Ann Arbor school board presented with first draft of plan to close achievement gap
Ann Arbor school board Trustee Glenn Nelson, flanked by board President Deb Mexicote (left) and Trustee Irene Patalan (right), listens to district administrators present student achievement data.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
The plan was unveiled following a long meeting where district officials shared numerous measures of student achievement data, from scores on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program and the Michigan Merit Exam to the various levels of success numerous intervention programs have had on achievement.
Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley, interim deputy superintendent for instruction, said the achievement gap plan should have the same level of emphasis as the district’s strategic plan.
“It needs to be elevated in importance like the strategic plan and under that umbrella,” she said.
For more information
See these related stories on the achievement gap:
The plan includes monitoring student progress, providing academic intervention and help through district programs, offering a variety of programs and utilizing partnerships in the community. The plan will be reviewed by the district’s equity leadership teams and school improvement teams before being posted on the AAPS web site and made available publicly.
To view a PDF of the plan handed out at Wednesday's meeting, click here.
The school board was presented with updated information on the demographics of the student body in the district, how MEAP scores in the district compare to the rest of the state, intervention programs for reading, math and positive behavior support, information on district Advanced Placement test-takers and the district’s scores on the ACT and MME tests.
Some of the information presented to trustees was not exactly what they had been hoping to hear. For instance, only 30 percent of black students who took the MME in 2009-10 were deemed to be proficient in math, the same percentage as economically disadvantaged students. Still, that was still higher than the state average, which shows just 16 percent of black students who took the MME in 2009-10 were proficient in math.
District officials also presented statistics that showed the effectiveness of district intervention programs to help reduce the achievement gap. District officials said at least 62 percent of students achieved one year of growth in the Read 180 program, which helps raise reading ability in struggling students.
In addition, administrators told the story of one teacher at Pioneer High School who has helped her class of special education students attain an average of one year of growth at a normal general education rate.
Trustee Simone Lightfoot said it was hard to be presented with statistics that showed Ann Arbor students not performing well but still exceeding state averages.
“It’s hard to sit at the table and hear, ‘Well, we’re doing better than the state,’ instead of focusing on the areas where we’re still falling short,” Lightfoot said.
MEAP scores have shown that the gap between black students and white students has shrunk in many areas since the 2005-06 school year and data presented at Wednesday’s meeting showed MEAP scores for Ann Arbor students were higher than the state average across the board.
MEAP scores will likely be affected next year in Ann Arbor — and around Michigan — when the scores required to be considered "proficient" and "advanced" are raised by the state. The raising of the scores, commonly called “cut scores,” will help bring Michigan’s test standards in line with the rest of the country.
Dickinson-Kelley said MEAP is just one measurement of student achievement and additional measures like the Northwest Evaluation Association tests, which will be given multiple times in a school year, will help measure student achievement further.
“The MEAP is just one measure and we know the MEAP has been changing over the last few years,” she said. “We’re moving more toward the expectation of a national assessment and we have to get ready for a more rigorous set of expectations.”
One trustee said while there is a lot of work being done to help the low-achieving students in the district and the district does a good job of identifying students who are doing very well, he was concerned about the students in the middle.
Trustee Andy Thomas said the district needs to do more to help students who are “just scraping by.” He said students who might be averaging a C or a D grade will pass and graduate, but they will not be considered college-ready and that isn’t good enough.
“We really have to come to terms with the C student this year is the failing student next year or two years from now,” he said. “It’s not good enough to say they’re scraping by and doing the minimal work.”
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Jrileyhoff
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 2:39 p.m.
With the elimination of the 4pm after-school transportation at the middle school level, under-achieving students will fall further behind. Students attending the Homework Club to get help/tutoring, will have to find their own way home, or forego this support.
ViSHa
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 3:18 p.m.
makes no sense when they are all wringing their hands about the achievement gap!
AMOC
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 2:45 a.m.
Wow. I am so impressed. (NOT!) So 62% of the Read180 students in AAPS made at least one year's worth of academic progress in a year. Presumably, the others also improved their reading, but not by as much. Since the criteria for students being enrolled in Read 180 instead of the standard English course was a reading level "significantly" below grade level, how in the world are these students ever going to close the gap? Read180 is supposed to "remediate" both decoding and reading comprehension skills, but if 40% of the students enrolled in this program make less than one year of progress per year of instruction, those students will continue to fall further and further behind their classmates. What plans does the district have for them? The special learning programs mentioned in the meeting and the "plan" are well-meaning, and they obviously do help some of the students who haven't doing well in the standard program. But even with these interventions many students are still not achieving at grade level. So now what, AAPS? And what about the other achievement gap; the one between special education students and general education students? While there are students with moderate to severe cognitive impairments who will simply cannot master the whole of the high school curriculum, they are a very small percentage of the total. Why is the achievement gap between students with learning disabilities and the overall average so very large? Why are the interventions being used so ineffective at helping students with disabilities learn?
snapshot
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 2:27 a.m.
