectiveness and change distribution patterns,
will never achieve our goal of closing gaps.
138
Some actions for your consideration.
139
Action 1 Get value-added systems in place.
140
Action 2 Make Tenure Mean Something.

• Identify year one teachers who are low value
  added
• Provide intensive assistance year two
• Bar granting of tenure to those who remain low
  value-added.

141
Action 3 Overhaul system of teacher evaluation.

• Use value-added as heart.

142
Action 4 Provide substantial incentive for
high value-added teachers to teach students who
need them most.
143
8. Activate important partners
144
Key places to focus

• Students
• Business leaders
• Community leaders.

145
Student Views

• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Shadowing
• Writing/Drama
• Data Analysis

146
What Teenagers Say About School Rigor

• Fewer Than 3 in 10 Think Their School is Very
  Academically Rigorous

Source 1998 Annual Survey from Whos Who Among
American High School Students
147
Focus Groupseg. San Jose Unified
148
LAUSD Community and student organizing done
right is the most powerful force for change
Source Community Coalition, 2005.
149
Or How About a Little Real-World Application of
Mathematics Skills?
150
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Business and Community Leaders

• Involve from beginning
• Focus business partnerships not simply on
  preventing dropouts, but on college and careers
• Goal Folks feel they are choosing this
  direction, instead of this being done to them
  once again.

155
The Education Trust

• Download this Presentation
• www.edtrust.org
• Washington, DC 202-293-1217
• Oakland, CA 510-465-6444

156
Todays action planning

• Dont try to do it all!
• Pick one to three important steps.
• Decide who will do what, and when you will meet
  again.