Data for Closing Gaps in Public Education

1
Data for Closing Gapsin Public Education

• Ross Wiener, The Education Trust
• March 2006

2
Without good data, the achievement gapcan be
ignored.
3
Howard Bishop Middle SchoolGainesville, Florida

• 55 African American
• 58 Low-Income
• An A school under the Florida accountability
  system
• Did not make AYP for 2003-04

Source Florida Department of Education,
http//www.fldoe.org
4
Achievement Gaps at Howard Bishop2004 Reading
Composite
AYP Target 31
Source Florida Department of Education,
http//www.fldoe.org
5
Achievement Gaps at Howard Bishop2004 Math
Composite
AYP Target 38
Source Florida Department of Education,
http//www.fldoe.org
6
Hampton, Henrico County, and Richmond Outperform
Fairfax County for African American Students
Source Virginia Department of Education,
http//www.pen.k12.va.us/
7
Data is important for understanding whos
graduating from high school on time . . . and who
is not
8
Indianas State-Reported Graduation Rate vs.
Independent Estimate
Sources Indiana Consolidated State Performance
Report for School Year 2003-04
Christopher Swanson. Who Graduates? Who
Doesnt? A Statistical Portrait of Public
High School Graduation, Class of
2001. The Education Policy Center. The Urban
Institute.
9
. . . And to really understand the consequences
of not graduating from high school on time.
10
Educational Attainment of Students Receiving a
Late Regular High School Diploma
Source Unpublished analysis by Clifford Adelman,
U.S. Department of Education, 2006.
11
Educational Attainment of Students Receiving a GED
Source Unpublished analysis by Clifford Adelman,
U.S. Department of Education, 2006.
12
We need to data to understand whats possible
13
A lot of research and commentary is focused on
the correlation between student-family income and
school achievement levels.
14
Source Education Trust analysis of data from
National School-Level State Assessment Score
Database (www.schooldata.org).
15
But if thats all the data analysis we do,
well never identify and learn from the many
schools that buck the trends.In fact, there
are many high-poverty, high-performing schools
16
Source Education Trust analysis of data from
National School-Level State Assessment Score
Database (www.schooldata.org).
17
Source Education Trust analysis of data from
National School-Level State Assessment Score
Database (www.schooldata.org).
18
Source Education Trust analysis of data from
National School-Level State Assessment Score
Database (www.schooldata.org).
19
Peabody ElementarySt. Louis, Missouri

• 231 students in Grades PK-5
• 99 Low-income
• 100 African American

Source National Center for Education Statistics,
Common Core of Data 2003-2004 School
Year Available at http//nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsea
rch
20
Peabody ElementaryHigher Proficiency Rates than
the StateGrade 3 Communication Arts
Source Missouri Dept. of Elementary and
Secondary Education at http//dese.mo.gov/schoolda
ta
21
Peabody ElementaryHigher Proficiency Rates than
the StateGrade 4 Math
Source Missouri Dept. of Elementary and
Secondary Education at http//dese.mo.gov/schoolda
ta
22
Frankford ElementaryFrankford, Delaware

• 449 Students in Grades PreK-5
• 76 Low-Income
• 29 African American
• 34 Latino
• 34 White

Source Delaware Department of Education Online
School Profiles, http//issm.doe.state.de.us/profi
les/EntitySearch.ASPX
23
Frankford ElementaryClosing Gaps, Grade 5 Reading
Source Delaware Department of Education, DSTP
Online Reports, http//dstp.doe.k12.de.us/DSTPmart
/default.asp
24
Frankford ElementaryClosing Gaps, Grade 5 Math
Source Delaware Department of Education, DSTP
Online Reports, http//dstp.doe.k12.de.us/DSTPmart
/default.asp
25
Frankford ElementaryHigher Proficiency Rates
than the State, 2005 Grade 3 Reading
Source Delaware Department of Education, DSTP
Online Reports, http//dstp.doe.k12.de.us/DSTPmart
/default.asp
26
Frankford ElementaryHigher Proficiency Rates
than the State, 2005 Grade 3 Math
Source Delaware Department of Education, DSTP
Online Reports, http//dstp.doe.k12.de.us/DSTPmart
/default.asp
27
Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High SchoolElmont,
New York

