# Presentation: 922577

## IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND BEYOND

*Prepared for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education by*
*The Education Trust *
*2003*

- 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 Largely Unchanged

## Gaps Narrow, Then Fairly Flat: NAEP Reading Scores, 17 Year-Olds

- Gaps Narrow, Then Fairly Flat: NAEP Reading Scores, 17 Year-Olds

## 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

## 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

## Value Added Declining in High School Science

**Age 13-17 Growth**

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

## 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

## KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AT END OF HIGH SCHOOL

## Too Few 17 Year-Olds Demonstrate Strong Reading Skills

## Too Few 17 Year-Olds Demonstrate Strong Math Skills

## And these numbers are for those who make it through 
High School!

**And these numbers are for those who make it through **
**High School!**

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

## Despite Poor Preparation, Most Graduates Will Go Immediately On To College

## IMMEDIATE COLLEGE-GOING GROWING

## Within 2 Years of HS Graduation?

## Most High School Grads 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.

## Unfortunately, About Half of these Students Must Take Remedial Coursework... and Many Do Not Even Make it to the Sophomore Year

## College Freshmen Not Returning for Sophomore Year

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

##  GAINS IN COLLEGE COMPLETION ARE NOT PROPORTIONATE WITH GAINS IN COLLEGE ATTENDANCE

## College Going vs. Completion of BA or Higher, Whites

_**Source**_:  US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, October Current Population Surveys, 1972-2000, in US DOE, NCES, The Condition of Education 2002, p.166 and 174.

- 19

- 10

## College Going vs. Completion of BA or Higher, Blacks

_**Source**_:  US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, October Current Population Surveys, 1972-2000, in US DOE, NCES, The Condition of Education 2002, p.166 and 174.

- 21

- 7

##  ADD IT ALL UP...

## Of Every 100 White Kindergartners:

**(24 Year-Olds)**

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

## Of Every 100 African American Kindergartners:

**(24 Year-Olds)**

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

## Of Every 100 Latino Kindergartners:

**(24 Year-Olds)**

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

## College Graduates by Age 24

**Source:** Tom Mortenson, Research Seminar on Public Policy Analysis of Opportunity for Post Secondary, 1997.

## WHY?

## What We Hear Adults Say:

- They’re poor;
- Their parents don’t care;
- They come to schools without breakfast;
- Not enough books
- Not enough parents . . .

## But if they’re right, then why are poor and minority children performing so high in...

## Some schools...

## Hambrick Middle School,Aldine, TX

- 94% African American and Latino (state = 56%)
- 85% low-income (state = 50%)
- Has performed in the top fifth of all Texas middle schools in _both_ reading and math in _both_ 7th and 8th grades over a 3-year period.

## Hambrick Middle School, Aldine, TX

**Source: **New York State Department of Education. *Analyses by Student Subgroup of School Performance in English Language *
*Arts and Mathematics for Lincoln School in Mount Vernon City School District.*  March 7, 2002.

## Prince Edward County High, Farmville VA

**Sources: **Virginia Department of Education Web site, _[http://www.pen.k12.](http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html)__[va](http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html)__[.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html](http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html)__._

- (715 students – 55% African American and Latino)

## Norview High School, Norfolk, VA

**Sources: **Virginia Department of Education Web site, _[http://www.pen.k12.](http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html)__[va](http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html)__[.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html](http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/2002SOLpassrates.html)__._

- (1,560 students – 70% African American and Latino)

## And some entire states...

## 4th Grade Math African American Gains Between 1992 and 2000

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

## 4th Grade Math Latino Gains Between 1992 and 2000

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

## North Carolina:  Gains in  Grade 4 Reading Outpace the Nation, 1992-1998

**Source:** NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress

## What We Hear Students Say:We CAN Learn, But...

- some teachers don’t know their subjects
- counselors underestimate our potential
- principals dismiss concerns
- curriculum and expectations are low

## SO, WHAT DO WE DO?

## Small and personal for both students and teachers will help. Indeed, given the clarity of the research, it is unthinkable NOT to act. 

