Re: grad rate falls in LA in wake of grad test

[aburke5054@aol.com]

Some schools are so good that parents really want their kids to go 
there?  Perish the thought.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>
To: arn-l@interversity.org; arn-l@interversity.org; 
ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com; ARN-state@yahoogroups.com; arn2-strategy 
<arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: ca-resisters@interversity.org
Sent: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 9:11 pm
Subject: Re: [arn-l] grad rate falls in LA in wake of grad test

Joe, 
 

Good points.  One more advantage of magnet schools is the selection
mechanism that brings in "better" students.  It's usually the more
engaged, hands-on (i.e. "pushy") parents or guardians who do the
necessary networking and paperwork to get their kids enrolled in
these out-of-the-neighborhood schools.  A de facto creaming effect. 
 

Pete Farruggio 
 


At 05:32 PM 6/24/2008, MONICALUCIDO@comcast.net wrote: 

> Just looking at the policy brief on this, I notice several things: 

>  

> 1) It clearly says that "student mobility matters". Only ONE THIRD
> of students who changed schools relative to the transition into high
> school ended up graduating. So who's responsible for this? :
> primarily parents. Not teachers. It IS a socio-economic issue in
> many cases that causes this issue. 

>  

> 2)It clearly says that absences affect student success. The chances
> of graduating for students dropped to "less than half" for kids who
> were absent for more than ten days in 7th, 8th, or high school. So
> who's responsible for that? primarily parents. Not teachers. Once
> again these are huge OUTSIDE factors that have impact on success or 
failure. 

>  

> 3) It clearly says that magnet schools matter. Ok, so what makes a
> magnet school special? The fact that they focus on special areas of
> learning that may stimulate the creative portions of the brain,
> lower anxiety, and encourage kids to think critically about lessons.
> This is not rocket science. The kids ENJOY this kind of teaching
> because it's fun, even though it's challenging. They are more free
> from continual, nauseating foci on "lecturing"/testing practice and
> more focused on the kids' spirit and interest. They probably have
> better teachers because those teachers also enjoy teaching
> creatively and have autonomy, and thus many have decided to
> challenge for a few highly sought  positions.  More experienced
> teachers are probably more likely to get those spots. They are
> TRUSTED, if you will. 

>  

> 4) It clearly says that "social" needs need to be met BEFORE high
> school and even continued DURING that time period. More counselors
> to help, anyone? Also, "school level conditions" need to be
> addressed as far as resources are concerned. So, maybe nice hallways
> and less than, oh, I don't know, FIFTY students in a class might be
> encouraging. 

>  

> I don't find anything fascinating about this report, except that its
> just more evidence of what teachers already know: get your kids to
> school on time, don't move around so much (easier said than done,
> admittedly), provide adequate funding so that ALL schools can expand
> their programs to accommodate ALL students, and allow teachers to
> have fun teaching uniquely in the classroom. Then our kids will stay
> in school and WANT to be there. Duh. 

>  

> Joseph Lucido 

> Educators and Parents Against Test Abuse/CalCARE 

> Fresno, CA 

>  -------------- Original message ---------------------- 

> From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org> 

> > The CA graduation test is clearly implicated in the absolute as
> well as relative 

> > decline in the number of graduates in LA. This occurred before this 
year's 

> > requirement that students with disabilities must pass the exam -
> a barrier that 

> > no doubt will substantially increase the non-graduation rate. Monty 

> > 

> >
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-grads21-2008jun21,0,3489530.story ;

> > 

> > From the Los Angeles Times 

> > Graduation rates declining in L.A. Unified despite higher
> enrollment, study 

> > finds 

> > Experts say the exit exam is having a huge effect on dropouts.
> The UC-led report 

> > showed that middle school experiences and teacher quality were also 
major 

> > factors. 

> > By Mitchell Landsberg 

> > Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 

> > 

> > June 21, 2008 

> > 

> > The number of students graduating from Los Angeles public schools
> has declined 

> > for two straight years even as enrollment in the 12th grade has
> been rising 

> > sharply, new state data show. The graduation slump began when
> California started 

> > requiring students to pass an exit exam before they could receive
> a diploma. 

> > 

> > The data caught educators by surprise after they were quietly
> posted on the 

> > state Department of Education website. Separately, new research
> released this 

> > week indicated that only 48% of students in the Los Angeles Unified 
School 

> > District graduate on time. 

> > 

> > The latest figures are sure to stir new concerns about the ability 
of Los 

> > Angeles schools to serve the needs of the majority of their
> students, and revive 

> > a debate about the wisdom of mandating an exit exam, even one
> that has been 

> > described as requiring only about an eighth-grade education to 
pass. 

