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Delaware Education News
May 2008
Copyright © 2008 Queue, Inc.
IN
THIS ISSUE:
Urban School Students Score at Highest Levels
Ever On State and Federal Tests
General Assembly Acts Boldly to Limit Education
Cuts to $30 Million
Report Includes City-by-City Profiles of Big-City School
District Trends On Math and Reading Assessments
http://www.cgcs.org/BTO8/Christina.pdf
Students in the nationÕs major city public school districts continue to advance in reading and math on state tests and on the more rigorous federal testÐ the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
A new report analyzing academic progress in 66
urban school systems in 37 states and the District of Columbia shows
substantially higher test scores in 2007 than in 2003 in fourthand eighth-grade
mathematics and reading on state assessments. It indicates that the state and
national test scores are at their highest levels since academic proficiency
data have been collected for urban schools.
Beating the Odds: An Analysis of Student
Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments by the Council of the
Great City Schools compares this past school yearÕs state test scores with
those reported a year after the federal No Child Left Behind law was implemented in
2002, requiring school districts to report performance levels based on state
tests and show the percentage of students who score at the ÒproficientÓ level.
The Beating the Odds findings for the 2006-
2007 school year show that 63 percent of urban school students scored at or
above the proficient level in fourth-grade math on their respective state
assessments, a whopping 14 percentage point gain from 49 percent in 2003. For
eighth-graders, the percentage climbed to 55 percent, compared with 42 percent
in 2003, a 13 percentage point rise.
In reading, urban schoolchildren also posted
gains over the past four years. From 2003 to 2007, the percentage of
fourth-graders scoring at or above the proficient level in reading on state
tests rose to 60 percent from 51 percent Ð a 9 percentage point hike. For
eighth-graders, the percentage increased to 51 percent from 43 percent in 2003,
an 8 percentage point gain.
National Test Assessments
The report also reveals that the state-test
trends coincide with NAEP gains by urban students, but with lower percentages
of students scoring at or above the proficient level on what is generally
considered a more rigorous exam than most state tests.
Students in big-city public schools have made
faster math and reading gains than the nation on the NAEP over the past few
years, according to The NationÕs Report Card for 2007 released by
the U.S. Department of Education. The report last November marked the first
time that the nation could see four- or five-year trends on NAEP for the
countryÕs major urban public school systems since the Trial Urban District
Assessment (TUDA) was launched in reading in 2002 and math in 2003.
Some 28 percent of urban fourth-graders scored
at or above the proficient level in math in 2007 on NAEP, an 8 percentage point
hike from 20 percent in 2003. In reading, 22 percent of urban schoolchildren in
fourth grade reached or went beyond the proficient level in 2007, a 5
percentage point increase from 17 percent in 2002.
Beating the Odds also includes how
student test scores in 11 big-city school districts that volunteered for the
trial urban NAEP compare with scores on their respective state tests. Among the
11 cities are New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the nationÕs three largest
school systems.
Although urban schools show gains in math and
reading performance, the districts still generally lag behind state and
national averages in fourth and eighth grades, and acknowledge that they still
have a long way to go to reach proficiency levels. But there are exceptions.
State Math Achievement
In the reportÕs eighth annual analysis, data
show that 22 percent of urban school districts now score as high as or higher
than their respective states in fourth-grade math, and 16 percent score as high
or higher at the eighth-grade level in 2007.
The school districts with both fourth- and
eighth-grade math scores equal to or greater than their respective states are
Anchorage, Broward County (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)., Charleston, New Orleans,
Palm Beach and Portland, Ore.
State Reading Progress
In 2007, 16 percent of urban school districts
scored at or above their respective states in fourth-grade reading, and 14
percent at the eighth-grade level. The school districts with both fourth- and
eighth-grade reading scores equal to or greater than their respective states
are Anchorage, Broward County (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Charleston, New Orleans,
Portland, Ore., San Diego and San Francisco.
Achievement Gaps
Beating the Odds VIII also indicates that
racial achievement gaps in urban schools narrowed in math between 2003 and
2007, although they remain wide. Some 66 percent of bigcity school districts
narrowed the gap between their fourth-grade African-American students and white
counterparts statewide in math proficiency Ð 63 percent in eighth-grade math.
Among Hispanic students, 63 percent of the
urban school districts narrowed the gap with white fourth-graders statewide Ð
58 percent in eighth-grade.
