The Limits and Possibilities of Urban School Improvement: Lessons from the Inner City

1. The Limits and Possibilities of Urban School Improvement: Lessons from the Inner City Robert F. and Augusta Finkelstein Memorial Lecture October 20, 2009 Alan R. Sadovnik Rutgers University-Newark

2. Introduction Data on Achievement Gaps: Social Class, Race and Gender Data on U.S. Cities Data on Newark and New Jersey Data on Long Island Sociological Explanations for the Achievement Gap Reform Approaches School level Societal and Community levels Types of Reforms and Effects Governance Reforms School Finance Accountability under NCLB School Choice Progressive v. Traditional Approaches Community-Based Limits and Possibilities of Reform Conclusion Agenda

3. The Achievement Gap—Making Progress by Race 1996 NAEP 4th Grade Math 2007 NAEP 4th Grade Math NAEP Long-Term Trends, NCES (2004)

4. The Achievement Gap—Making Progress SES

5. High School Gap has widened… 17 Year Olds--NAEP Reading 17 Year Olds--NAEP Math NAEP Long-Term Trends, NCES (2004)

6. African American, Latino & Native American high school graduates are less likely to have been enrolled in a full college prep track percent in college prep Full College Prep track is defined as at least: 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 2 years of natural science, 2 years of social science and 2 years of foreign language Source: Jay P. Greene, Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States, Manhattan Institute, September 2003. Table 8. 2001 high school graduates with college-prep curriculum.

7. African American and Latino 17 Year-Olds Do Math at Same Levels As White 13 Year-Olds Note: Long-Term Trends NAEP Source: National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress

8. African American and Latino 17 Year-Olds Read at Same Levels As White 13 Year-Olds Note: Long-Term Trends NAEP Source: National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress

9. Best available estimates of national four-year graduation ratesClass of 2006 Source: Ed Trust analysis of enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data using the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR) methodology. For more information on the AFGR methodology, see National Center for Education Statistics, Users Guide to Computing High School Graduation Rates, Volume 2, August 2006.

10. Differences in Graduation Rate by Race

11. Reading Achievement GapMales v. Females Age 17

12. Math Achievement GapMales v. Females Age 17

13. Low-Income African American Scale Scores Source: NAEP Data Explorer, NCES

14. Low-Income Latino Scale Scores Note: Latino scores are not available for Atlanta. Source: NAEP Data Explorer, NCES

15. Low-Income African American Scale Scores Source: NAEP Data Explorer, NCES

16. Low-Income Latino Scale Scores Note: Latino scores are not available for Atlanta. Source: NAEP Data Explorer, NCES

17. Demographic Differences—Newark vs. NJ

18. Average Property Value Per Student by District Grouping 1998-2003

19. Comparing Demographics of Students in New Jersey

20. Child and Youth Well-Being Indicators: Newark and New Jersey, 1997-2002

21. Grade 11 (HSPA) Language Arts Literacy 2001-02 to 2002-03

22. Grade 11 (HSPA) Math 2001-02 to 2002-03

23. Graduation by Traditional Grade 11 Exam by District Grouping 1994-95 to 2002-03 Cumulative Promotion Index by District Grouping

24. Categories of School Districts According to Demographic Stability and ChangeNassau and Suffolk County, Long Island 1998-2007 (Wells, 2009)

25. Inequalities on Long Island: Contiguous Districts

26. Inequalities on Long Island: North Shore vs. Urban Type Suburban Districts

27. Sociological Explanations for the Gap • Functionalism: Meritocracy and Reduction of Inequalities • Conflict Theory: Reproduction of Inequalities Within School Factors: Funding Curriculum and Pedagogy Teacher and Principal Quality Tracking Outside School Factors: Effects of Poverty (i.e. Health, Housing) Culture Family Peer Groups Neighborhood

28. School Based Reforms: Education Equality Project • Advocacy group focused on closing the achievement gap through grass-roots organizing efforts • Mission is to: • Ensure an effective teacher in every classroom • Empower parents • Create accountability • Make decisions around what is best for students • Encourage parents and students to demand more from schools, as well as from themselves • Advocate against those that have preserved inequity Joel Klein & Al Sharpton

29. Societal and Community Based Reforms Jean Anyon & Richard Rothstein Addressing the Effects of Poverty Pedro Noguera & Helen Ladd A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education 1) Continue to focus on school improvement efforts 2) Increase and improve quality of early childhood programs 3) Increase investment in health services 4) Understand how students spend their time outside of school From: http://www.boldapproach.org/statement.html

30. Types of Reform and Effects • Governance Reform • School Finance • Accountability • School Choice • Progressive vs. Traditional Approaches • Community-based Reforms

31. Types of Reform and Effects—Governance Reform State Takeovers • 29 states have legislative power • NCLB gave states authority to takeover school districts that failed to meet state standards • Improve education systems by increasing level of local accountability (see Anderson & Lewis, 1997; Bushweller, 1998) Mayoral Control • Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. • Detroit • Mixed results on success (see Wong, et al., 2007; Viteritti, 2009; Kirst, 2002; Chambers, 2006)

32. NEW JERSEY “Thorough and Efficient Education” Robinson v. Cahill (1970-1976) Abbott v. Burke (1979-2009) Bacon v. Davy (2003) Abbott v. Burke XX, (SFRA) (2009) NEW YORK “Sound and Basic Education” Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. NY State (1993-2006) Types of Reform and Effects—School Finance

33. National Inequities in State and Local Revenue Per Student Education Trust analyses based on U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Census Bureau data for the 2005-06 school year.

