Deficient Resources: An Analysis of the Availability of Basic Educational Resources in High Needs Schools in Eight New York State School Districts
Author: Rebell, Michael A.
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: School Districts,Response to Intervention,At Risk Students,Educational Resources,Class Size,Special Education,Disadvantaged Schools,Public Schools,Elementary Schools,Middle Schools,High Schools,Teacher Effectiveness,Interviews,Special Education Teachers,Special Needs Students,Equal Education,Educational Opportunities,Grouping (Instructional Purposes),Principals,School Personnel,English Language Learners,School Safety,Accessibility (for Disabled),Academic Support Services,State Legislation,Court Litigation

In 2011, the Campaign for Educational Equity established the Safeguarding Sound Basic Education Project. One of the major components of this project has been to gather and analyze data about the availability of resources and services in high-needs schools both in New York City and around the state. A number of groups have issued statistical reports on the numbers of teachers laid off, increases in class size, and overall reduction in certain services that have resulted from the state's cutbacks in educational funding since 2009. To complement this information with a detailed analysis of the impact of budget reductions on students' educational opportunities at the school level and to investigate the extent to which the reduction in resources and services compromises students' constitutional rights, researchers conducted an in-depth study of the current availability of basic educational resources in 12 high-needs schools in New York City and in 21 additional schools in 7 other high-needs school districts around the state (Rochester, two small city, two suburban, and two rural districts). The rubrics used for the extensive interviews and analyses were based on the legal requirements set forth in &quot;Essential Resources: The Constitutional Requirements for Providing All Students in New York State the Opportunity for a Sound Basic Education.&quot; The analysis focuses on eight specific areas of constitutional entitlement: (1) qualified teachers, principals, and other personnel; (2) suitable curricula; (3) an expanded platform of services for &quot;at-risk&quot; students; (4) adequate resources for students with extraordinary needs; (5) class sizes; (6) instrumentalities of learning; (7) a safe and orderly environment; and (8) facilities. Many of the findings in this report are shocking and disturbing. Of the 33 high-needs schools in the study, thirteen reported that they were not providing students with sufficient instruction to meet the state's minimum curricular requirements in science; three high schools, all in New York City, were not providing any instruction in chemistry or physics. Fourteen schools throughout the state were not able to provide their students minimal course offerings in art, and eleven of the twelve high schools in the sample were not able to provide their students with college readiness counseling and supports. &quot;Not one&quot; of the 33 schools analyzed was providing the required amount of extra academic support services mandated for students who are failing to meet the state's proficiency standards for their grades. Whether for large urban or small rural schools, the findings are strikingly similar: they lack sufficient resources in every category of the most basic resources that the court and the state require and that students must have in order to succeed in school. The following are appended: (1) Summary of Recent Surveys of Resource Deficiency Issues in New York State; and (2) Methodology. [For the companion report, &quot;Essential Resources: The Constitutional Requirements for Providing All Students in New York State the Opportunity for a Sound Basic Education,&quot; see ED573124.]