Student Achievement Gains and Gaps in Saint Paul Public Schools

Tom WatkinsDirector of Research, Evaluation and Assessment

Saint Paul Public Schools

May 12, 2006

Purpose of Presentation

Provide a summary of SPPS student achievement on tests and other performance measures over the past 7 years.

Overview of Demographics

Changes among the three largest demographic groups in SPPS over the past 7 years: Stability in total number of Asian-American

students, who are primarily limited English Proficient (LEP) and receive Free or Reduced Price Lunch (FRL). However, there is an increased proportion of Asian-American students who are immigrant.

Significant decline in Caucasian students who are primarily non-LEP and do not receive FRL

Significant increase in African-American students who are non-LEP and receive FRL.

Racial Balance in the Saint Paul Public Schools - 1987 to present

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

School Year

Num

ber

of Stu

den

ts

CaucasianAfrican Amer.LatinoAsianAmer. Indian

Percentage of Low Income, ELL and Special Education Students in Saint Paul Public Schools from 1997-98 to 2005-06

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

Per

cen

t o

f O

cto

ber

1 E

nro

llm

ent

Low IncomeELLSpecial Ed

Change in Gaps on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment

Reading, Math and Writing – change in percent of students proficient (Level III or Above)

Gaps for Grades 3 & 5 averaged together

Gaps for Grades 7 & 10/11 averaged together

Size of Achievement Gaps on MCA in Reading in Grades 3 & 5 in 1999 and 2005 (Lower Score Indicates Less of a Gap)

43

37

26

34

20

39

32

18

38

31 30

26

2931

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Low Income ELL SpecialEducation

African-American

Hispanic AsianAmerican

AmericanIndian

Gap

in P

erce

nt

Pro

fici

ent

Bet

wee

n G

rou

p In

dic

ated

an

d R

efer

ence

Gro

up

*

1999

2005

* The reference group in ethnic comparisons is Caucasian students. The others are Non-ELL, Non-Low Income,etc.

Size of Achievement Gaps on MCA in Reading in Grades 7 & 10 in 1999 and 2005 (Lower Score Indicates Less of a Gap)

36

28

39 40

2528

34

15

43

38

26

33

24

21

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Low Income ELL SpecialEducation

African-American

Hispanic AsianAmerican

AmericanIndian

Gap

in P

erce

nt

Pro

fici

ent

Bet

we

en G

rou

p In

dic

ated

an

d R

efer

ence

G

rou

p*

1999

2005

* The reference group in ethnic comparisons is Caucasian students. The others are Non-ELL, Non-Low Income,etc.

Size of Achievement Gaps on MCA in Math in Grades 3 & 5in 1999 and 2005 (Lower Score Indicates Less of a Gap)

40

29

20

39

20

34

31

12

31

37

33

28

34

25

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Low Income ELL SpecialEducation

African-American

Hispanic AsianAmerican

AmericanIndian

Gap

in P

erce

nt

Pro

fici

ent

Bet

wee

n G

rou

p In

dic

ated

an

d R

efer

ence

Gro

up

*

1999

2005

* The reference group in ethnic comparisons is Caucasian students. The others are Non-ELL, Non-Low Income,etc.

Size of Achievement Gaps on MCA in Math in Grades 7 & 11 in 1999 and 2005 (Lower Score Indicates Less of a Gap)

35

20

40

45

23

19

30

8

3941

26

30

21

14

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Low Income ELL SpecialEducation

African-American

Hispanic AsianAmerican

AmericanIndian

Gap

in P

erce

nt

Pro

fici

ent

Bet

wee

n G

rou

p In

dic

ated

an

d R

efer

ence

Gro

up

*

1999

2005

* The reference group in ethnic comparisons is Caucasian students. The others are Non-ELL, Non-Low Income,etc.

Size of Achievement Gaps on MCA in Grade 5 Writing in 1999 and 2005 (Lower Score Indicates Less of a Gap)

31

24

36

26

211818

4

39

1819

12

22

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Low Income ELL SpecialEducation

African-American

Hispanic AsianAmerican

AmericanIndian

Gap

in P

erce

nt

Pro

fici

ent

Bet

wee

n G

rou

p In

dic

ated

an

d R

efer

ence

Gro

up

*

1999

2005

* The reference group in ethnic comparisons is Caucasian students. The others are Non-ELL, Non-Low Income,etc.

Size of Achievement Gaps on BST/MCA in Grade 10 Writing in 1999 and 2005 (Lower Score Indicates Less of a Gap)

2730

46

29

232524

19

37

24

1816

10

27

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Low Income ELL SpecialEducation

African-American

Hispanic AsianAmerican

AmericanIndian

Gap

in P

erce

nt

Pro

fici

ent

Bet

wee

n G

rou

p In

dic

ated

an

d R

efer

ence

Gro

up

*

2000

2006

* The reference group in ethnic comparisons is Caucasian students. The others are Non-ELL, Non-Low Income,etc.