Grye, goodidea but unions probably prevent qualified teachers from volunteering as you suggest. Similar to the contract clause that prevent a substitute stying in the same class for 30 days unless the district is to hire thm full time with pension, benefits, and union scale salary. It's NOT all about the kids for the unions or the teachers, it's all about themselves. I'm for providing vouchers worth the same as the school gets per child to parents so they can send their kids to private schools. I'm also for repealing the law that states all children must attend public school. Why have a law if you're not going to live up to its enforcement because of union barriers?
eastsidemom
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 5 p.m.
and when the private schools are full what then? just running from the problem...
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 9:28 p.m.
Yet more resources wasted on the parenting gap. By the time these children reach kindergarten, it's too late to do anything other than hold back other students.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 10:51 p.m.
How true - these children are five years behind when they start school, and then society blames the teachers. Before everyone out there criticizes teachers, visit your local school, offer to help, and see what goes on. When I see six adults trying to corral two primary age children in the hallway, this tells it all! More people need to see this, and then you might be able to come up with solutions!
Dog Guy
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 9:11 p.m.
Regardless of causes, the achievement gap is important for the future of teaching; it is job security.
mun
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 8:45 p.m.
Does the plan also include not spending $400,000 on PEG or other "consulting" groups?
Geena
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 6:23 p.m.
Silencing power of whiteness? I'm silenced just by the title. And by the fact that my child goes to Dicken Elementary and this woman is on the PTO. And why is Dicken Elementary always being brought up in all of these education articles relating to PEG and Principals and Achievement gap? ....perhaps there lies a story for Kyle.... only wait until my daughter graduates this year and i dont' have to witness another media circus.
ViSHa
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 3:25 p.m.
I think another interesting story would be finding out how much variation there is between the elementary schools with using Singleton's concepts, how much teachers are trained between the schools and if there are any correlations with families leaving schools that are more heavily entrenched in Singleton's divisive tactics.
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 9:29 p.m.
Achievement equals Oppression. We have always been at war with Eastasia. So speaks the Ministry of Peace.
f4phantomII
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 8:32 p.m.
You don't know you're an oppressor (by accident of birth)? Shame on you!
ellybelle
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 6:10 p.m.
While i appreciate the Board working towards an end to the achievement gap, it is hard to have much faith in people like Liz Margolis and LA dickenson after what they allowed to explode at Dicken Elementary. As much as parents there blame the Principal , it rested on their shoulders to resolve the issues and instead they escalated them . I think some more worthy folks should be brought in with more common sense when coming up with a plan for action and spending. Perhaps the Board should have hired Ms. Victoria Haviland last year since she has such great ideas like in her article "Things Get Glossed Over" : Rearticulating the Silencing Power of Whiteness in Education This article investigates the ways that White teachers approach issues of race, racism, and White supremacy in White-dominated educational settings. Drawing from data from a yearlong qualitative research study, the article uses discourse analysis, critical studies of Whiteness, and feminist theory to detail 15 rhetorical, behavioral, analytical, and interactional strategies that participants used to insulate themselves from implication in social inequality. The article demonstrates how participation in these strategies stymied attempts at transformative multicultural education and thus functioned to reproduce, rather than challenge, the status quo of educational and social inequality. Perhaps Ms Haviland did her field studies at Dicken Elementary since she is also a parent there? Perhaps Mr. Glen Singleton is related to someone at Dicken too.
Madman1953
Mon, Jun 20, 2011 : 1:19 a.m.
You suggestion that LA had something to do about the situation the Dicken School is not correct. Her hands are/were tied. You need to consider the fact that one of those involved in this escapade is the President of Quad "A". This is the AAPS principals union. Living in the Dicken neighborhood and knowing legal action is still in the works, I think it might cost the district a lot of money to move people around which might be seen as an addmission of guilt. That entire escapade is hagning a big cloud over the progress that should be made to get the A-Gap initiatives back on track. We need to get back to unity as opposed to the fragmented approach that has evolved.
ViSHa
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 3:22 p.m.
All this focus of blaming "Whiteness" by folks at Dicken is very unsettling. One wonders if the lunch bunch, etc...was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg? I certainly hope this woman does not have a lot of influence on the school's PTO.
Mr. Tibbs
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 6:10 p.m.
maybe the study of "crabs in a bucket" should be a case study.
BhavanaJagat
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 4:55 p.m.
