IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND BEYOND

1
IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND BEYOND

• Prepared for the Office of Vocational and Adult
  Education by
• The Education Trust
• 2003

Archived Information
2
What Do We Know About Student Achievement?
3
12th Grade Achievement In Math and Science is Up
Somewhat
4
High School Achievement Math and Science
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress.
5
In Reading, 12th Grade Achievement is Headed
Downward
6
HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT READING AND WRITING
7
After Earlier Progress in Narrowing Gaps, Gaps
in the 90s Largely Unchanged
8
Gaps Narrow, Then Fairly Flat NAEP Reading
Scores, 17 Year-Olds
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends
in Academic Progress (p. 107) Washington, DC US
Department of Education, August 2000
9
Gaps Narrow, Then Hold Steady or Widen NAEP
Math Scores, 17 Year-Olds
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends
in Academic Progress (p. 108) Washington, DC US
Department of Education, August 2000
10
Students Make More Growth Grade 4 to 8 than
Grade 8 to 12
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Academic GrowthGrades 4-8, 8-12
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Value Added in High School Declined During the
Nineties
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Value Added Declining in High School Math
Age 13-17 Growth
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress
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Value Added Declining in High School Science
Age 13-17 Growth
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress
15
Reading Students Entering Better Prepared, But
Leaving Worse
Source NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress
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Hormones?
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Students in Other Countries Gain far More in High
School
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TIMSS
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Source NCES 1999-081R, Highlights From TIMSS
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Source NCES 1999-081R, Highlights From TIMSS
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KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AT END OF HIGH SCHOOL
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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
24

• And these numbers are for those who make it
  through
• High School!

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Each Year, One of Every Twenty High School
Students Leaves School
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Despite Poor Preparation, Most Graduates Will Go
Immediately On To College
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IMMEDIATE COLLEGE-GOING GROWING
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Within 2 Years of HS Graduation?
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Most High School Grads Go On To Postsecondary
Within 2 Years
Source NELS 88, Second (1992) and Third (1994)
Follow up in, USDOE, NCES, Access to
Postsecondary Education for the 1992 High School
Graduates, 1998, Table 2.
30
Unfortunately, About Half of these Students Must
Take Remedial Coursework and Many Do Not Even
Make it to the Sophomore Year
31
College Freshmen Not Returning for Sophomore Year
Source Tom Mortensen, Postsecondary Opportunity,
No. 89, November 1999
32
GAINS IN COLLEGE COMPLETION ARE NOT
PROPORTIONATE WITH GAINS IN COLLEGE ATTENDANCE
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College Going vs. Completion of BA or Higher,
Whites
19
10
Source US Department of Commerce, Bureau of
Census, October Current Population Surveys,
1972-2000, in US DOE, NCES, The Condition of
Education 2002, p.166 and 174.
34
College Going vs. Completion of BA or Higher,
Blacks
21
7
Source US Department of Commerce, Bureau of
Census, October Current Population Surveys,
1972-2000, in US DOE, NCES, The Condition of
Education 2002, p.166 and 174.
35
ADD IT ALL UP...
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Of Every 100 White Kindergartners
(24 Year-Olds)
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 2000, Detailed Tables No. 2
37
Of Every 100 African American Kindergartners
(24 Year-Olds)
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 2000, Detailed Tables No. 2
38
Of Every 100 Latino Kindergartners
(24 Year-Olds)
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 2000, Detailed Tables No. 2
39
College Graduates by Age 24
Source Tom Mortenson, Research Seminar on Public
Policy Analysis of Opportunity for Post
Secondary, 1997.
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WHY?
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What We Hear Adults Say

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

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But if theyre right, then why are poor and
minority children performing so high in...
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Some 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.
46
Prince Edward County High, Farmville VA
(715 students 55 African American and Latino)
Sources Virginia Department of Education Web
site, http//www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/200
2SOLpassrates.html.
47
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.
48
And some entire states...
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4th Grade Math African American Gains Between
1992 and 2000
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables
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4th Grade Math Latino Gains Between 1992 and 2000
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables
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North Carolina Gains in Grade 4 Reading
Outpace the Nation, 1992-1998
Source NCES, National Assessment of Educational
Progress
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What We Hear Students SayWe CAN Learn, But

• some teachers dont know their subjects
• counselors underestimate our potential
• principals dismiss concerns
• curriculum and expectations are low

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SO, WHAT DO WE DO?
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Small and personal for both students and teachers
will help. Indeed, given the clarity of the
research, it is unthinkable NOT to act.
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But real change also requires at least five
critical elements

• Get the goals right
• Get all students in a curriculum lined up with
  those goals
• Make certain that all students are genuinely
  STRETCHED
• Provide extra instruction for students who arrive
  behind
• TEACHER QUALITY MATTERS.