35. Types of Reform and EffectsAccountability under NCLB SCHOOL QUALITY NCLB neglects the concentrations of poverty in American schools From: Can Separate Be Equal? The Overlooked Flaw at the Center of No Child Left Behind Richard D. Kahlenberg, The Century Foundation, 4/23/2004

36. TEACHER QUALITYStudents at High-Minority Schools More Likely to Be Taught by Novice Teachers Analysis of 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey data by Richard Ingersoll, University of Pennsylvania (2007) Note: Novice teachers are those with three years or fewer experience. High-minority ≥ 75% students non-white. Low-minority ≤ 10% students non-white.

37. Poor and Minority Students Get More Inexperienced* Teachers High poverty Low poverty High minority Low minority *Teachers with 3 or fewer years of experience. Note: High poverty refers to the top quartile of schools with students eligible for free/reduced price lunch. Low poverty-bottom quartile of schools with students eligible for free/reduced price lunch. High minority-top quartile; those schools with the highest concentrations of minority students. Low minority-bottom quartile of schools with the lowest concentrations of minority students Source: National Center for Education Statistics, “Monitoring Quality: An Indicators Report,” December 2000.

38. The Components of NCLB Require states and districts to report school-by-school data on student test performance, broken out by whether the student is African-American, Hispanic, Native-American, Asian American, White non-Hispanic, Special Education, Limited English Proficiency (LEP), and/or Low Income. States must set “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) goals for each school. In order to meet AYP, not only must each subgroup make progress in each year in each grade in each subject but there must be 95% participation of each subgroup as well. The increments in AYP should be arranged so that 100% of students reach proficiency by 2014.

39. The Components of NCLB (cont.) Annual testing of students in Grades 3-8 in reading and math plus at least one test in Grades 10-12; Science testing to follow. Graduation rates are used as a secondary indicator for high schools. Schools that don’t meet AYP for two years are labeled “In Need of Improvement” (INOI). Initially, this means that schools must offer students the option to go to another public school and/or to receive federally funded tutoring. Monies would also be made available for teacher professional development. In the absence of meeting future AYP targets, schools would be subject to “restructuring” (firing teachers and principal; state takeover; private company takeover; etc.).

40. The Components of NCLB (cont) Schools must have “highly qualified” teachers for the “core academic subjects” (English, reading or language arts, math, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history and geography) by 2005-6.

41. The Debate: Supporters’ Positions Advocates, including progressive organizations such as the Education Trust, argue that its annual testing and disaggregation requirements will force states to ensure that low-income students who continue to lag far behind higher income students will meet the same standards, and thus reduce the achievement gap by 2014. Conservative groups argue that the emphasis on testing will require schools to improve teaching and learning or face eventual closure or restructuring. Continuation of standards movement necessary to improve international competitiveness of U.S. schools.

42. The Debate: Critics’ Positions The law does not provide sufficient funds to improve failing schools and, more importantly, is heavy on punishment and light on building school capacity. Fails to acknowledge the social and economic foundation of unequal schooling and is a backdoor to the implementation of publicly funded school vouchers and the dismantling of public education in the U.S. Unfair to students with disabilities and Second Language Learners.

43. The Debate: Critics’ Positions (cont.) No uniform national measure of proficiency: state comparisons impossible; states can hide low standards. Evaluates schools rather than students: schools with high mobility rates are punished for such a high turnover. Assessments are based on a zero-sum definition of proficiency rather than a value added one: schools whose students show significant progress but are still below proficiency are labeled as failures rather than rewarded for their progress.

44. Positive Effects of the Law Has put spotlight on the inequalities of educational achievement like no other law, due to diasaggregation of results. Resulted in attention to persistently failing schools. Attention is being paid to teacher quality in a more systematic manner.

45. Negative Effects of the Law Over-emphasis on standardized tests, resulting in teaching to the test. Use of mean proficiency adversely affects schools with low-income and minority students. Punishes schools for problems outside of their control, such as poverty, health problems, etc. Over-emphasis on literacy and mathematics, has resulted in ignoring other subjects such as science, social studies, music and art. Outcomes based view of education has resulted in ignoring the social and developmental functions of schooling.

46. Types of Reform and Effects -- School Choice Charter Schools • Charter school performance mirrors public schools in Newark (Barr, Sadovnik, et al., 2006) • NYC charter school students have increased achievement over students who were not accepted into charter school (Hoxby, et al., 2009) Vouchers • Cleveland voucher program legalized by US Supreme Court in 2002 • 18 school choice programs in 10 states and D.C.

47. Progressive Approaches (Based on John Dewey) Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS) (New York, NY) Under Deborah Meier: Progressive small school, 90% Black/Latino; 80% Free/Reduced Lunch; Graduation Rate 95+% College attendance Rate: 95+% Closed and reorganized in 2002; Non-progressive Graduation rate: 40% Types of Reform and Effects

48. Traditional Approaches (Based on Delpit, 1995) Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) • 82 college-preparatory schools in 19 states and D.C. • College matriculation rate above 80%; student population 90% Black/Latino; more than 80% Free/Reduced lunch North Star Academy (Newark, NJ): Uncommon Schools • Charter school serves over 900 students in grades K-2 and 5-12 • 11month, extended day schedule • 95% College matriculation; 100% Black/Latino; 90% Free/Reduced Lunch

49. Types of Reform and EffectsCommunity-Based Reforms • Full service and community schools • Dryfoos (1994) • Harlem Children’s Zone Project • Newark Broader Bolder Approach

50. Possibilities: Effective School and District Level Reform • Put all children—not just some—in a demanding high school core curriculum. • Teachers matter—make sure they are high quality and supported. • Focus on improving low-performing schools. • Motivate more students and prepare more students for higher education. • Principals matter—focus on effective leadership. • Focus on instructional time. Source: www.edtrust.org