• 1,966 Students in Grades 7-12
• 75 African American
• 12 Latino
• 24 Free and reduced-price lunch

Source New York State School Report Card,
http//www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/reportcard/
28
Elmont MemorialHigher Percentage of Students
Meeting Graduation Requirements than the State,
Class of 2004 Regents English
Source New York State School Report Card,
http//www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/reportcard/
29
Elmont MemorialHigher Percentage of Students
Meeting Graduation Requirements than the State,
Class of 2004 Regents Math
Source New York State School Report Card,
http//www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/reportcard/
30
Elmont MemorialHigh Performance Over Time
Source New York State School Report Card,
http//www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/reportcard/
31
By identifying and learning from schools that are
unusually successful with low-income students and
students of color, we have an understanding of
the practices that put all students on track for
success in college, work, and life.
How can data help more schools and systems to
raise achievement and close gaps?
32
We need good data to understand whats most
effective in raising student achievement
33
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
34
And fail less often...
35
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 Southern Regional Education Board,
Middle Grades to High School Mending a Weak
Link by Sondra Cooney and Gene Bottoms, 2002.
36
A strong H.S. curriculum improves college
completion and narrows gaps
13
30
Completing at least Algebra II plus other
courses. Source Adapted from Adelman, Clifford,
U.S. Department of Education, Answers in the
Toolbox, 1999.
37
GOOD TEACHING MATTERSStudents Who Start 3rd
Grade at About the Same Level of Math Achievement
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
38
Finish 5th Grade at Dramatically Different
Levels Depending on the Quality of Their Teachers
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
39
We Need Data to Understandthe Gaps in
Opportunity thatAllow Achievement Gaps to Persist

• . . . And to get worse the longer students stay
  in school

40
Even though we know the singular importance of
teachers
41
Poor and Minority Students Get More
Inexperienced Teachers
Teachers with 3 or fewer years of experience.
High and low refer to top and bottom
quartiles.
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, Monitoring Quality An Indicators
Report, December 2000.
42
More Classes in High-Poverty, High-Minority
Schools Taught By Out-of-Field Teachers
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.
43
A Tale of Two Schools

• Jackson Elementary School
• San Diego City Unified
• 79 Latino African American
• 75 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 648

• Marvin Elementary School
• San Diego City Unified
• 55 White
• 32 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 808

44

• Looking at these two schools, some might
  automatically think
• Student demographics lower student performance

But this assumption ignores the underlying
factors.
45

• The average teacher at Jackson Elementary gets
  paid an estimated 6,806 less every year than his
  counterpart at Marvin Elementary.
• If Jackson spent as much on Marvin on teacher
  salaries for its 66 teachers, the school budget
  would increase by 450,000 every year.

46
A Tale of Two Schools

• Locke High School
• Los Angeles Unified
• 99 Latino African American
• 66 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 440

• Granada Hills High School
• Los Angeles Unified
• 32 Latino African American
• 27 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 773

Source CA Department of Education, 2003-04 data
47

• The average teacher at Locke High School gets
  paid an estimated 8,034 less every year than his
  counterpart at Granada Hills High School.
• If Locke spent as much as Granada Hills on
  teacher salaries for its 119 teachers, the school
  budget would increase by nearly a million dollars
  (956,056) every year.

48
But CA school report cards have obscured this
data, reporting the same district-wide average
for every single school
49
And disparities arent just between schools. We
need data to understand whats happening inside
of schools

• We know we lose a lot of students in 9th grade.
  Speculation says this is about poor preparation
  and difficult transitions?

50
One Colorado High School Student/Teacher Ratio
by Grade
Source Jovenes Unidos Padres Unidos March,
2004.
51
Same Colorado High SchoolCounselor Deployment
by Grade
Source Jovenes Unidos and Padres Unidos March,
2004
52
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
53
If we truly value student success as the goal of
public education, we need more and better
data- to understand the extent of the
problems- address gaps in opportunities-
identify the high performers- and learn from
experience about whats working and what still
needs to change.
54
For more information

• The Education Trust
• www.edtrust.org
• 202-293-1217