Summary of Apples to Apples Comparisons on the MCA

Compares students in SPPS with their Minnesota peers

Matching students on:EthnicityFree/Reduced Lunch EligibilityELL StatusSpecial Education students excluded

Groups with 100 or more students tested per grade

"Apples to Apples" Comparisons for Groups with 100+ Students per GradePercent of Students Proficient on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments in 2005

Gr 3 Rd

Gr 3 Math

Gr 5 Rd

Gr 5 Math

Gr 7 Rd

Gr 7 Math

Gr 10 Rd

Gr 11 Math

African American SPPS 54 46 63 52 44 38 45 30 = SPPS is three or moreMinnesota 55 49 60 53 48 43 55 35 points above MN peers

Caucasian SPPS 81 78 86 88 66 68 70 58 = SPPS is within threeMinnesota 80 78 85 82 76 76 84 70 points of MN peers

= SPPS is three or morepoints below MN peers

Caucasian SPPS 95 91 96 92 90 91 91 81Minnesota 91 89 93 92 88 90 93 83

Asian American SPPS 52 62 54 63 49 58 52 51Minnesota 49 54 50 57 41 56 50 48

Hispanic SPPS 55 52 54 51 43 47 48 34Minnesota 44 45 43 47 29 36 36 29

Low Income, not ELL

Not Low Income, not ELL

Low Income, ELL

Change in Performance on the SAT10 and Basic Skills Tests

SAT10 Reading, Mathematics and Science

Basic Skills Test – Reading and Mathematics

Percent Passing BST in Reading

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Amer

ican

India

n

Asian

-Am

eric

an

Africa

n-Am

eric

an

Hispan

ic

Cauca

sian

Specia

l Educa

tion

Limite

d Englis

h Pro

ficie

nt

Low Inco

me

2001

2005

Percent Passing BST in Math

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Amer

ican

India

n

Asian

-Am

eric

an

Africa

n-Am

eric

an

Hispan

ic

Cauca

sian

Specia

l Educa

tion

Limite

d Englis

h Pro

ficie

nt

Low Inco

me

2001

2005

MCA, SAT10 and BSTGAINS GAPS

ELL – All Tests FRL – All but 1 MCA math &

SAT10 Sci, Non-ELL MCA below MN peers

Special Education – BST Read

Asian American – All but Grd 10 MCA Writing

American Indian – Elem MCA, SAT10 Math, BST Rd

African American – MCA Mid, HS Math, BST, SAT10

Hispanic - Grd 10 Wri, BST Rd, SAT10 Math, MCA above MN peers

Special Education – All MCA’s but Grd 10 Wri, SAT10 Read, Sci

American Indian – Mid, HS MCA, SAT10 Rd, Sci

Hispanic – Elem MCA, Mid,HS Math, SAT10 Sci

African American – MCA below MN peers

Other Outcomes

NCLB Graduation Rate Four Year Completion RateDropout RateHonors Course Participation AP and ACT Results

Honors Course Participation in SPPS - 2002 and 2005

44

23

44

3026

59

32

8

44

20

47

33

26

37

11

32 34

62

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Distri

ct T

otal

Amer

ican

India

n

Asian

Am

eric

an

Hispan

ic A

mer

ican

Africa

n Am

eric

an

Cauca

sian

Recei

ving F

/R L

unch

English L

anguag

e Lea

rner

s

Specia

l Educa

tion S

tuden

ts

Per

cen

t o

f S

tud

ents

Rec

eivi

ng

Cre

dit

fo

r O

ne

or

Mo

re

Ho

no

rs C

ou

rses 2002

2005

Advanced Placement (AP) Test participation has been stable over the past four years overall and for most groups.

Table 2: Number of AP Students Tested by Ethnic Composition

           

  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Caucasian 296 329 308 338 333

Asian American 140 189 195 200 194

African American 28 39 51 35 40

American Indian Less than 10 students

Hispanic 22 17 30 36 30

Other/ Not Stated 24 39 39 42 43

Total 510 614 627 654 645

In AP test performance, there have been increases over the past four years for Caucasian and Hispanic students, but significant decreases for Asian-American and African-American Students

ACT participation has generally increased for Asian-American and African-American students, but has decreased for Caucasian and Hispanic students

Table 1: Number of Students Who Took the ACT by Ethnic Group (2001 to 2005)

  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

American Indian, Alaskan Native 14 <10 15 <10 <10

Asian-American, Pacific Islander 438 466 484 505 469

Mexican-American, Chicano 51 38 40 40 34

Puerto Rican, Hispanic <10 10 12 11 17

African-American, Black 128 116 209 117 197

Caucasian-American, White 519 475 463 412 401

DISTRICT TOTAL * 1266 1231 1435 1353 1350

There are still significant achievement gaps between Caucasian and students of color on the ACT Assessment

Grad Rate, 4 Yr Completion, Honors, AP, ACT

GAINS GAPS ELL – Grad Rate, 4 yr

Completion, Honors, Dropouts

FRL – Grad Rate, 4 yr Completion, Dropouts

Asian American – Grad Rate, 4 yr Completion, Dropouts & Honors

African American – Grad Rate, 4 yr Completion & Dropouts

Hispanic – Dropouts, Honors, AP

American Indian – All measures except Dropouts

Special Education – All measures except Dropouts

Asian American – AP & ACT

African American – AP & ACT

Hispanic – Grad Rate, 4 yr Completion, ACT