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Georgia Education News
Georgia Education News
November 2008
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Among
industrialized nations, the United States is the only country in which todayÕs
young people are less likely than their parents to have earned a high school
diploma. Reversing this trend could hardly be more urgent.
Yet
policymakers in many states are setting graduation improvement targets that
wonÕt get our young peopleÑor our nationÑready to compete in the
knowledge-driven world of the 21st century. According to ÒCounting
on Graduation,Ó a new report released today by The Education Trust, states must
ratchet up expectations for high school graduation, substantially and
immediately.
Federal
law requires states to set benchmarks for improvements in reading and math
achievement and for graduating high school students on time. However, the
various methods states use to compute graduation rates obscure the reality that
too few students are completing high school on time. Nationally, one of every
four high school students fails to graduate on time. For African-American and
Latino students, that rate increases to more than one in three.
New
federal regulations, which are expected within the month, are likely to
increase transparency in this area by requiring all states to use a single,
reliable graduation rate calculation for all states and to ask schools to meet
graduation goals for specific groups of students. Currently, schools base
accountability only on overall averages, which ignores gaps between groups. So
the new regulations will be an important step forward.
However,
most state accountability systems still exhibit a surprising indifference
toward improving the high school graduation ratesÑand thus, the life chancesÑof
the stateÕs young people. And that has to change.
States have set a wide range of graduation-rate goals, from a
low of 50 percent in Nevada to a high of 95 percent in Indiana. But even goals
that appear impressive can be irrelevant when a state sets the accountability
bar low for year-to-year improvement. And more than half of all states have set annual
targets so low that they accept any progress at all from the previous
year.
For
example, if the state-set minimum target were met each year:
á
North CarolinaÕs high schools would not achieve the stateÕs current overall
graduation-rate goal until the year 2103. It would take an additional 95 years
for the stateÕs African-American students and 180 years for its Latino students
to reach the same goal.
á
African-American students in Maryland would reach their stateÕs goal in the
year 3117.
á
In Delaware, New Mexico and South Carolina, no student group will ever actually have to reach
the state goal as long as their current graduation rate is sustained each year.
Georgia,
for example, has abandoned lower expectations and set a new goal of 100 percent
graduation rates for every student group by 2014. To help schools achieve this,
the state launched an initiative that allows each high school to employ a
full-time graduation Òcoach.Ó Coaches identify students who show early signs of
dropping out, and work with them to develop individual achievement and
graduation plans. The coaches also provide training for parents and develop
partnerships with community organizations.
In
Mississippi earlier this year, the governor, legislators, and state and local
education and community leaders came together for a dropout prevention summit
held in conjunction with AmericaÕs Promise Alliance, a group that supports
states in raising high school graduation rates. The state legislature also
opened an office of dropout prevention within the state department of education
and set a goal to cut their dropout rate in half over the next five years. In
addition, each school district is being asked to develop a dropout-prevention
plan in consultation with educators, students and community members.
Full
report:
http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/6CA84103-BB12-4754-8675-17B18A8582AC/0/CountingonGraduation1008.pdf
Students
in six major U.S. cities are performing on par or better in mathematics than
their peers in other countries in grades 4 and 8, according to a new study by
the American Institutes for Research (AIR). However, students from five other
major cities are not faring as well, and overall, U.S. student performance in
mathematics falls off from elementary to middle school grades Ñ and remains
behind many industrialized nations, particularly Asian nations.
The
AIR study offers the first comparison between students from large U.S. cities
and their international peers. The study compares U.S. 4th grade students with
their counterparts in 24 countries and 8th grade students with peers in 45
countries.
The
study found that students in grades 4 and 8 from Austin, Boston, Charlotte,
Houston, New York and San Diego performed better or on par with their peers in
other countries. Students from Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, the District of
Columbia and Los Angeles performed below the international average.
When
comparing students who are ÒproficientÓ on two math benchmarks, the United
States places higher than the international average at grade 4 and grade 8.
However, the nationÕs performance overall was significantly lower than that for
Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Japan and the Flemish portion of Belgium at grade
4; for grade 8, the nationÕs students also had fallen behind the Republic of
Korea, the Netherlands and Hungary.
The
AIR study uses a statistical linking strategy to combine results from the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2003 and the Trends in
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2003, when both assessments
were conducted within the United States in the same grades. Once the linking
was completed, it was possible to compare the more recent 2007 NAEP results
with the TIMSS results of 2003. This strategy led to meaningful comparisons of
urban districts and student performance nationally and internationally at
grades 4 and 8, using the index of the percent of students at or above
ÒproficientÓ levels as defined by the NAEP. The index was calculated across all
nations that participate in TIMSS, marking the first opportunity for
international math comparisons.
