Black, Hispanic students still behind white classmates; district trails state
BY PAUL SLOTH
Journal Times | Posted: Sunday, June 1, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - Only 30 percent of black 10th-graders in Racine Unified are reading at or above the proficient level, according to state test data.
Wide gaps in achievement on standardized tests persist between black and Hispanic students and their white classmates at all grade levels in Racine Unified schools, according to a Journal Times analysis.
On Friday, the state released standardized test results that showed Unified students, especially minority and low-income students, continue to lag behind students in other districts throughout the state on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exams.
It is a more challenging issue for everyone in the district than perhaps people understand, said Steve Miller, Unified's director of standards, assessment and accountability.
Challenges among district students and families in the community continue to grow in complexity, including the growth in the percentage of students who qualify for free- and reduced-price lunches, Miller said.
"It's just a challenge that seems to continue to grow. So we need, every year, to double our efforts at creating the best possible remedies we can," Miller said.
WKCE results also show that white students in Racine lag behind their counterparts
statewide.
As a whole, only 53 percent of Unified 10th-graders are reading at or above the
proficient level.
Gaps remain
Students throughout the state are tested in the fall in reading and math in grades three through eight and again in 10th grade.
Students are rated not by their scores on the state tests, but by the percentage of students who meet the state definition of "proficient" or "advanced."
At most grade levels in Unified, there is consistently a roughly 30 percent gap between black and white students and a roughly 20 percent gap between Hispanic and white students who are considered proficient or advanced.
The state uses the terms to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which this year requires 74 percent of students to be proficient or advanced in reading and 58 percent of students to be proficient or advanced in math.
Among Unified 10th-grade students who took the reading test in November 2007, only 29.2 percent of black students were considered proficient or advanced. Statewide, the average was 36.9 percent. Only 45.2 percent of Hispanic students were proficient or above and only 66 percent of white students were.
A proficient student is one who performs minimally at grade level, Miller said.
District values own tool
While Unified students continue to struggle on state tests, district officials continue to point to growth they've seen in Unified's own assessment tool, the NWEA-MAP tests, also called the Measures of Academic Progress tests.
Students throughout the district are tested three times throughout the year and teachers are able to use that information to guide their instruction in the classroom, officials said.
"One of the things I think teachers are aware of is there is value in our own assessment system … a lot more value in that than we're probably realizing yet," said Pete Knotek, president of the Racine Education Association, the local teachers union.
Students take the MAP tests in the fall, winter and spring. Unified started giving the tests in schools four years ago. Unified continues to work to fully implement the testing program throughout the district, officials said.
"All of the work to implement that as a resource to teachers has been ongoing, but I don't think we're necessarily seeing as much fruit as we want to see," Knotek said.
Professional learning
Systemic issues continue to hamper the district's efforts to help students improve their scores on state tests, said Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Unified's academic chief.
Unified doesn't have a professional learning system in place to help teachers and administrators address student achievement in their schools, district officials said
Thursday.
"We don't have a clear professional learning system in place," Vanden Wyngaard said. "We're trying to build a professional learning system that will allow teachers access … to instructional strategies we've already identified."
Improvement in reading is one of the keys to getting students to do better on state tests, officials said. The district recently selected a new reading program that will be in all 21 district elementary schools next year. Officials believe the program will help.
Unified has tremendous professional development needs, too, given the challenges facing the district, officials said.
The whole system needs a far more functional, well thought-out professional learning system, Knotek said.
The district currently has a fragmented professional development system that needs to be more far more focused for teachers, as well as educational assistants, building engineers and central office staff, he added.
"We are working as a team to try and build that, but teachers and the whole staff, including school principals, whether they're new to the job or they're veterans, they need to be engaged in ongoing learning experiences throughout their careers," Knotek said.