Achieving Equitable Education in Calhoun County

1. Achieving Equitable Education in Calhoun County Rebecca Reno Research Associate, The Kirwan Institute September 23, 2006

3. Democratic Implications of Failing to Achieve Diversity Equitable public education has implications for our democratic society Education as gatekeepers to our democracy Our inequitable arrangements are making it difficult, if not impossible to achieve either legitimate education or a true democracy Without full diversity we are not adequately preparing students for citizenship in our nation, or our global society

4. Process of Educational Reform Start with goals Define equitable education Define the greater goals of public education Check current conditions against goals Identify factors creating & perpetuating current inequities Design and implement reform

5. Setting Goals

6. Setting Goals Must start with a definitive vision of the end goal Education Vision Statement: Equal access for all students to have opportunities and resources to achieve their fullest potential and to encourage and help each child to take advantage of that access. What does equitable education look like, how do we know when we�ve arrived? Funding, academic performance, democratic participation, etc.

7. Overarching Goals of Public Education �The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically....Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.� -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Purpose of Education Speech

8. Goals of Education What are our educational goals? The mission statement for the US Department of Education includes: ensuring equal access to education and promoting educational excellence throughout the nation. The U.S. Supreme Court has identified the objective of pubic education as the "[inculcation of] fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system." -Ambach v. Norwick, 441 U.S. 68, 76-77 (1979)

9. Goals of Education What are our educational goals? (Cont.) Education has both a public purpose: Employment Preparing Students for Citizenship And a private purpose: Building Human Capacity (personal/social)

10. Public Goals of Education Serving the job marketplace is one of the fundamental roles of education. Higher Education: Education should prepare students for success in colleges and universities and/or Employment: Education should develop job skills and train students for employment This ensures the U.S. can compete economically with the rest of the world This represents the bulk of our education efforts

11. Public Goals of Education Serving a democratic society is one of the fundamental roles of education Preparing students for citizenship has been a stated goal of American education throughout U.S. history Instill fundamental values & transmit knowledge necessary to partake in our democracy In 2002, the Supreme Court in Grutter acknowledged the importance of preparing students for citizenship

12. Goals of Education Serving the individual is one of the fundamental roles of education Building Human Capacity: Developing individual character and values such as honesty, integrity, self-discipline, hard work, volunteerism and charity Create good community members and good global citizens by teaching students to take and hold the perspective of others Stress the interdependence among people and between people and their environment

13. Factors & Conditions

14. Current Conditions in Public Education Economic Segregation Racial Segregation Achievement Gap Discipline Rates Funding Disparities Graduation Rates WHAT IS CAUSING THESE DISPARITIES?

15. Education Factors: Institutional Arrangements Funding Has long been identified as inequitable; generally little success in reforming

16. Education Factors: Institutional Arrangements (cont.) Racial Integration Racially integrated schools have demonstrated positive social, psychological, and academic benefits. Efforts to achieve being increasingly challenged in court, and are subsequently abandoned. Economic Segregation Rates of economic segregation high, and rising. Correlates strongly with racial segregation Socioeconomic status of the school, after the influence of the family, remains the greatest predictor of student success and achievement

17. Teacher Quality Low income students and students of color are less likely to have highly qualified teachers, have higher rates of teacher turnover, more uncertified teachers and are more likely to have a new teacher who is teaching outside the subject they were trained in Teacher/Staff/Administrative Diversity Nationally, 2001-2002 60% of public school students White, 90% of teachers are. Black students 17%, while teachers constitute only 5%. Benefits of diversity: role models, understanding of cultural differences, higher expectations for ethnic groups, encourages students to perform better, can work towards breaking down stereotypes. Education Factors: Institutional Arrangements (cont.)

18. Curriculum/Pedagogy Often diluted, non-engaging, culturally biased, and transmits low expectations. This has a direct negative effect on students� performance Academic Tracking/Ability Grouping By race: Students of color 7 times more likely to be in a lower track class Half as likely to be in a gifted class By class: �A highly proficient low-income student has a 50% chance of being placed in a high track class Undermines any integration efforts Education Factors: In-School Practices

19. Special Education African American males overrepresented Also over-diagnosed with mental retardation, specific learning disabilities, and categorized as having emotional disturbances Discipline Blacks, particularly males often subject to more frequent and more harsh disciplinary actions, even when controlling for behavior Black males two to five times more likely to be suspended than white males. Teacher & Student Retention Education Factors: In-School Practices (cont.)

20. Early Childhood Education More we learn, more we are capable of learning Over 80% of the gap in 4th grade reading scores already discernable in kindergarten Community Engagement and Resources Support networks, resources (libraries, tutoring programs) Health Prenatal care: African Americans and Hispanic women are twice more likely to receive late or no prenatal care Low income children have less access to high quality healthcare, and are more likely to suffer from untreated dental and vision problems, poor nutrition and environmental-induced diseases Education Factors: Out of School

21. Environment Lead 9x higher levels of lead in low-income children 6 million children lost an average of 7 IQ points because of lead exposure Asthma African Americans hospitalized four times the rate of whites Pollution and vacant housing associated with a 40% increased risk of asthma over age two Housing Linked to student retention. By kindergarten, over 48% of low income children have lived in at least three homes Black students are twice as likely to change schools frequently Parental Education & SES Leading indicator of student academic achievement Education Factors: Out of School (cont.)

