CATS scores expose learning gaps

The old, old story: Black, low-income students fall behind. Only high-discipline schooling would do much to solve the problem but that of course is the No. 1 super-big No-no. Intellectual fashions trump reality every time. But if you can't get a kid to sit down, shut up and listen, you've got Buckley's chance of teaching him anything

Kentucky still has a long way to go to close academic achievement gaps among its black, low-income and learning-disabled students, the state's newest test results show. The percentages of white and Asian students statewide who reached proficiency in reading and math were 10 to 20 points higher than for Hispanic and black students, no matter the grade level, according to results released yesterday by the Kentucky Department of Education.

The state's learning-disabled students fared worse -- the percentage who reached proficiency was as much as 40 points lower than students overall in reading and as much as 30 points lower in math, depending on the grade tested. "These are very big gaps that everyone in Kentucky ought to be very concerned about," said Daria Hall, the assistant director for K-12 policy with The Education Trust, based in Washington, D.C. Test results for Jefferson County Public Schools showed similar learning gaps, especially between black and white students.

Kentucky and the federal No Child Left Behind law expect all students to reach proficiency by 2014. State educators and officials say they are concerned and disappointed by the results. "But, unfortunately, I am not surprised," said Johnnie Grissom, associate commissioner of special instructional services with the Education Department, which has worked to help schools address achievement gaps. "Some schools in Kentucky have closed the gaps successfully and are doing the right thing for all kids, but not all." .....

Hall said there are many reasons for achievement gaps in the nation's schools. "Many poor students and students of color come to school disadvantaged to begin with," she said. "And then once they get to school, they get less than their fair share of quality teachers, they are less likely to be placed in rigorous classes, particularly at the secondary level, and there seems to be lower expectations across the board."

Grissom said she has seen each of those factors in Kentucky's schools -- particularly lower expectations. "In some of our schools, African-American students tend to be assigned to lower-level classes and when they are put up against their counterparts, they are scoring lower because they didn't have the same access to higher-level courses," she said. "They also tend to be paired with the least effective teachers."

The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 made closing the achievement gaps a top priority. Schools that receive federal funds are held accountable for the annual progress of students in nearly every demographic group, and those who fail to meet reading and math goals can face sanctions ranging from student transfers to reorganization and state takeover.

Hall said schools across the nation have struggled for years to close achievement gaps. "We are beginning to see some narrowing of the achievement gap, particularly at the elementary level, but it is not happening fast enough," she said. Hall also said there has been a push by schools at the secondary level to get all students in rigorous courses. "However, we are finding in many cases that these courses are in name only," she said. "It may be called honors or advanced, but when you look at the course of study, it is not advanced and it will not prepare them for higher level work."

Several years ago, Grissom said the state put together a Minority Partnership Assistance Program. "We looked at the seven districts with the largest populations of black students and we worked with each one to develop plans on how they were going to address the achievement gaps," she said. "Most of those districts have made improvements, but they still have not closed the gaps."

Mernia Hill, principal at Shawnee High School, said reducing achievement gaps is not an easy challenge, especially in a district like Jefferson County, where so many students transfer from school to school. "The main thing is identifying the students who fall into the gaps and getting them the proper help," she said. "Our district tends to be very mobile, we have students transferring in and out every day, so you constantly have to stay on top and know what each child's needs are."

Source





HOMESCHOOLING GROWING

Weekdays in the Perry household start like those in any other. The kids brush their teeth, dress, grab a quick breakfast. Then, they make their way to school - at the dining room table. Anna, 7, tries to focus on her workbook. Bekah, 5, squirms in her chair and plays with 2-year-old Danielle, who needs a nap and starts wailing. Books are stacked on every surface. Little posters with insects and alphabets dot the walls, stand-ins for typical dining room decor. "Welcome," says their mother Kim Perry, smiling amid the disorder, "to our classroom."

The Perrys are part of a growing home-school movement. In 1999, according to federal statistics, there were 850,000 home-schooled children in the United States. In 2003, that number rose to 1.1 million. Some estimates put the figure today as high as 2.4 million. "It's certainly on the rise, there's no doubt about it," said Brad Haines, executive director for the Missouri-based Families for Home Education. "Exactly how fast is up to speculation."

Before their four children were born, Kim and her husband, David, decided they were going to home-school them. They had the most common reasons for doing so: They wanted an alternative to the sometimes violent culture of American public schools, and they wanted to educate their children with a Bible-centered focus. "People always ask me, 'Why do you want to stay home with your kids?'" Perry said. "I tell them, they're my kids. I want to have a positive impact on them. I want to raise them according to my values not someone else's."

Neither Missouri nor Illinois tracks students who are educated at home; the two states have some of the loosest regulations on home-schooling in the country. A parent doesn't have to tell authorities they're deciding to home-school their children, and home-schoolers want to keep it that way. Efforts in both states to tighten the rules have been extinguished as quickly as they flared. In both states, home-schooling support groups have flourished and multiplied. Membership in support groups suggests the number of home-schooled children in the St. Louis area is 6,000 or higher. "I get calls from people all the time, from people who want to pull their kids out of public schools," said Perry, who is on the board of an 80-member home-school group. "We've been growing by a third every year."

CONNECTIONS

In both Illinois and Missouri, parents who home-school their children, in effect, set up a private school, usually with the mother as teacher and father as principal. Neither needs any particular academic qualifications. There are lesson plans they can follow, and bookstores cater to home-school families. For many families, though, the most important resource has become the Internet, which has linked even isolated households and helped support groups organize field trips, athletic events or classes. "It's certainly made it a whole lot easier," said Wayne Walker, minister of the Affton Church of Christ, who home-schools his two children. "You can find like-minded people, more information."

Walker sends a 20-plus-page weekly e-mail with a list of available classes and activities to a host of home-schoolers every week. Like many home-schooled children, his participate in many activities. "It's really provided an opportunity for our children to meet friends," Walker said.

Home-schoolers say they feel more connected to a community. "We've chosen to be at home, but if we wanted to, there are so many classes, we could be gone all day, every day," Perry said.

MEASURING STICKS

Education authorities say they worry that, because home-schooled students aren't required to take statewide achievement tests in many states, including Missouri and Illinois, students may not meet expectations. Science class in a home-school household, for example, might veer from teaching evolutionary theory. A science course might instead have a name like "God's Design for Heaven & Earth," as it does in the Perry household.

Home-schoolers say the diplomas they confer on their children are evidence of a solid education. So are the transcripts they submit to colleges. Increasingly colleges say they agree. "They were so used to dealing with traditional transcripts and grades," said Ian Slatter, of the Home School Legal Defense Association. "Now the overwhelming majority of colleges have home-school admissions policies or a home-school admissions officer."

The University of Missouri and the University of Illinois have learned how to evaluate home-schoolers, though they receive relatively few applications for admission. "We're trying to do more to reach out to them," said Barbara Rupp, director of admissions at the University of Missouri. "I see a big difference in the level of sophistication of transcripts. But, yeah. Mom and Dad are assigning grades."

Regina Morin, director of admissions at Columbia College, says the school is seeing more home-schoolers apply each year. "They tend to be better than their public school counterparts," she said. "They score above average on tests, they're more independent, they're often a grade ahead." "Traditionally colleges can be afraid of them," Morin added. "They don't know how to assess them."

The home-school community concedes that not all kids emerge college-ready and that some parents aren't up to the task. "This is not an escape," Haines said. "It's a choice you make and stick with."

Source