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Family and School Factors Influencing the Racial Achievement Gap in West Hartford Public Schools

Family and School Factors Influencing the Racial Achievement Gap in West Hartford Public Schools. Cities, Suburbs, and Schools research project Trinity College, Hartford, CT www.trincoll.edu/depts/educ/css Rebecca Wetzler David Reuman, Faculty Advisor July 11, 2005.

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Family and School Factors Influencing the Racial Achievement Gap in West Hartford Public Schools

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  1. Family and School Factors Influencing the Racial Achievement Gap in West Hartford Public Schools Cities, Suburbs, and Schools research project Trinity College, Hartford, CT www.trincoll.edu/depts/educ/css Rebecca Wetzler David Reuman, Faculty Advisor July 11, 2005

  2. Demographic Changes in Hartford County, 1940-2000 • Since 1940, the percentage of white residents in Hartford has dropped from 96% to 28%. • The percentage of white residents in West Hartford has dropped from 99.5% to 86%; most of the demographic change in West Hartford has occurred in the last 15 years. 2

  3. Demographic Changes in Hartford County, 1940-2000 • Since 1940, the percentage of white residents in Hartford has dropped from 96% to 28%. • The percentage of white residents in West Hartford has dropped from 99.5% to 86%; most of the demographic change in West Hartford has occurred in the last 15 years. 3

  4. Racial Distributions in Elementary School Zones of West Hartford Public Schools, 2004-2005 Racial diversity is concentrated more in some elementary school zones than others. 4

  5. Explanation of Normalized Scores • To compare relative performance over time, we “normalized” test scores for the: • CMT 4, 6, 8 • CAPT 10 • The mean and standard deviation for each test was calculated for all test-takers • In a normalized distribution; • A student scoring at the mean gets a 0. • A student scoring one standard deviation above the mean gets a +1. • A student scoring one standard deviation below the mean gets a -1. 5

  6. Chip Ward’s findings clearly illustrate a racial achievement gap in Reading test scores. Graph from Chip Ward (2/15/2005) “Achievement Gap Data Study, Class of 2003 through 2009” 6

  7. Chip Ward’s findings also illustrate a racial achievement gap in Math scores. Graph from Chip Ward (2/15/2005) “Achievement Gap Data Study, Class of 2003 through 2009” 7

  8. Our subsequent analyses are organized around two main questions: What student characteristics, associated with race, predict the achievement gap at grade 4? What student characteristics, associated with race, predict which students close the gap after grade 4 and which don’t? 8

  9. Common misunderstandings about the achievement gap. (from Rothstein, 2004) 1. Socio-economic factors make more of a difference than school factors, but schools do make a difference. 2. The “easier” the level of a test (used to assess the achievement gap), the smaller the gap. 3. The performance of all individuals within a group must not be confused with the group’s average. 9

  10. The Connecticut State Department of Education requires public schools to report “school need” characteristics, including: Stability: Percent of students above entry grade who attended the school the previous year. Home Language: Percent of K-12 students with non-English home language. Pre-School Participation: Percent of students who attended preschool, nursery school, or Head Start. These characteristics are known predictors of student achievement. These are the three characteristics on which we will focus. 10

  11. Student Characteristics Associated with Race in West Hartford Public Schools, 2004-2005 11

  12. Student Characteristics Associated with Race in West Hartford Public Schools, 2004-2005 12

  13. Student Characteristics Associated with Race in West Hartford Public Schools, 2004-2005 13

  14. Student Characteristics Associated with Race in West Hartford Public Schools, 2004-2005 14

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  16. Numbers of students who moved from Hartford to West Hartford 16

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  20. Students who moved from Hartford to West Hartford are concentrated in specific elementary school zones. 20

  21. Move status is not the only student characteristic to affect achievement levels. The language spoken at home does, too. 21

  22. Students who speak English at home are concentrated in specific elementary school zones. 22

  23. Spanish speakers are concentrated in particular elementary school zones. 23

  24. Spanish speakers overlap with Portuguese speakers. 24

  25. Chinese speakers are concentrated in north and southwestern elementary school zones of West Hartford. 25

  26. Chinese speakers do not overlap with Vietnamese speakers. 26

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  29. Nursery Participation is also an important predictor of CMT 4 performance. 29

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  31. The Initial Gap: Thus far we have found that Mover Status, Home Language, and Nursery School Participation all have a strong association with the gap at 4th grade. Closing the Gap: We looked at the effects of Race in combination with Mover Status, Home Language, and Nursery School Participation on CMT4 and CMT6 scores for the classes of 2009-2011, as well as CMT4, CMT6, and CMT8 scores for the class of 2009. Overall we found that there were no significant effects of these factors on the likelihood of students’ closing the gap over time. Summary of Findings 31