## But real change also requires at least five critical elements:

- Get the goals right;
- Get all students in a curriculum lined up with those goals;
- Make certain that all students are genuinely STRETCHED;
- Provide extra instruction for students who arrive behind;
- TEACHER QUALITY MATTERS.

## Element 1: Goals

## Education Pays:Annual Earnings of 25-34 yr-olds by Attainment, 2001

- Education Pays:Annual Earnings of 25-34 yr-olds by Attainment, 2001

## It’s Not Just Degrees, But Also Skills That Matter--for All Groups Prose 

- It’s Not Just Degrees, But Also Skills That Matter--for All Groups Prose

## Students seem to get all this, but...

## How Expectations Differ: Plans For Students After High School

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

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

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

## Element 2: All Students in Curriculum Lined Up With Those Goals

## 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.

## But college prep curriculum has benefits far beyond college.

## Students of all sorts will learn more...

## A Rigorous Math Curriculum Improves Scores For All Students

## Vocational Students Taking High-Level English Courses Score Higher

## They will also fail less often...

## Challenging Curriculum 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**

## Students of All Abilities Are Generally More Likely to Fail Low-Level Mathematics Courses9th-graders earning Ds or Fs by 8th grade achievement & course assignment

**Source:** Sondra Cooney & Gene Bottoms, “Middle Grades to High School: Mending a Weak Link,” SREB, 2002

## Element 3: Working on the Rigor Part

## What Teenagers Say About School Rigor

- Fewer Than 3 in 10 Think Their School is “Very Academically Rigorous”

**Source:  **1998 Annual Survey from Who’s Who Among American High School Students
- 2000 by The Education Trust, Inc.

##  A full one-third of American Algebra 1 courses use textbooks with very little Algebra in them.

Willam Schmidtt

- Willam Schmidtt

## 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.** **

## 14 SC High Schools Calibrated:Gaps Between Standards and Assignments Largest in Upper Grades

## ‘A’ Work in Poor Schools Would Earn ‘Cs’ in Affluent Schools

- ‘A’ Work in Poor Schools Would Earn ‘Cs’ in Affluent Schools

## End of Course Exams Can Help, but teachers need...

-  Help in designing powerful lessons, units;
-  Help in developing consistent understanding of what quality work looks like;
-  Help with more regular assessments (e.g., 9 weeks) of student progress.

## Element Four: Provide extra instruction for students who arrive behind

## When Kids Are Behind, Schools Must Provide More Instruction and Support:

- Kentucky provides extra time for struggling students in high-poverty schools
- Maryland offers extra dollars for 7th and 8th graders who need more support

## And if you don’t live in a smart state?

- Many schools, districts finding ways to double, even triple, amount of time spent on literacy, math.

## Element Five:  Teachers Matter Big Time

## Too Many High School Teachers Don’t Have Background in Subject They are Teaching

**Source:**  Ingersoll, Richard. *American Educational Researcher*, “The Problem of Underqualified Teacher in American Secondary Schools”, vol. 28, no. 2, March 1999, p. 29.

## 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.

## High-Poverty Schools Get More Low-Scoring* Teachers

***Teachers scoring in the bottom quartile on on SAT/ACT.  “High-poverty” schools have 2/3 or more **
**students eligible for reduced-price lunch.**
**Source: ***Education Week*, “Quality Counts 2001,” January 2001.

## 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

## Impact?

## 1998 by The Education Trust, Inc.

## If we had the courage and creativity to change these patterns?

## “By our estimates from Texas schools, having an above average teacher for five years running can completely close the average gap between low-income students and others.” John Kain and Eric Hanushek

## Teachers Matter Big Time!

## The Office of Vocational and Adult Education

**karen.clark@ed.gov**