# Presentation: 829587

## HIGH SCHOOLS IN AMERICA 2003

- Prepared for the
- US Department of Education
-  By The Education Trust

**Archived Information**

## What Do We Know About Student Achievement?

## 12th Grade Achievement In Math and Science is Up Somewhat

## High School Achievement: Math and Science

**Source:** NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress.

## In Reading, 12th Grade Achievement is Headed Downward

## HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT:  READING AND WRITING

## After Earlier Progress in Narrowing Gaps, Gaps in the 90’s Grew

## Gaps Narrow Then Mostly Widen NAEP Reading, 17 Year-Olds

**Source: **US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. *NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress* (p. 107) Washington, DC: US  Department of Education, August 2000

- 21

- 31

## Gaps Narrow, Then Hold Steady or Widen: NAEP Math Scores, 17 Year-Olds

- Gaps Narrow, Then Hold Steady or Widen: NAEP Math Scores, 17 Year-Olds

- 20

- 32

## Students Make  More Growth  Grade 4 to 8 than Grade 8 to 12

## Academic GrowthGrades 4-8, 8-12

## Value Added in High School Declined During the Nineties

## Value Added Declining in High School Math... 

**Age 13-17 Growth**

_**Source**_:  NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress

## ...Still 

**Age 13-17 Growth**

_**Source**_:  Main NAEP  1996, 2000

## Reading: Students Entering Better Prepared, But Leaving Worse 

_**Source**_**:** NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress

## Hormones?

## Students in Other Countries Gain far More in High School 

## TIMSS

## Source: NCES 1999-081R, Highlights From TIMSS

## Source: NCES 1999-081R, Highlights From TIMSS

## PISA

##  US 15 Year-Olds Rank Near Middle Of The Pack Among 32 Participating Countries

## One measure on which we rank high?Inequality!

## Performance Of U.S.15 Year-Olds Highly Variable

***Of 27 OECD ****countries**

- Performance Of U.S.15 Year-Olds Highly Variable

## KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AT END OF HIGH SCHOOL

## NAEP Mathematics Performance 2000

## By Race, Ethnicity NAEP 12th Grade Math  2000

**Source: **USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

## By Income 12th Grade Math (2000)

**Source: **USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables

## By Race, Ethnicity NAEP 12th Grade Reading 2002

**Source: **USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

## By Income 12th Grade Reading (2002)

**Source: **USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Summary Data Tables

## African American and Latino 17 Year Olds Do Math at Same Levels As White 13 Year Olds

**Source: **NAEP 1999 Long Term Trends Summary Tables (online)

## African American and Latino 17 Year Olds Read at Same Levels as White 13 Year Olds

**Source: Source: **NAEP 1999 Long Term Trends Summary Tables (online)

## These, of course, are just the students who MAKE IT 
through high school.

**These, of course, are just the students who MAKE IT **
**through high school.**

## Each Year, One of Every Twenty High School Students Leaves School

## One Year Dropout Rates by Race, Grades 10-12

## One Year Drop-out Rates by Family Income, Grades 10-12

- One Year Drop-out Rates by Family Income, Grades 10-12

## By Age 18-19, 82% of American Young People Have Earned a Diploma (72.5%) or a GED/Equivalency Certificate (9.8%)

## By Age 22-24, 86.3% of American Young People Have Earned a Diploma (75.9%) or a GED/Equivalency Certificate (10.4%)

## Students Complete High School At Different Rates, 2000

**Source:** US Bureau of Census, Current Population Reports, Educational Attainment in the United States: March 2000,  Detailed Tables No. 2

- Age 18-24

## Inevitable?

## No.  Around the Country, there are:

- Classrooms;
- Schools;
- Districts; and,
- Even entire states where students—especially poor and minority students—are performing at much higher levels.

## SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

- Four questions to help frame our improvement efforts.

## #1. Can we agree on a single, overarching goal for high school that will give clearer purpose, focus to our reform efforts?

## Kids and Parents are Clear:  Their Goal is College

**Source:**Metropolitan Life, Survey of the American Teacher 2000:  Are We Preparing Students for the 21st Century?,  September 2000.

## Indeed, Most High School Grads Do Go On To Postsecondary Within 2 Years

**Source:** NELS: 88, Second (1992) and Third (1994) Follow up; in, USDOE, NCES, “Access to Postsecondary Education for the 1992 High School Graduates”, 1998, Table 2.

