Hi public education friends, I apologize that some of you have received some of this information a week ago! But the distribution list is larger and more organized (and this stuff is SO impt, you need to read it SEVERAL TIMES) so you are getting it again! I promise I won't be sending you stuff daily. Not even weekly (yet). But this is a recap of local reading performance, an end-of-year snapshot of how well students in AISD and some charter schools did on the summative STAAR reading assessment. (All data from these TEA and TEA sources.) QUICK NOTE TEA changed (and thankfully simplified the calculation and naming of) the performance standards in 2017, increased the performance levels to four from three and increased the cut scores (e.g. the % needed to answer correctly adjusted for difficulty) for Passing (e.g. the new “Meets” and “Masters” level). IF YOU ONLY READ THIS! - Half of elementary students in AISD reading on grade level based on STAAR which correlates to grade-range Lexile reading levels. - Great disparities (40 to 50 points) between race/class exist in AISD but there are some high poverty, higher performing schools. - More racially diverse schools don't necessarily do better with its lower-income students of color. - A majority of the students who are zoned to Mendez attend an elementary school with an Improvement Required designation in Student Achievement (Widen, Houston); unsolved academic deficits from elementary school directly impact secondary performance, and not just at Mendez. SUMMARY OF THE AISD STAAR READING TESTERS Approximately 57% of AISD elementary STAAR testers were considered economically disadvantaged (EcD), while ~ 58% were Hispanic/Latinx, 24% White and 7% African American/Black. 37% were labeled in ESL or Bilingual Education (BE) and of those in BE, 54% were in one-way dual language, 23% in two-way dual-language and 23% in transitional late-exit. THE CONCERNS:
- Over 9,000 students (~ 50% of all students) across 3rd - 5th grade did not meet the Passing standard (e.g. Meets or Masters) on STAAR Reading, but outcomes vary wildly by race and class:
- Over 75% of Whites were Passing grade level reading and only
- ~29% of AA/Blacks (~ 50 point gap) and 38% of Hispanic/Latinx (~ 40 poing gap)
- ~ 32% of those considered EcD
- Performance is typically inversely related to % EcD and it is no different this year at the macro level. There is still great disparity at the campus level -- with campuses whose students are whiter and wealthier (Kiker & Clayton, both in Circle C) meeting and mastering the STAAR reading at 80% to 90% passing rates, and where Oak Springs with 99% EcD (with many of its students from Booker T. Washington Terraces rental assistance housing) has barely 17% of its students passing STAAR Reading.
- For most lower-income schools, its % passing was higher a few years ago. This just reinforces what we feared: that too few students of color from low-income families have strong foundational mastery in literacy.
- 61% and 58% of the LEP students at Pecan Springs and Graham, respectively were passing, highest for that category of students in all elementary schools with % ECD is greater than 20% and where data was reported (i.e. there had to be a data set of a certain size before TEA would report subcategory results)
- Many of the strong dual-language schools, Becker and Ridgetop, have very few LEP students according to TEA.
- Only 12% of the LEP students at Wooldridge met passing standards.
- These disparities in literacy outcomes are present as early as Kinder, show up in interim assessments and on STAAR in 3rd and build year upon year. :(
THE POSITIVES:
- Wealthier, whiter students were easily able to maintain high % passing rates under the new system.
- There is greater variability of performance within a cluster of 30 schools whose % EcD ranges from 90% to 100% with performance as high as 50% of its students passing STAAR Reading (Guerrero Thompson) to as low as 17% (Oak Springs). The public and parents should understand why there is great disparity between schools in close geographic proximity with similar demographic populations, and for the schools that are doing better what are the specific levers of improvement and what supports, changes other schools need that are not seeing success.
- Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in two-way dual-language rocked it with 50% of those students passing STAAR exams in both English and Spanish. LEP students in one-way dual-language (which is a majority of the LEPs), transitional late exit and ESL all struggled with approximately 30% passing in each of those categories.
- 63% of the AA/Black students at Graham met passing at grade-level standards, the second best of any elementary school regardless of % EcD where data was reported; it was only behind Mills which had 6 of 8 AA/Black students passing.
CHARTER UPDATE:
- Charter elementary schools, overall, do not do better than AISD elementary schools on average, and none of the more well-known, larger charters with waitlists and similar AISD demographics (e.g. Harmony, KIPP, IDEA, UT) outperform Graham or Guerrero Thompson who have similar % EcD and yet consistently better performance.
- IDEA Montopolis does much better than the other IDEA elementary schools.
- Harmony schools do not do as well as what its demographics would suggest, and it underperforms AISD schools with similar demographics.
I know it is a LOT to take in and the details are tiny...but visually you can see trends (also noted above). Click here for an interactive version of it to see all detail (best on computer not phone) If you have any questions, comments, and/or suggestions, please email me at kgp...@gmail.com. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link below. Best, Kendall |
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