improving achievement and closing gaps between groups
DESCRIPTION
IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT AND CLOSING GAPS BETWEEN GROUPS. Charleston, West Virginia October, 2003. NCLB Statement of Purpose. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT AND CLOSING GAPS BETWEEN GROUPS
Charleston, West Virginia
October, 2003
NCLB Statement of Purpose
“Closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children, especially the achievement gaps between minority and non-minority students, and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.”
20 U.S.C. § 6301
What Do We Know About Student Achievement
Currently?
West Virginia and Other States
Snapshot
African American Performance: 8th Grade Math By State
Black-White Achievement Gap By State: Grade 8 Math
CAN WE Raise Achievement And Close Gaps Among
Groups?
Especially in Communities with high Concentrations of Low
Income Families?
What We Hear Adults Say:
• They’re poor;
• Their parents don’t care;
• They come to schools without breakfast;
• Not enough books
• Not enough parents . . .
BUT..When We Take A Closer Look …
Many schools...Some Districts and Entire States
WE SEE A DIFFERENT PICTURE!
Wrigley Elementary
• 78% Low-Income
• 3rd Highest Performing in State in Reading
• 6th Highest Performing in State in Writing
KEN
TU
CK
Y
Source: Education Trust analysis of data from National School-Level State Assessment Score Database (www.schooldata.org).
Poverty vs. Achievement in Kentucky Elementary Schools
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percent FRPL
Ele
me
nta
ry M
ath
Per
ce
nti
le S
co
re
Source: Education Trust analysis of data from National School-Level State Assessment Score Database (www.schooldata.org).
Poverty vs. Achievement in Kentucky Elementary Schools
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percent FRPL
Ele
me
nta
ry M
ath
Pe
rce
nti
le S
co
re
Poverty vs. Achievement in Kentucky Elementary Schools
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percent FRPL
Ele
me
nta
ry M
ath
Pe
rce
nti
le S
co
re
Source: Education Trust analysis of data from National School-Level State Assessment Score Database (www.schooldata.org).
Source: Education Trust analysis of data from National School-Level State Assessment Score Database (www.schooldata.org).
Poverty vs. Achievement in Kentucky Elementary Schools
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percent FRPL
Ele
me
nta
ry M
ath
Per
ce
nti
le S
co
re
What Do We Know About Places Improving Results?
They Build Culture of Success:
They Make No Excuses. Everybody Takes
Responsibility for Student Learning.
They DO
• Embrace meaningful state standards and assessments as valuable benchmarks and leverage points;
• Accept the need for public accountability for results;
• View poverty and family problems as barriers that can be surmounted; and, most important...
THEY ARE CONFIDENT
Most teachers--like most other professionals--can get more
and more effective.
And They Take Action to…
• Build INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS to support teachers, administrators, parents and students themselves
to move toward standards.
Element 1: They Have Clear and Specific Goals for What
Students Should Learn at Every Grade Level.
Historically, most of the really important decisions
about what students should learn and what kind of work was “good enough” left to
individual teachers.
Result? A System That:
• Doesn’t expect very much from MOST students; and,
• Expects much less from some types of students than others.
Source: Prospects (ABT Associates, 1993), in “Prospects: Final Report on Student Outcomes”, PES, DOE, 1997.
‘A’ Work in Poor Schools Would Earn ‘Cs’ in Affluent Schools
87
35
56
34 41
22 21
11
0
100
Per
cent
ile -
CT
BS
4
A B C DGrades
Seventh Grade Math
Low-poverty schools High-poverty schools
Good Standards Can Help Focus
But not if they sit on the shelf.
Must be clear and specific about what students should learn at every grade level.
Element 2: All Students In Curriculum Carefully Lined
Up with Those Goals
High Performing Districts: Elementary School Curriculum
• Usually common across schools;
• Model lessons that teachers may use.
Element 3: They Monitor Student Progress Regularly
smart states, districts do two important things:
• STOP drive-by workshops;
• INVEST in intensive, focused
professional development.
High Performing Districts:
• District-wide benchmark or snap-shot assessments, at least every 6-9 weeks;
• Task pools on which teachers may draw in building their own assessments;
• Support for teachers to learn more about assessment strategies; and,
• Creation of vehicles for teachers to meet together to discuss assignments and student work.
High Performing Districts also ACT on results from benchmark
assessments
• if data show that student isn’t achieving, student gets extra;
• if data show that many students in one classroom aren’t achieving, teacher gets extra support.
Element 4: Leading Districts, States provide
Extra Instruction for Students Who Need it
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
Time Becomes A Variable
Many schools, districts finding ways to double, even triple,
amount of time spent on literacy, math.
Element 5: Good Teachers Matter More than Anything
Else!
And the impact on students is astonishing. See for
yourself.
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.
Virtually every high poverty school has some
spectacularly wonderful teachers, but...
Classes in High Poverty High Schools More Often Taught by Misassigned*
Teachers
28%
14%19%
16%
40%
20%
31%
18%
0%
50%
Math Science English Social Studies
less than 20% Free Lunch greater than 49% Free Lunch
*Teachers who lack a major or minor in the fieldSource: National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future (p.16) 1996.
Math and Science Classes of Mostly Minority Students Are More Often Taught
by Misassigned Teachers
54%
86%
42%
69%
0%
100%
90-100% Non-White 90-100% White
Certified in Field BA or BS in Field
Source: Jeannie Oakes. Multiplying Inequalities: The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking on Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and Science (Rand: 1990)
Poor and Minority Students Get More Inexperienced* Teachers
20%
11%
21%
10%
0%
25%
High-poverty schools Low-poverty schools
High-minority schools Low-minority schools
*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.
High-Poverty Schools Get More Low-Scoring* Teachers
42%
28%
0%
50%
High-poverty* schools All other schools
*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.
Devastating Impact
“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
NCLB Teacher Requirements
• All teachers “highly qualified” by 2004;
• Extensive Reporting and Parent Right to Know Requirements;
• Districts, states must develop plan to end disproportionate assignment of underqualified teachers to poor/minority children;
• New money to support all this.