In a message dated 11/16/2004 1:33:04 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I would be interested in hearing thoughts from those who attended last night's forum. Why do we have a larger achievement gap than similar-sized cities, what is being done about it, and what more can be done? I note that my son's school (L'Etoile du Nord) is the "whitest" elementary school in the district, and also has the highest test scores. I'm so sorry to have been silent on this - it's been quite a week. I'm all but finished finalizing the report from the event and will try to remember to email the StPaul Issues Forum when it gets posted (to _www.stpaulneat.org_ (http://www.stpaulneat.org/) ). Some of the information is already posted at About the Issues > Use the Data > Saint Paul, but we still need to use the information gathered for the event to update the Web site - so much to do! [Help would be greatly appreciated if anyone is interested in this effort.] One of the sites I like best for looking at school data is _http://www.just4kids.org_ (http://www.just4kids.org/) In a lot of ways it seems more user-friendly and helpful than what's available through the Department of Education. It's unfortunate we're not being more proactive in getting the data to them. If you use their site to look at how L'Etoile du Nord is doing you'll see substantial gains from grade 3 to grade 5. That's what the SPPS student achievement data is showing: gains. It's also what the state data shows: slow progress toward closing the Achievement Gap. The operative word here is slow, and it's going to take a lot of effort on the part of a lot of people to get it closed. Some people point out that the reason we have such a big gap is because we have such a high bar to reach (see _http://www.stpaulneat.org/Outscores_the_Nation.html_ (http://www.stpaulneat.org/Outscores_the_Nation.html) ) but I personally think that discounts the problem. We should have high expectations for all students. (I also have a hard time reconciling the high NAEP Scale Scores against the Achievement Scores - How is it we're doing so well as compared to other states when so many of our students are at basic or below basic on achievement?) I think the thing I learned most from looking at the research is that while the data is good, it's REALLY, REALLY hard to find MEANING in the data. We can look at any number of data sets at _http://rea.spps.org/index.asp?SEC={47C68BAA-6942-4F53-9C6F-E2B4EF7F4A0D}&Type=B_BASIC_ (http://rea.spps.org/index.asp?SEC={47C68BAA-6942-4F53-9C6F-E2B4EF7F4A0D}&Type=B_BASIC) But as a parent, I find it really hard to move from tables of numbers to, "Okay, so what can I do about it?" The other thing that became really clear is that we shouldn't be looking at just the school data. We used the October 2003 study "Parsing the Achievement Gap: Baselines for Tracking Progress" [ _http://www.ets.org/research/pic/parsing.pdf_ (http://www.ets.org/research/pic/parsing.pdf) ] to provide the framework for the event. Ultimately our schools operate in a context - in the social, economic and policy fabric of our community. Ultimately, I ran across the August 2002 study Racism and Metropolitan Dynamics: The Civil Rights Challenge of the 21st Century [ _http://www.irpumn.org/uls/resources/projects/racismandmetrodynamics.pdf_ (http://www.irpumn.org/uls/resources/projects/racismandmetrodynamics.pdf) ] produced by the University of Minnesota Institute on Race & Poverty. Reading it left me wondering, "Why hasn't anybody filed a class-action suit against Met Council?" That's a lot more contentious approach than I'm comfortable with, but what seems clear to me is that we need to raise awareness about the complexities. That it's not just about school-based reform (yes, that's central, and it's important, and it's important to have transparency and accountability) but it oversimplifies the problems. I think if we're going to have a genuine conversation about closing the Achievement Gap in Saint Paul we're going to have to take on the larger issues and start talking about institutionalized racism in our schools, in our families, in our neighborhoods, and in our public policy. It would be great if everybody would read the University report and use this forum as a place to talk about the issues. I will do my best to do what I can to get the report up in the next few days. --Jennifer Armstrong Payne/Phalen _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