## That’s Good, Because Education Pays:Annual Earnings of 25-34 yr-olds by Attainment, 2001

- That’s Good, Because Education Pays:Annual Earnings of 25-34 yr-olds by Attainment, 2001

## But Many of Those College Freshmen Not Prepared...and Do Not Return for Sophomore Year

**Source:** Tom Mortensen, Postsecondary Opportunity, No. 89, November 1999

## Why?  At Least In Part Because Their Teachers Had Other Ideas About Their Plans

## To break through these old attitudes, cannot equivocate.

- ALL students must graduate from high school ready for postsecondary education.

## #2. It is increasingly clear that student success--in college, on assessments, and in gaining access to decent jobs--depends on completing a rigorous, college prep-level curriculum.  

## Transcript Study: single biggest predictor of college success isQUALITY AND INTENSITY OF HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM

- Cliff Adelman, *Answers in the Tool Box*, U.S. Department of Education.

## Even Bottom Quartile Students Gain More From College Prep Courses*

***Grade 8-grade 12 test score gains based on 8th grade achievement.**

## Challenging Curriculum Also Results in Lower Failure Rates, Even for Lowest Achievers

**Source**:  SREB, “Middle Grades to High School: Mending a Weak Link”.  Unpublished Draft, 2002.

**Ninth-grade English performance, by high/low level course, and eighth-grade reading achievement quartiles**

## And they’ll be better prepared for the workplace.

## Requirements forTool and Die Makers

- Four or five years of apprenticeship and/or postsecondary training;
-  Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and statistics;
-  Average earnings:  $40,000 per year.

## Requirements forSheet Metal Workers

-  Four or five years of apprenticeship;
-  Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and technical reading;

## Time for a Default Curriculum?

- Texas
- Indiana

## But...

-  it is clear from the NAEP data that we’re not getting the gains from those courses we should expect; and,
-  it is also clear that course labels don’t always tell much about standards.

## Students can do 

- no better than
- the assignments
- they are given...

## Grade 10 Writing Assignment

- A frequent theme in literature is the conflict between the individual and society.  From literature you have read, select a character who struggled with society.  In a well-developed essay, identify the character and explain why this character’s conflict with society is important.

## Grade 10 Writing Assignment

- Write a composition of at least 4  paragraphs on Martin Luther King’s most important contribution to this society.  Illustrate your work with a neat cover page.  Neatness counts.** **

## How Can We Get Some Consistency in Content and Teacher Judgments?

## #3.  Organizing Time and Staff in Pursuit of Different Outcomes

## Time

## The Full Year Calendar

## Less Summer Vacation

## Less Weekends, Holidays, & Summer Vacation

## Less Professional Development Days & Early Dismissal/Parent Conferences

## Less Class Picnic, Class Trip, Thanksgiving Feast, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukkah, Awards, Assembles, & Concerts

## Less State and District Testing

## Bottom Line:

**Roughly 13-15 Eight-Hour Days**** Per Subject**** Per Year**

## Staff

## Classes in High Poverty High Schools More Often Taught by Underqualified* Teachers

**Source: **National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, *What Matters Most: Teaching for *
*America’s Future* (p.16) 1996.

## Math & Science Classes With a High Percentage of Minority Students Are More Often Taught by Underqualified Teachers

**Source:** Jeannie Oakes. *Multiplying Inequalities: The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking on Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and Science* (Rand: 1990)

- 1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.

## Even Within Schools, Often Big Differences

## Students in Low Track Classes Are More Often Taught by Underqualified Teachers

**Source:** Ingersoll, The Problem of Underqualified Teachers in American Secondary Schools *Educational Researcher,* Vol. 28, No 2 (March 1999) pp. 26-37

## Regular Team Sample

## Pre-IB Team Sample

## 11-12 IB/AP Teacher Sample

## Turn Around This Pattern:UPDRAFT for ALL Students?

## #4.  Are there better ways to accelerate our top students?

## Fastest growing part of the high school curriculum?AP/IB (college-level) courses

## Meanwhile, fastest growing part of the college curriculum?Remedial (high school level) courses.

## Alternatives?

## The Education Trust

**For More Information . . .**
- www.edtrust.org
-  DC:  202-293-1217
- Oakland:  510-465-6444