How do we really help minority students from lowsocioeconomic backgrounds

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How do we really help minority students from
low-socio-economic backgrounds?

• Keith Moore, Indian Education Director
• South Dakota Department of Education

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The Achievement Gap

• Achievement Gap (achievement gap)
• Refers to the disparity in academic performance
  between groups of students (ie. race, family
  income levels, etc.).
• Shows up in grades, standardized-test scores,
  course selection, dropout rates, and
  college-completion rates.

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National Statistics

• EXAMPLE Graduation Rates in relation to poverty
• Young adults living in families with incomes in
  the lowest 20 percent of all family incomes were
  SIX TIMES more likely than their peers from
  families in the top 20 percent of income
  distribution to drop out of high school.

U.S. Department of Education, 2000
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National Statistics
EXAMPLE Test scores in relation to race
NAEP, 2003
Percentage at the proficient level or higher
Ethnicity of the 4th grade students tested
U.S. Department of Education, 2003
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National Statistics

• Race in relation to poverty statistics

Proctor Dalaker, 2002
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Tracking Trends in South Dakota
Free and Reduced Lunch Program
South Dakota Department of Education, 2007
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Tracking Trends in South Dakota

• Students eligible for free or reduced priced meals

Proctor Dalaker, 2002
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Tracking Trends in South Dakota
South Dakota Department of Education, 2007
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2007 National Indian Education Study Over-sampled
Native students for the NAEP
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 4 Reading
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 4 Mathematics
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 8 Reading
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 8 Mathematics
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Regional trends shed more insight on patterns of
achievement.
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 4 Reading by NIES Participating State
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 4 Mathematics by NIES Participating State
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 8 Reading by NIES Participating State
300
290
280
270
260
260
Average Scale Score
256
253
252
251
249
249
248
248
250
247
240
236
236
234
233
230
220
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2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress,
Grade 8 Mathematics by NIES Participating State
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Racial isolation appears to have consequences.
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So where do Native Americans live?
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But so does a relevant lack of financial
resources.
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Median Family Income in the Past 12 Months by
U.S. Census Bureau Racial Categorization, 2005
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Why Poverty Matters...

• Poor kids have less access to appropriate health
  care.
• Poor kids have less access to enriching
  out-of-school educational experiences trips to
  museums, rich educational programming,
  educational toys, and board games.
• Poor kids have less access to parents who are
  savvy in childhood development.
• Poor kids have less contact with adults who
  utilize a robust vocabulary.
• Poor kids have less access to parents with
  leisure time. Leisure time permits home
  instruction in early phonic awareness.
• Poor kids have less access to parents with an
  ability to assist with homework.
• Poor kids are less likely to have a quiet,
  well-equipped place to study.
• Poor kids are more likely to have
  responsibilities in the home that limit time
  available for homework.
• Poor kids are less likely to have fashionable
  clothing. This can lead to feelings of
  alienation.
• Poor kids are more likely to come from larger
  families. Less time and fewer resources can be
  devoted to each child.

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Why Poverty Matters...

• Poor kids are more likely to come from homes
  where parents have a negative feeling about
  school.
• Poor kids are more likely to come from a home
  where a parent has been incarcerated, leading to
  feelings of embarrassment, and inadequacy.
• Poor kids are more likely to come from homes that
  experience domestic violence.
• Poor kids are more likely to be in a home
  experiencing some form of chemical dependence.
• Poor kids are more likely to experience early
  communication in non-standard English, a dialogue
  that is unfamiliar in schools.
• Poor kids are more likely to experience poor
  nutrition.
• Poor kids are less likely to benefit from
  exceptional native intelligence.
• Poor kids are more likely to have poor peers.
• Poor kids are less likely to have books.
• Adults less often read to poor kids.
• Poor kids are less likely to have access to
  computers.

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Educational attainment by Racial Subgroup, 2005
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So poverty is different for students of color...
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For students of color, poverty is much more
likely to be...

• Concentrated
• Isolated
• Generational
• Deep

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Why Does Concentrated Poverty Matter?

• Housing prices depress teachers dont live near
  the school
• Students have few peers with high expectations of
  themselves
• Students have few interactions with non-poor
  adults who may have high expectations for them
• Students begin to see that only people that look
  unlike them achieve success
• Peer pressure is very strong and more likely to
  be a negative pressure
• Longer distances to market mean few retail
  outlets and higher prices
• Crime in the community is much more rampant
• Few jobs are available nearby meaning longer
  commutes and less time to interact meaningfully
  with children
• Often many people holding down multiple jobs
  meaning more children with unsupervised play time

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But theres more to our students experience than
assessment results.
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Whats a risk ratio?

• Risk ratios
• of AI students (DO) / of AI students
  
• of ALL students (DO) / of ALL students
• Value greater than 1 means more risk for group
• E.g. A value of 1.37 for expulsion among Hispanic
  students means Hispanic students would be 37
  more likely to be expelled

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Among present states, the average special
education risk ratio for American Indian students
is...
1.73
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Among present states, the modified 2005 drop-out
risk ratio for American Indian students was
2.17
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Among present states, the expulsion risk ratio
for American Indian students was
3.07
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College Completion rates
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United States College Completion Rates by Racial
Subgroup, National Center for Education
Statistics, 1997-2003
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So what do we do?
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Everyone Wants a Silver Bullet
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But is anyone willing to deploy it?
School desegregation
Or ending poverty
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If not, were left with ordinary bullets
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none of them a sufficient policy instrument in
their own right,
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but that form a powerful arsenal when trained on
the same target.
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Early Childhood Education
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Early Childhood Education
We know children come to the schoolhouse already
behind, so where should we begin?
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After School and Summer School Programs
The gains experienced over the academic year do
not evaporate when children are engaged in
enriching summer school experiences.
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Leadership and Teacher Quality
In addition to creating culture and atmosphere,
the best principals often appear to be
instructional leaders. Teachers matter. Great
school leaders and teachers have high
expectations and provide relationships,
relevancy, and rigor.
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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
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Collaboration
Critical Friends groups are transforming
practice, improving climate, decreasing feelings
of isolation, and ameliorating achievement.
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Creating a system-wide common mission
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Coordinated attack
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Its the right thing to do
Morally
Legally
Even economically
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Thank you!