  32. School Factors: school safety rigor of curriculum teacher preparation teacher experience and attendance class size technology- assisted instruction racial climate at school school belongingness peer norms for achievement Home Factors: social class differences health asthma birth weight dental care hunger and nutrition lead poisoning vision cultural differences housing and student mobility genetic influences parental availability and participation reading to young children television watching summer and after- school learning pre-school experience Previous researchers (Barton, 2003; Ogbu, 2003; Rothstein, 2004; Steinberg et al., 1992; Tatum, 1997; Wells & Crain, 1997) have identified factors related to the race gap in achievement.

  33. Proposal for Future Research • Research within West Hartford cannot assess many school effects fully because school differences are “controlled” (held constant) within the district. • For example, even though elementary class size affects CMT4 performance, in general elementary class size is essentially a constant within the WHPS district. • Our proposed research will emphasize “family” factors related to the achievement gap in WHPS. Some of these family factors can be impacted by school initiated interventions. We plan to pay attention to selected school factors, too. 33

  34. Who will we ask to participate? • In our study of the racial gap at grade 4: • Interview / survey parents of 4th graders. We plan to use stratified random sampling by parental ethnicity (Asian / Black / Hispanic / White). • We also plan to link interviews / survey data to CMT 4 scores. 34

  35. In our study of the racial gap in achievement at grade 4, we will focus on measures of: School Factors: • school safety • rigor of curriculum • teacher preparation • teacher experience and attendance • class size • technology- assisted instruction • racial climate at school • school belongingness • peer norms for achievement Home Factors: • social class differences • health • asthma • birth weight • dental care • hunger and nutrition • lead poisoning • vision • cultural differences • housing and student mobility • genetic influences • parental availability and participation • reading to young children • television watching • summer and after- school learning • pre-school experience

  36. Who will we ask to participate? • In our study of the gap beyond grade 4: • Interview / survey parents of 8th and 10th graders as well as interview / survey 8th and 10th grade students. • Ensure sufficient variation in ethnicity through stratified random sampling. • Then link interview / survey data to CMT 4, 6, 8, and CAPT 10 scores (as available). 36

  37. In our study of the gap beyond grade 4, we will focus on measures of: School Factors: • school safety • rigor of curriculum • teacher preparation • teacher experience and attendance • class size • technology- assisted instruction • racial climate at school • school belongingness • peer norms for achievement Home Factors: • social class differences • health • asthma • birth weight • dental care • hunger and nutrition • lead poisoning • vision • cultural differences • housing and student mobility • genetic influences • parental availability and participation • reading to young children • television watching • summer and after- school learning • pre-school experience

  38. Recommendations 1. Build and maintain a database on all students that allows for data-driven program development and improvement related to the achievement gap. 38

  39. Recommendations 2. Design future research so that it will be optimally informative about remedies that will reduce the achievement gap. • Potential remedies include: • Expand pre-school educational opportunities • Extend school day / school year • Support high levels of health services for students • Orient and integrate students who move into the WHPS district • Align school functions with variations in parental languages • Improve racial climate at school and school belongingness 39

  40. References • Barton, P. E. (2003) Parsing the Achievement Gap: Baselines for Tracking Progress. NJ: Educational Testing Service. • Ogbu, J. (2003). Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. • Rothstein, R. (2004). Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap. Washington, D. C.: Economic Policy Institute. • Steinberg, L., Dornbusch, S. M., & Brown, B. B. (1992).  Ethnic differences in adolescent achievement.  American Psychologist, 47, 723-729. • Tatum, B. D. (1997) Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? New York, NY: Basic Books. • Ward, C. (February 15, 2005). Achievement gap data study: Class of 2003 through class of 2009. Presentation to the West Hartford (CT) Board of Education. • Wells, A. S., & Crain, R. (1997). Stepping Over the Color Line: African-American Students in White Suburban Schools. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 40

  41. Acknowledgements • We would like to thank the West Hartford Public School district, specifically Chip Ward, for sharing data and his expertise. • We also thank members of the “Cities, Suburbs, and Schools” research team for their support and advice. • This research would not have been possible without grant support from the Kellogg Foundation (Metropolitan Hartford Social Science Research Initiative). 41

  42. Contact Information • For more information please visit the “Cities, Suburbs, and Schools” website: www.trincoll.edu/depts/educ/css • If you have any further questions, thoughts, suggestions, please feel free to email us: • Rebecca.Wetzler@trincoll.edu • David.Reuman@trincoll.edu 42

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