It has been just over 300 days since I started this blog, and in that time, I have written 95 posts. I started it as a dinky little Tumblr account, and have grown into a full-on Blog. And while I started by just sharing this with my students and friends, there are now people, whom I have never […]
Poverty
California Is Giving Awards to Wealthier Unexceptional Schools
Have you ever driven by a school and seen one of those signs: “California Distinguished School”. This is a big deal for schools. When a school gets one of these awards it is a boon for their reputation in their community and it reinsures parents that the education their child is getting is of top […]
- CAASPP Scores
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Low-Income Elementary Schools: Who Does it Best?
A few weeks ago, I looked at low-income middle schools to see which schools are the top performers. Now, let’s set our sights on Elementary Schools. Elementary is kind of a loaded word. Unlike middle school, there are several grades of elementary school that are not tested by the state test. Kindergartners, 1st and 2nd […]
The Achievement Gap: Comparing Charters and LAUSD on African American Students' Performance
At the School Board meeting this past Tuesday, the board had a miniature melt down over the data for under-served subgroups in LAUSD. One of the main points that set them off was the data for African American students, who average significantly below peer groups across the district. Is this challenge affecting charter schools as […]
These Schools have MAJOR Socioeconomic Achievement Gaps
People talk about the achievement gap all the time. Usually, they are talking about comparing different schools. They are comparing schools with wealthy students to schools with poor students. But there are several schools in L.A. where the achievement gap exists within the school. At these schools, the wealthier students vastly outperformed the poorer students. (On the CAASPP […]
Low-Income Middle Schools: Who does it best? Part 1: English
Let’s get personal. I teach at Luther Burbank Middle School, a middle school where almost every student comes from a low-income family. I wanted to answer a simple question – How do we compare to similar schools? And what are the best and worst performing middle schools that serve low-income populations? Let’s just look at English scores […]
Where are the Poor Kids in LA County?
Public schools are the largest social safety net in America today. One way to think about it: LA County Schools offer free lunch to 884,731 students, and reduced price lunches to 144,509 more (CDE Source Link Below). That is 2/3 of all students in LA County. Students receive free or reduced price lunches based on […]
No Matter the Ethnicity, Poorer Students Struggle
It seems obvious. Students who live in poverty experience significant hardships and are not given the resources to succeed that wealthier students get. But does that trend hold across all ethnicities? And is there any ethnic group that is closing the gap between rich and poor? Luckily, the CAASPP test has data markers that mark the […]
Shocker: Los Angeles County Test Performance is Largely Predictable by Socioeconomic Status
This is not breaking news. When you look at 2015 English scores from the CAASPP, the top 10 districts are very wealthy: Out of the list above, Arcadia has the highest rate of socioeconomically disadvantaged students (20%) while the 9 others are all under 8%. Compare this to Montebello at 86.1% or Compton at 81%. […]
What are the best and worst science schools for low-income students?
When I used to work at a charter school, the founder used to say he didn’t want to “beat the odds”, he wanted to “change the odds.” In Los Angeles Unified, the odds for success in science are low. Only 54% of district students (Charter and District) are proficient in 8th science according to the CST. When […]