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Element 1 Goals
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Education PaysAnnual Earnings of 25-34 yr-olds
by Attainment, 2001
Source US bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau
of the Census, Current Population Survey, March
2002
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Its Not Just Degrees, But Also Skills That
Matter--for All Groups Prose
Source Andrew Sum, Literacy in the Labor
Force, NCES, September 1999
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Students seem to get all this, but
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How Expectations Differ Plans For Students After
High School
SourceMetropolitan Life, Survey of the American
Teacher 2000 Are We Preparing Students for the
21st Century?, September 2000.
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To break through these old attitudes, cannot
equivocate.

• ALL students must graduate from high school ready
  for postsecondary education.

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Element 2 All Students in Curriculum Lined Up
With Those Goals
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Transcript Study single biggest predictor of
college success isQUALITY AND INTENSITY OF HIGH
SCHOOL CURRICULUM

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

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But college prep curriculum has benefits far
beyond college.
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Students of all sorts will learn more...
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A Rigorous Math Curriculum Improves Scores For
All Students
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress, 1992 Mathematics Trend Assessment,
National Center for Education Statistics. NAEP
1992 Trends in Academic Progress (p 113).
Washington, DC US Department of Education. 1994
67
Vocational Students Taking High-Level English
Courses Score Higher
Source Bottoms, Gene. Report of the SREB, High
Schools That Work 1998 Secondary Teacher Survey,
SREB, 1998, NAEP Scores.
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They will also fail less often...
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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.
70
Students of All Abilities Are Generally More
Likely to Fail Low-Level Mathematics
Courses9th-graders earning Ds or Fs by 8th grade
achievement course assignment
Source Sondra Cooney Gene Bottoms, Middle
Grades to High School Mending a Weak Link,
SREB, 2002
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Element 3 Working on the Rigor Part
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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 2000 by The
Education Trust, Inc.
73

• A full one-third of American Algebra 1 courses
  use textbooks with very little Algebra in them.
• Willam Schmidtt

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Students can do no better than the assignments
they are given...
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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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14 SC High Schools CalibratedGaps Between
Standards and Assignments Largest in Upper Grades
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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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End of Course Exams Can Help, but teachers need

• Help in designing powerful lessons, units
• Help in developing consistent understanding of
  what quality work looks like
• Help with more regular assessments (e.g., 9
  weeks) of student progress.

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Element Four Provide extra instruction for
students who arrive behind
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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

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And if you dont live in a smart state?

• Many schools, districts finding ways to double,
  even triple, amount of time spent on literacy,
  math.

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Element Five Teachers Matter Big Time
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Too Many High School Teachers Dont Have
Background in Subject They are Teaching
Source Ingersoll, Richard. American Educational
Researcher, The Problem of Underqualified
Teacher in American Secondary Schools, vol. 28,
no. 2, March 1999, p. 29.
85
Classes in High Poverty High Schools More Often
Taught by Underqualified Teachers
Teachers who lack a major or minor in the
field Source National Commission on Teaching and
Americas Future, What Matters Most Teaching for
Americas Future (p.16) 1996.
86
Math Science Classes With a High Percentage of
Minority Students Are More Often Taught by
Underqualified Teachers
Source Jeannie Oakes. Multiplying Inequalities
The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking
on Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and Science
(Rand 1990)
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
87
High-Poverty Schools Get More Low-Scoring
Teachers
Teachers scoring in the bottom quartile on on
SAT/ACT. High-poverty schools have 2/3 or more
students eligible for reduced-price
lunch. Source Education Week, Quality Counts
2001, January 2001.
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Even Within Schools, Often Big
Differences
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Students in Low Track Classes Are More Often
Taught by Underqualified Teachers
Source Ingersoll, The Problem of Underqualified
Teachers in American Secondary Schools
Educational Researcher, Vol. 28, No 2 (March
1999) pp. 26-37
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Impact?
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1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
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If we had the courage and creativity to change
these patterns?
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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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Teachers Matter Big Time!
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The Office of Vocational and Adult Education

• karen.clark_at_ed.gov