22. Constructing a Solution: Best Practices

23. Overarching Education Policy: Economic Integration Need sustainable reform Solution must have the scope and breadth to disrupt the current arrangement Quality varies by locale Schools reflect racial, ethnic and SES segregation of the region Integration By Race By Socioeconomic Status

24. Race & Class Intersections Increased racial and economic segregation in the 1990s More than 70% of African Americans and 76% of Latinos attend mostly minority schools1 Nationally the average white student attends a school with fewer than 20% low-income students. African American and Latino students attend a school with 44% low-income students2

25. Negative Factors Correlated with Socioeconomic Segregation A middle-class school is 22x more likely to be high performing than a low-income school Inadequate funding & resources Negative peer influences Low levels of parental involvement Low expectations, lower standards

26. Negative Factors Correlated with Socioeconomic Segregation Discipline problems High student mobility Under-qualified teachers More inexperienced Academically weak Teaching in subjects not trained for Educators that haven�t received �sustained professional development�

27. Teacher Quality & Attrition

28. Benefits of Socioeconomic Integration Increased student expectations Access to social capital Affects cognitive development for ALL students Opportunities to interact in deeper and more meaningful ways, Increased perspective taking, Higher levels of Reasoning Improves academic achievement for low income students and students of color

29. High-Poverty Schools The top line tracks the score of middle-class students on the fourth grade National Assessment of Education Progress math test, and the bottom line shows the scores of low-income students. Students from both groups do better on the left side of the figure (in middle-income schools) and do worse as they move to the right (in high-poverty schools). Striking ly, low-income students in middle-class schools score better than middle class students in the highest-poverty schools.The top line tracks the score of middle-class students on the fourth grade National Assessment of Education Progress math test, and the bottom line shows the scores of low-income students. Students from both groups do better on the left side of the figure (in middle-income schools) and do worse as they move to the right (in high-poverty schools). Striking ly, low-income students in middle-class schools score better than middle class students in the highest-poverty schools.

30. Benefits of Socioeconomic Integration (cont.) Schools better able to attract and retain teachers Decreases drop out rates Higher career aspirations Students more likely to attend college Fewer incidents with police Less likely to become teenage parents

31. Overarching Education Policy: Regional Education District magnet/charter schools Create high-quality magnet schools with academic, economic thresholds Wake County Raleigh, NC No more than 40% low income No more than 25% performing below grade level on state reading test Of the 36 Schools of Excellence designated by Magnet Schools of America in 2006, eight were in Raleigh Black students: 40% to 80% grade level on standardized tests (10 years). Hispanic students: 79% to 91%. White students: performance did not decrease.

32. Overarching Education Policy: Regional Education Suburban schools: designated vouchers/choice plan Provide academic support, transportation Connect to regional housing policies Minneapolis Choice is Yours Free & Reduced Lunch Students given free and reduced lunch are given priority placement in suburban or magnet schools of their choice Participants outperformed their peers, with scores in reading and mathematics that were respectively 23 and 25 percentile points higher

33. Overcoming Barriers & Resistance Residential Segregation Controlled Choice Housing Integration Political Challenges School parents would choose a �good diverse school� over an �outstanding homogenous school� by a 67% to 26% margin By 75% to 21% Americans favor public school choice across district lines Financial/Jurisdictional Challenges: When possible offer financial incentives- St. Louis

34. In-School Reform Funding disparities Work towards equalizing funding, but also determine most effective way to use funds Eliminating detracking Rockville Centre, New York US Department of Education � high school advanced math most strongly associated factor with college graduation Achievement rose for ALL groups Including SES and GPAIncluding SES and GPA

35. Success of Detracking

36. Discipline Reform Move from punitive, harsh model that removes student from the classroom Focus on more democratic model: Student Responsibility Centers (Grand Rapids), Youth Courts SRCs: One year prior to implementation there were 5,000 referrals to the office. 2002-2003 following the implementation, 546 plans were constructed, only 29 students transferred to the alternative high school, and the school experienced a 89% overall reduction in discipline. In-School Reform

37. Collaborative Education Actively include the voice of parents, teachers, staff community members, businesses and organizations to make the schools truly public Focus on Democratic Merit: Service Learning Develops civic engagement, increases knowledge of community needs, more sophisticated understanding of politics, greater commitment to community service In-School Reform

38. Early Childhood Education Work to provide every child with a preschool education Connect the discontinuous education pipeline Link P-12 to postsecondary education & employment In-School Reform

39. Moving Forward Reframe the Issue Education reform for the benefit of ALL students, not just those historically disadvantaged. Equity AS excellence. Maximize public investments Reform for regional health � of those who drop out or are pushed out are unemployed. 80% of prisoners did not complete high school� of those who drop out or are pushed out are unemployed. 80% of prisoners did not complete high school

40. Moving Forward Plan big, start small Conduct ongoing research Build upon successes Extensive public communication Regional collaboration Extend beyond education: Housing policy is education policy. Any serious effort must be inclusive of both.

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