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

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60

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Percent FRPL

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Source: Education Trust analysis of data from National School-Level State Assessment Score Database (www.schooldata.org).

Poverty vs. Achievement in Kentucky Elementary Schools

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10

20

30

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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Percent FRPL

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Poverty vs. Achievement in Kentucky Elementary Schools

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10

20

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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Percent FRPL

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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

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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.