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Colin Chellman and Meryle Weinstein

Research Associates, Institute for Education and Social Policy

and

Leanna Stiefel and Amy Ellen Schwartz

Faculty, Wagner Graduate School

New York University

Education Finance Research Consortium

November 19, 2004

Uncommon Schools, Uncommon Results: Case Studies of Three New York State

Schools Closing Racial Test Score Gaps

 

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Research Questions

• What are the differences in school-level test scores by subgroup in New York State?

• How do "schools without gaps" differ from those with gaps?

• What policies and practices might contribute to reducing test score gaps?

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School Strategies to Eliminate the Gap

• School culture and teacher characteristics

• Leadership

• Use of data

• Parental expectations and involvement in schooling

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School Culture and Teacher Characteristics

– Small class size and high per-pupil spending– Teacher quality– Integration and student relationships– Expectations of teachers and principals– Diverse faculty and staff

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Leadership

• Instructional leaders

• Ability to recruit and retain good teachers

• Principal autonomy

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Use of Data

• Disaggregating student performance to identify low-performing students

• Professional development on how to use data

• Connecting results to instruction

• Use of ongoing assessments

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Parents and Expectations

• Parental involvement in children’s school

• Parental expectations

• Communicating these expectations to children

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Quantitative Data: 2000-01 and 2001-02

• New York State School Report Card

• State of Learning/Chapter 655 Report

• Institutional Master File

• School District Fiscal Profiles

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Quantitative Analysis

• Identify schools accountable for:– White students only– Non-white students only– Both white and non-white students

• Compare results to 2000-01 school year

• Identify schools that showed little disparity in subgroup performance over two years

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Table 1: Distribution by Racial Accountability Status, 2001-02

4th grade

(n=2,249)

8th grade

(n=1,068)

% Schools

% Students

% Schools

% Students

White accountable only

42.4 34.6 36.7 20.9

Non-white accountable only

23.3 26.5 18.1 17.7

Accountable for both groups

34.4 39.0 45.2 61.4

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Choosing Case Study Schools

1. Schools accountable for both white and non-white students in 2000-01 and 2001-02 school years– 668 elementary schools

– 424 middle schools

2. Identify schools with small or non-traditional test score gaps between these groups– 45 elementary schools

– 27 middle schools

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Eliminated:

• schools “sinking all boats”

• less-integrated schools

• schools with the lowest poverty rates

• Asian-dominated schools

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Qualitative Data

Principal Interviews (n=3)– Educational philosophy

– Academic goals

– Curricula

– Expectations for students

– School organization

– School environment

Teacher Surveys (n=23)– Understanding of

school philosophy

– Perceptions of other teachers, students

– Perceptions of school leadership

– Availability of teacher supports

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Two studies:

• Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC, 2003)– Compared schools with and without gaps

• Markow and Scheer, Education Week, 2004 Nationally-representative teacher sample

Qualitative Data, cont’d.

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Table 2: Teacher Characteristics

Sample1 New York State2

Median years experience 15.7 13.9

Average years at school 7.4 NA

% permanently certified 80.0 72.1

% white 91.3 82.2

Sources: 1) Authors’ survey 2) 2003 State of Learning/Chapter 655 Report

School Culture and Teacher Characteristics

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Table 3: Student Interaction

% Agree or Strongly Agree

Students from different racial backgrounds frequently hang out together

94.7

Teachers encourage students of different backgrounds to work together on projects or classwork

90.4

Teachers and administrators encourage students of different racial backgrounds to interact outside of class

80.0

School Culture and Teacher Characteristics

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Table 4: Factors That Explain Achievement Gap

% responding some or a lot

Lack of family support 100

Challenging family conditions 100

Lack of student motivation/effort 100

Lower natural ability 87

Unequal access to quality education 54

Low expectations from teachers 30

Injustice or discrimination 36

School Culture and Teacher Characteristics

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Table 5: What would work best to reduce test score gaps?

% agreeingIncreased parental involvement 78

Increased student effort 65

Equal academic opportunities 48

More money to schools 39

Good teachers 35

Racial/economic diverse classrooms 13

Solving outside economic issues 13

Other 9

No solution 0

School Culture and Teacher Characteristics

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Principal Leadership

“People know they can reach me here [at school], or at home, if they have a suggestion…You have to be a risk taker. You’ve got to learn to try things, to see what works for the kids. If the teacher has a good idea, and she’s willing to go for it, I’ll support them if it makes sense because, let them try it. If it doesn’t work, go to plan B.”

Leadership

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Table 6: Principal Leadership

% Agree or Strongly Agree

Has confidence in expertise of teachers 100.0

Collaborates with teachers and staff 100.0

Understands how children learn 100.0

Promotes parent and community involvement 95.5

Is an effective manager 90.9

Takes a personal interest in the professional development of teachers

90.5

Places needs of children ahead of personal/political interests

86.4

Leadership

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Data

“I think we probably use data more than most schools… What the district sends us is good, but it’s not really action-able or available. It’s a stack of reports with a bunch of numbers. That’s scary to your typical teacher.”

Data

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Table 7: Use of Data

Never Yearly Monthly Weekly

Use data to understand skill gaps 4.5 50.0 31.8 13.6

Administer ongoing assessments 0.0 17.4 43.5 39.1

Discuss achievement data with colleagues 0.0 13.0 65.2 21.7

Data

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Table 9: Expectations

% Agree or Strongly

Agree

Teachers communicate with parents about helping children learn

95.5

Parents understand standards and the expectations teachers hold for children

63.6

I ask parents for their suggestions for working with their child

63.1

Parents and Expectations

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Parental Involvement

“There’s difficulty in getting the parents to come in because of the nature of our population. We have a large immigrant population… The parents don’t come in because they’re not legal and they have financial problems and family problems. There’s a myriad of difficulties.”

Parents and Expectations

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Conclusions

• Teachers hold high expectations for all students.

• Principals are strong instructional leaders.• Data from ongoing assessments are used to

target resources where needed most.• Teachers and principals perceive that

parents have high expectations around academic performance for their children.

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Future Research• Students observation and surveys

– How do students perceive teacher and parent expectations?

– Does diverse student interaction improve study habits?

• Parents– How do parents express expectations for their children?

• Classroom observation– Validate teacher survey response

• Comparison group of schools