Thanks for sharing the photo along with the story. The photo gives a human dimension to the problem that we are trying to understand. There is a gap in learning and we need to focus on the process called learning. The achievement takes into consideration the results and may not explain the nature of learning deficit. We need to pay attention as to why some students fail to learn. Firstly, we need to ask ourselves and know if the students have been prepared to receive learning. In psychology, they may use terms like drive, and motivation. Is there a mechanism that can infuse students with drive and motivation to learn? We understand problems like mental inertia, mental lethargy, mental lassitude as factors that inhibit the aptitude for learning. There could be social, and environmental factors that inhibit the attitude that makes a person fit for learning. Like physical fitness, mental fitness is a problem associated with attitude. Our attitudes shape our behavior. This is true both for physical fitness and mental fitness. If you ask a sports coach, he/she would tell you the same thing. If the attitude is lacking, the person cannot be shaped or trained into a good athlete. We do not complain about achievement gap in sports and entertainment sector. Why is that all students are not qualifying to become great sports players or musicians, acotrs, or composers and make more money? The Community has to define the purpose of Learning. Is to make money or to achieve recognition? Students are getting mentally distracted from the process of Learning as they do not know the purpose for learning.
mojo
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 4:30 p.m.
Without discipline - the Gap will remain. Many Kids don't want to learn, many kids don't care if the fail, (lack of flunking risk), . . By inflating grades and lowering requirements - you are only fooling yourselves and the kids.
f4phantomII
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 8:02 p.m.
Bravo! To wit, the self esteem movement. It's just possible the C-students are just that.
Stephen Landes
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 2:58 p.m.
From the article, "Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley, interim deputy superintendent for instruction, said the achievement gap plan should have the same level of emphasis as the district's strategic plan". If Ms. Dickinson-Kelley as any doubts that the achievement gap plan will receive the same level of emphasis as the District strategic plan then I believe we have a much bigger problem to worry about: the district doesn't have a very sound planning process. A strategic plan should be the result of a properly developed objective statement that addresses why the District is in business and the expected outcomes of its operation. This statement needs to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. It should be concise; not page after page of all the "things" the District wants to accomplish. Try something like, "All children attending Ann Arbor Public Schools will be able to demonstrate one year of academic growth per year of school attendance as measured by MEAP/MME examinations by the end of the 2015/2016 school year. This doesn't say they will all go to college or they will all be engineers, but that the objective of the District is to assure that all children make yearly progress, and that is something that is achievable in time with properly guided effort. Once such an objective is agreed on the strategy can be developed -- identify who all the children attending our schools are, how do we determine where they are academically, how do we determine what they need to accomplish the objective. If socio-economic issues are a factor in a student achieving the objective then that should be in the strategy. What is the AAPS strategy? Are we to eager to be "doing something" and "writing plans" to consider what the strategy will be?
Stephen Landes
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 3:10 p.m.
To continue: A strategy is not the same as a tactical plan and we must all learn that or we are doomed to failure. We could have a very individual strategy such as, "Each student will progress at their own pace guided by the student-lead teacher/counselor-parent/guardian. This team is expected to develop a K-12 learning path for the student to be assessed regularly during each school year and updated annually". Only at this point should the planning begin and that plan, because of the nature of the objective and strategy, should include ALL AAPS STUDENTS. No separate plan for one group or another, from high-achievers to low-achievers, is required because, in this case, the planning, assessment, and adjustments are done individually. Given this comprehensive plan the budgeting can begin. Within the objective statement there should be another measurable; something on the order of the budget not exceeding some percentage of the "gross District product" (like the GDP is nationally), so that a firm guideline is established. Once the initial plans are developed they can be costed out and compared to the budget. Creativity and compromise will be necessary, but the resulting budget and the District objective, strategy, and plans will, in the end, match. A continuous budgeting process needs to be maintained so that annual budgets for at least two, and preferably three, years into the future will be completed and in hand. Annual budgets can be adjusted downwards if economic conditions require, but at least the District will be starting from an approved budget rather than just reacting to another local or state change.
alan
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 2:40 p.m.
@ Chuck- One statistic from a 25 page report can be misleading. That same report found very strong correlation between test scores and poverty rates for black children. The report did not address the fact that 50% of black children in this country are born to single mothers or that, regardless of income, the educational achievement of their parents is significantly lower than whites. Many studies have found a combination of factors, not a single measure, to be predictive of academic success. The mere color of one's skin is not one of those factors without accounting for all of the other differences. My personal opinion is that telling any kid that they are disadvantaged by the color of their skin is not helpful.
Chuck Warpehoski
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 1:58 p.m.
McKinsey and company did a great report on the achievement gaps nationwide. They found a few interesting things: 1. There are both racial and economic achievement gaps. They are linked but separate. McKinsey found that African American kids from upper-income families (over $75k) only performed as well as white kids from low-income families (under $25k). The lesson I draw from this is that we can't fix the racial achievement gap, we can't make schools work for ALL kids, if we don't look at the racial dynamics in our schools and why our schools aren't working for all kids. 2. Some places do better at closing the gap. There is wide variation between states, school districts, schools, and even classrooms in terms of the achievement gaps, even with similar populations. This shows that some things work to close the gap. It's a difficult challenge but not an impossible one. I'm grateful the school is facing the facts, studying what works in other schools, and committing to do a better job for our students.
grye
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 2:45 p.m.
