HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICA: What Do We Know?

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HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICAWhat Do We
Know?
Louisiana High School Commission The Education
Trust December, 2004
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What Do We Know About Student Achievement?
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12th Grade Achievement In Math and Science is Up
Somewhat
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High School Achievement Math and Science NAEP
Long-Term Trends
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress.
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In Reading, 12th Grade Achievement is Headed
Downward
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HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT READING AND
WRITINGNAEP Long-Term Trends
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What about different groups of students?
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Gaps Narrow 1970-88NAEP Reading 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
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Gaps Narrow 1973-86NAEP Math Scores, 13 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
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Between 1988-90, that progress came to a haltand
gaps began to widen once again.
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Gaps Narrow Then Mostly Widen Reading, 17
Year-OldsNAEP Long-Term Trends
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31
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
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Gaps Narrow, Then Hold Steady or Widen Math, 17
Year-OldsNAEP Long-Term Trends
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20
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
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How much learning takes place at each level?
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Students Make More Growth Grade 5 to 8 than
Grade 9 to 12
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Academic GrowthGrades 5-8, 9-12
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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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Still
Age 13-17 Growth
Source Main NAEP 1996, 2000
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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
Middle and 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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PISA
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US 15 Year-Olds Rank Near Middle Of The Pack
Among 32 Participating Countries
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One measure on which we rank high?Inequality!
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Performance Of U.S.15 Year-Olds Highly Variable
Of 27 OECD countries
Source OECD, Knowledge and Skills for Life
First Results From PISA 2000, 2001.
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Of course, these gaps evident when children
arrive at school.
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By Race, Ethnicity NAEP 4th Grade Reading 2003
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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But they grow wider the longer students remain in
school.By end of high school?
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African American and Latino 17 Year Olds Do Math
at Same Levels As White 13 Year Olds
Source NAEP 1999 Long Term Trends Summary Tables
(online)
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African American and Latino 17 Year Olds Read at
Same Levels as White 13 Year Olds
Source Source NAEP 1999 Long Term Trends
Summary Tables (online)
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And these are the students who remain in school.
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Students Graduate From High School At Different
Rates, 2001
Source Jay P. Greene and Greg Forster, Public
High School Graduation and College Readiness
Rates in the United States, Manhattan Institute
for Policy Research, September 2003.
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Louisiana?
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Over Past Decade, State Among the Biggest Gainers
in Student Achievement in Elementary, Middle
Grades
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NAEP 4th Grade Math LA (1992-2003)
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NAEP 8th Grade Math LA (1992-2003)
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LA NAEP Grade 4 Math Over Last Decade

• LA students made third biggest growth in country
• Growth for Whites and Blacks exceeded national
  growth
• In 2003, performance of each group of students
  not much different than national average.

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LA NAEP Grade 8 Math Over Last Decade

• Second in growth overall
• Fourth in growth for black students
• Second in growth for white students

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NAEP READING OVER DECADE LA 4th Graders

• Growth for white students tied for ninth
  nationally
• Achievement for black students flat.

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2000-2003States with Biggest Gains for African
American 8th Graders(NAEP 2003 Math)
Gains Between 2000 and 2003
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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2000-3States with Biggest Gains for Poor 8th
Graders(NAEP Math)
Gains Between 2000 and 2003
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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Yet Big Challenges Remain
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LA By Race, Ethnicity NAEP 4th Grade Reading
2003
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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LA By Race, Ethnicity NAEP 8th Grade Math 2003
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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High School and Beyond?
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Upper Level Course Taking LA vs. Top States
LA TOP States
8th Graders Taking Algebra 4 35
9-12th Graders Taking at Least One Upper Level Math Course 49 59
9-12th Graders Taking at Least One Upper Level Science Course 24 41
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LA Enrollment in AP
K-12 Enrollment AP Calculus AP English AP Biology
Black 48 13 17 12
White 49 73 65 68
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Louisiana 9th Graders Who Graduate with a
Diploma 4 Years Later
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Education Pipeline in LA
K-12 2-Year Colleges 4-Year Colleges
Black 48 34 27
White 49 57 61
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Inevitable?
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What Most Educators Say

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

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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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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.
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Norview High School

• Norfolk, VA

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Norview High School

• 67 African American
• 28 White
• 2 Latino
• 45 Low-Income
• Outperformed the state and district in math and
  reading in 2003

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High Achievement at NorviewHigh School Math, 2003
Source The Department of Education,
http//www.schoolresults.org/
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High Achievement at Norview
Source The Department of Education,
http//www.schoolresults.org/
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MA Passing HS Competency Exam
Source Massachusetts Department of Education
Web site.
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MA Narrowing the High School Competency Gap
Source Massachusetts Department of Education
Web site.
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MA Narrowing the High School Competency Gap
Source Massachusetts Department of Education
Web site.
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MA Narrowing the High School Competency Gap
Source Massachusetts Department of Education
Web site.
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SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

• Five questions to help frame improvement efforts.