In reading, between 2003 and 2007, 64 percent
of major city school systems narrowed the achievement gap between fourth-grade
African-American students and white counterparts statewide in reading
proficiency Ð 67 percent at the eighth-grade level. Among Hispanic students, 57
percent of urban school districts narrowed the gap with white fourth-graders
statewide Ð 63 percent in eighth grade.
Urban Environment AmericaÕs big-city
school systems enroll about one-quarter, or 26 percent, of all students of
color in the nation, and a disproportionately high number of English language
learners and poor students.
The report attributes the standards movement
as the catalyst that triggered change in urban schools. It gave urban school
administrators direction on what they were being held responsible for
delivering.
Beating the Odds analyzed two
assessments Ð state and national Ð because the nation does not have a single
system to measure progress relative to the same standard across school
districts in all states.
Unexpected and welcomed action by the
General Assembly and Gov. Ruth Ann Minner late Thursday evening April 24, 2008
will limit FY09 cuts to public education to $30 million.
House Joint Resolution 14, sponsored by
Sen. Nancy Cook (D-Kenton) and Rep. Bill Oberle (R-BeecherÕs Lot), passed the
House of Representatives by a vote of 39-0 (two not voting: Rep. Greg
Lavelle/R and Rep. Bob Valihura/R) and the State Senate by a vote of 18-0 (two
not voting: Sen. Bob Marshall/D and Sen. Karen Peterson/D).
ÒLegislators clearly were
reacting to the tremendous outpouring of emails and calls they received from
DSEA members and parents up and down the state,Ó said Barbara Grogg, DSEA
President. ÒAnd we are grateful for this action sufficiently in advance of the
May 15th layoff notice deadline, and hope that school superintendents will act
in the spirit of the resolution, Ôto minimize employee reduction in force
notifications and minimize employee layoffs.ÕÓ
The following passage from the
resolution states that the 2009 budget: ÒÉ must incorporate comprehensive
strategies including but not limited to base budget cuts, revenue enhancements
and government re-engineering.Ó
Moving forward, two points are
worth the attention of DSEA members:
(1) the implementation of the
agreed-upon $30 million budget reduction amount; and
(2) the remaining
task of coming to an agreement on a new revenue package. The latter point is
especially true for a number of other state services that affect children and
working families.
ÒWe will very closely monitor
discussions and proposals for the remaining $30 million in cuts to ensure that
they are educationally sound,Ó said DSEA Executive Director Howard Weinberg.
The budget deficit for FY09
remains at $225 million. With $30 million coming from public education, that
still leaves a $195 million gap to be made up from a combination of further
budget cuts and revenue increases. AndÉ.that presumes no worsening of state
revenues between now and the June official state revenue forecast from DEFAC
(Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Committee).
The official press release issued
from Legislative Hall Thursday night noted that, ÒSchool officials from
around the state sat in meetings with the legislative-administration finance
team and said they were pleased with the accord. ÔWe are still gong to have to
make cuts,Õ said Colonial School Superintendent George H. Meney. ÔBut weÕre
looking at operational cuts that we hope wonÕt be too noticeable in the
classroom.Õ
ÒWoodbridge School Superintendent Kevin
Carson said districts were going to look at making uniform cuts to avoid a
patchwork of cuts around the state. Both superintendents praised the group for
its effort on behalf of teachers and students.
ÒÕThese leaders stepped up and worked hard on behalf of our schools,Õ Carson said. ÔThey really came through and helped a lot of kids by doing this.ÕÓ
The State Board of Education, following
a recommendation from the Accountability Review Committee and Sec. of Education
Valerie Woodruff, turned down applications to open charter schools this fall
from the Delaware Community Charter School and Middletown Preparatory
Charter School.
DSEA leaders as well as Claudia Bock,
president of the Christina Education Association, were on hand to testify
against the Delaware Community School application, if necessary. Bock had
enlisted the support of the Christina community, school board and legislators
to send in letters of protest to the State Board. This school, which offered
little that would be unique, was to open close to where the new Porter Road
School is to open, a school that voters had just approved. the school was also
supported by two bond bill votes in the General Assembly. In that Bear/Newark
area of Christina are several elementary schools, all of which are rated
Superior. With the support of the community for a new school in the area, why
stretch scarce state resources to open a similar school?
Criteria such as these are not in the current charter school law
and were not used by the Dept. of deny the application. It was denied on more
technical grounds.
And sadly, after some struggles, the State Board also voted to
revoke the charter of the Marion T. Academy. Marion T. has operated in the City
of Wilmington since 2000, serving K-8 students. It will close this summer,
causing hardship to their families, staff and students.