Much of the underachievement from those that are fully capable comes from peer pressure. This has been confirmed through studies and conversations with students. Educational success is sometimes deemed to be of another race, and you wouldn't want to be associated with that race. This stigma needs to eradicated to allow students to see that a good education dramatically improves their chances for succcess.
alan
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 1:28 p.m.
"For instance, only 30 percent of black students who took the MME in 2009-10 were deemed to be proficient in math, the same percentage as economically disadvantaged students." So maybe it's not race.
xmo
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 1:27 p.m.
Why is race brought into this discussion? They are students! "only 30 percent of black students who took the MME in 2009-10 were deemed to be proficient in math" Maybe if we looked at this problem without involving race we could solve it? So what is the plan? "The plan includes monitoring student progress, providing academic intervention and help through district programs, offering a variety of programs and utilizing partnerships in the community. " What does this mean?
ViSHa
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 1:24 p.m.
Our incoming superintendent Patricia Green said in a previous article that she holds most dear her recent 2011 Spirit of Unity Award from the North Hills Community Outreach and the North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition for her work in diversity. Why not wait for her to come on board and use her expertise toward this plan?
Madman1953
Mon, Jun 20, 2011 : 1:06 a.m.
It is her recent work that gives us a great hope. It is a radical change in what has been promoted by the likes and followers of PEG. Unity is welcome. Those that promote unity are welcome.
grye
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 12:29 p.m.
Any retirees, part time workers, or others willing to give up their evenings to volunteer to help students at risk? I am sure the school system would be interested in starting such a program where the entire community supports an effort to ensure all children receive the education they need to succeed. Teachers cannot do it alone. Often single parents are overwhelmed with everything else in their lives. Gangs, cliques, and peer pressure at school encourage a negative attitude towards education. I would certainly like to see a program started. We can address the problems as a community and show these children that a good education sets the stepping stones to success.
squidlover
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 9:23 p.m.
grye, I have been banging this drum for a while...until we can organize a larger support group and plan that can be "endorsed" by AAPS, in the meantime there are other ways that we can make a difference during the summer. Our school is holding playground sessions twice a week for students to attend and work on the ThinkStretch workbook program. The sessions themselves only take up 1+1/2 hours of time. Hopefully other schools in the area are organizing similar summer activities. Yes, there is the need for a background check, but one can also volunteer to transport/escort neighborhood students to similar sessions. Also, one can offer to visit the website <a href="http://scholastic.com/staysmart/" rel='nofollow'>http://scholastic.com/staysmart/</a> to visit the site for READ 180 and System 44 and offer to print out some of the worksheets for students. These activities do not take a lot of your time & are very helpful to the students who get involved.
DonBee
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 7:36 p.m.
grye - They need to be willing to go thru a background check, have a staff member in the room with the children and do it on school property if it is to be sponsored by the school district. The hurdles to be allowed to help are not small anymore given the decisions that district has made. It is almost impossible for High School students to tutor grade school students outside of school hours unless the arrangement is completely private, not even an introduction by a staff member.
ViSHa
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 1:20 p.m.
I think the biggest hurdle with that though is arranging transportation and i'm sure there would need to be mountains of red tape to go through such as liability, etc... Once again, this would be a great place for UM/EMU to help out.
aataxpayer
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 12:25 p.m.
Are we addressing gaps based only on race? What kids are we missing by focusing on race?
antikvetch
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : noon
Perhaps if we allowed the members of the school board to split/keep ten percent of whatever they DON'T spend from a year's budget?
ViSHa
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 11:43 a.m.
It is refreshing to hear Trustee Thomas say the district needs to help students who are "just scraping by". STUDENTS.....not black students, not hispanic students, not low-socio-economic students, just plain students, because I'm sure there are a lot of students from all walks of life just scraping by that need help.
Thinking over here
Fri, Jun 17, 2011 : 3:48 p.m.
Amen!
Carole
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 12:07 p.m.
You are absolutely right in your statement. Support from the home front is definitely important -- and with the cuts, many students who have extra help with the aid of TAs most likely will not get it --
squidlover
Thu, Jun 16, 2011 : 11:05 a.m.
The "plan" as described in this article, is as non-specific as Glenn Singleton's explanation of what PEG does for AAPS. Monitoring student progress, providing academic intervention, and help through district programs... Does this plan include optimally utilizing the resources that we have right here in Ann Arbor, or does it mean flying in consultants and cutting another 5-6 figure check to another non-local company? I feel like it's a never-ending run to nowhere. I would at least find it refreshing if the board just told the community that they need our help in a way other than coming up with another urgent millage.