The
report, Counting on the Future: International Benchmarks in Mathematics for
American School Districts, uses comparisons to the overall average of 24 countriesÕ
achievement at grade 4, and 45 countries at grade 8, but also looked at
comparisons with the average of 10 Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) countries at grade 4, and 12 OECD countries at grade 8. The
11 districts Ñ Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago;
Cleveland; the District of Columbia; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; and San
Diego Ñ voluntarily participated in the 2007 NAEP Trial Urban District
Assessment (TUDA) in Mathematics.
There
is much room for improvement. Overall, the United States and the 11 districts
fall in the middle of the international rankings at grades 4 and 8 Ñ but some
of the nations included are developing countries with few resources, taking
part in their first international large-scale assessment. When compared with
ÒpeerÓ OECD countries, the United States and the 11 districts are seen to have
lower rankings.
Full
report:
http://www.air.org/news/documents/Counting%20on%20the%20Future.pdf
Where:
Claxton, Georgia
Type:
Small City
District:
Evans County Schools
Grade Level:
Middle School (6-8)
Demographics:
47% Black, 41% White, 12% Hispanic
75% Free or Reduced-Price Lunch
4% English Language Learners
17% Special Education
Highlights
Claxton Middle School has implemented strategies geared toward
ensuring that students receive intensive support to master skills including:
á
Hands-on practical demonstrations and activities that engage
students who are struggling with mathematics,
á
Praise-prompt-leave strategy for encouraging struggling students,
á
Various types of formative assessments in daily use,
á
Consistent use of the six elements of an effective mathematics
lesson and Tennessee Instructional Method,
á
Philosophy of 100% correction of mistakes,
á
Four-tier pyramid of interventions and technology-based
prescriptive remediation, and
á
Fluid movement of students across supports based on frequent
assessments; daily 90-minute period for re-teaching of mathematics.
á
Summary of Approach
Practices covered:
á
Comprehensive Instruction
á
Mastery Framework
Claxton Middle School staff have worked hard over the past few
years to align their work with the Georgia mathematics performance standards
which are based on the NCTM Focal Points. Vertical articulation is important in
the district; K-12 math teachers meet together several times a year. Results of
the joint work include an adapted curriculum map, vertical pacing guide, and
instructional units. To meet the Georgia performance standards, Claxton has an
algebra strand for all grade 8 students.
The Claxton approach features many different types of formal and
informal formative assessments to determine which students need additional
support. For example, teachers use informal warm-ups and
"ticket-out-the-door" summary assessments in every lesson to check
understanding. Benchmark assessments are used every nine weeks to determine
student mastery.
Claxton staff are committed to providing students the support they
need to succeed in mathematics. In the daily schedule, mathematics is taught
during a 100-minute block. Students who are targeted for more intervention have
an additional 90 minutes of math; or some, depending on need, have an
additional 45 minutes. The staff is guided by a four-tier pyramid of
interventions to determine appropriate support for individuals.
Download further
details:
http://dww.ed.gov/media/MathScience/MPR/TopicLevel/case_claxton_081808rev.pdf
Achievement Data
At the eighth-grade level, 94% of students placed at the
proficient or advanced level in the 2006-07 academic year, both above the state
average. All students were either proficient or advanced in algebra on the
end-of-course exam. The school made AYP in all subgroups in reading and in math
in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Math performance for Claxton students has improved
substantially over the past three years, increasing from 77% of students
passing the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency test to 94% of all students
passing. Last year, 100% of eighth graders were enrolled in algebra, a
five-fold increase over past years.
Carnegie Learningª Adaptive Math Solutions have been adopted by
Bartow County Schools in Georgia as a Response to Intervention (RTI) program
for students likely to struggle with the transition from middle school to high
school mathematics.
ÒWe have to engage struggling students in a way we never have
before if we are expecting them to improve in performance while simultaneously
implementing a more demanding curriculum,Ó said Dr. John Barge, Director of
Secondary Instruction for Bartow County Schools in Georgia. ÒWe did a great
deal of research and felt that Carnegie Learning had a strong foundation in
cognitive-based teaching and learning and positive results to back that up.Ó
In Bartow County Schools in Georgia, the District used state grant
funding to purchase Carnegie LearningÕs Integrated Math I software for middle
school intervention this fall.