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1. Can we agree on a single, overarching goal
for high school that will give clearer purpose,
focus to our reform efforts?
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KIDS AND PARENTS ARE CLEARTHEIR GOAL IS COLLEGE
Source U.S. DOE, NCES, Getting Ready to Pay for
College What Students and Their Parents Know
About the Cost of College Tuition and What They
Are Doing to Find Out, September 2003.
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Indeed, Most High School Grads Do 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.
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Thats Good, Because 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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But Many of Those College Freshmen Not
Preparedand Do Not Return for Sophomore Year
Source Tom Mortensen, Postsecondary Opportunity,
No. 89, November 1999
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Why? At Least In Part Because Their Teachers Had
Other Ideas About Their Plans
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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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2. It is increasingly clear that student
success--in college, on assessments, and in
gaining access to decent jobs--depends on
completing a rigorous, college prep-level
curriculum.
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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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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
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MATH ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS BY GRADE 8 PERFORMANCE
Source Maureen Hallinan, Ability Grouping and
Student Learning, May, 2002
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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.
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And theyll be better prepared for the workplace.
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Requirements forTool and Die Makers

• Four or five years of apprenticeship and/or
  postsecondary training
• Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and statistics
• Average earnings 40,000 per year.

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Requirements forSheet Metal Workers

• Four or five years of apprenticeship
• Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and technical
  reading

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Time for a Default Curriculum?

• Texas
• Indiana

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3. Shouldnt we stop leaving teachers on their
own to decide what and how to teach in college
prep courses?
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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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High Performing Schools and 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
• Assess students every 4-8 weeks to measure
  progress
• ACT immediately on the results of those
  assessments.

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4. How can we 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
• Massachusetts and Ohio provide extra tutoring,
  instruction for students not perform

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Most of us think of semester- or year-long
increments to teach kids what they need to learn,
but...
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The Full Year Calendar
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Less Summer Vacation
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Less Weekends, Holidays, Summer Vacation
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Less Professional Development Days Early
Dismissal/Parent Conferences
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Less Class Picnic, Class Trip, Thanksgiving
Feast, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukkah, Awards,
Assembles, Concerts
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Less State and District Testing
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Bottom Line

• Roughly 13-15 Eight-Hour Days Per Subject Per
  Year

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5. How Can We Organize Schools in Pursuit of
Different Outcomes
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Its easy to fall into a pattern of blaming poor
results on problems beyond our control.

• For example, high 9th grade failure rates
  generally blamed on poor preparation, difficult
  transitions.
• But

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One Colorado High School Student/Teacher Ratio
by Grade
Grade 9th 10th 11th 12th
Average number of students per teacher 30.3 16.7 11.6 12.1
Source Jovenes Unidos Padres Unidos March,
2004.
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Same Colorado High SchoolCounselor Deployment
by Grade
Grade 9th 10th 11th 12th
Number of Counselors 1 1 1 1
Number of Students 572 366 309 213
Source Jovenes Unidos and Padres Unidos March,
2004
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Likewise, large achievement gaps at
exittypically blamed on large achievement gaps
at entry.But
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Poor kids and kids of color get less than their
fair share of experienced and well educated
teachers.
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Classes in High Poverty High Schools More Often
Taught by Misassigned 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.
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Math and Science Classes of Mostly Minority
Students Are More Often Taught by Misassigned
Teachers
Source Jeannie Oakes. Multiplying Inequalities
The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking
on Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and
Science (Rand 1990)
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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.
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Even Within Schools, Often Big
Differences
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One PA High School

• Joint analysis conducted by teachers and Ed Trust
  staff showed how best educated and most
  experienced teachers were teaching high end
  students, with mostly brand new and undereducated
  teachers teaching struggling students.
• Moreover, school created master schedule that
  made that imbalance even worse.

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PA HS Master Schedule Regular Team Sample
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PA HS Master Schedule Pre-IB Team Sample
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PA HS Master Schedule 11-12 IB/AP Teacher Sample
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In other words, the choices we make either
exacerbateor ameliorateachievement gaps.
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The Education Trust

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