> > 

> > The Los Angeles Unified School District officially declared a 64%
> graduation 

> > rate in 2005-06, the most recent year for which a rate is
> available. District 

> > leaders have long disputed studies that have shown the rate to be
> under 50%. 

> > 

> > But district officials did not reject the findings of the latest
> study, released 

> > Thursday by the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa
> Barbara. Perhaps 

> > the most in-depth study ever done of Los Angeles dropouts, it 
examined 

> > individual student transcripts for the class that began ninth
> grade in September 

> > 2001 and should have graduated in June 2005. 

> > 

> > "It's a good methodology," said Esther Wong, L.A. Unified's 
assistant 

> > superintendent for planning, assessment and research, who
> reviewed a draft of 

> > the study. "It's certainly better than trying to calculate it and
> do a best 

> > estimate." 

> > 

> > Wong did question whether the study might have understated the
> graduation rate 

> > by not accounting for students who transferred to other
> districts. But Jeannie 

> > Oakes, a professor of education at UCLA who oversaw the research,
> said such 

> > students were removed from the count of incoming ninth-graders,
> so they could 

> > not have tainted the findings. 

> > 

> > The study concluded that the low graduation rate for L.A. Unified 
can be 

> > explained in large measure by the quality of students' middle
> school experience 

> > and the quality of teachers at their high schools. 

> > 

> > "We've learned from this that middle school is just hugely
> important," said 

> > Oakes, who runs UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education &
> Access. Although the 

> > dropout project is based at UC Santa Barbara, it relies on 
researchers at 

> > several institutions, and the study was conducted at UCLA. 

> > 

> > The study found that differences among schools -- for instance,
> the percentage 

> > of highly qualified teachers, the percentage of English learners
> and the status 

> > of the school as a magnet -- played a stronger role in predicting
> whether a 

> > student would graduate than "student factors," such as race and
> socioeconomic 

> > status. 

> > 

> > Magnet schools had a major effect on success. Nearly three-quarters 
of the 

> > students attending an L.A. Unified magnet high school graduated on 
time, 

> > compared with just 45% of those who didn't. Magnet schools 
typically offer 

> > specialized, theme-based instruction and were mandated by a court 
order to 

> > attract students of different races. 

> > 

> > The dropout study and the recently released state data foreshadow
> the release of 

> > new and potentially explosive statistics on the state dropout
> rate that are 

> > expected in mid-July. Because California has begun assigning new,
> statewide 

> > identification numbers to all public-school students, the dropout 
data are 

> > expected to be far more accurate than in the past, when there was
> near-universal 

> > acknowledgment that the numbers vastly understated the problem. 

> > 

> > Statewide, 12th-grade enrollment has been rising for several
> years, the result 

> > of a baby boomlet in the late 1980s. Meanwhile, the number of high 
school 

> > graduates has stayed stagnant. 

> > 

> > In Los Angeles Unified, the rise in enrollment has been steeper
> than for the 

> > state overall, yet the number of graduates declined from 29,744 in 
2005 to 

> > 27,438 in 2007. 

> > 

> > The high school exit exam, often referred to by its acronym,
> CAHSEE, became a 

> > requirement for a diploma beginning with seniors who graduated in
> 2006. State 

> > and local officials widely agreed that it was the most likely cause 
for a 

> > decline in graduates. 

> > 

> > "I can't think of any other reason," said Keric Ashley, director of 
data 

> > management for the California Department of Education. "The
> CAHSEE does have 

> > some impact, not as much as some people thought it would." 

> > 

> > John Rogers, a UCLA professor who has studied the exit exam's 
effect on 

> > graduation rates, said he believes the state has downplayed its
> impact. The exam 

> > will hit the class of 2008 especially hard, he said, because for
> the first time, 

> > special education students had to pass the test. 

> > 

> > "In 2008, far fewer students will graduate than probably any year
> over the last 

> > 25 years," Rogers said. 

> > 

> > Figures for 2008 graduates aren't expected until next spring. 

> > 

> > Debra Duardo, the director of dropout prevention and recovery for
> Los Angeles 

> > Unified, said there were no surprises in the new data, and the
> dropout project 

> > study confirmed what district officials have assumed about the
> barriers that 

> > keep students from graduating. 

> > 

> > For instance, as others have done previously, the researchers
> pointed to algebra 

> > as a tripwire for many students. 

> > 

> > Seventy percent of students who passed Algebra 1 by the end of
> ninth grade went 

> > on to graduate on time. 

> > 

> > But the majority of students did not pass it in eighth or ninth
> grades, and 

> > roughly two-thirds of them failed to graduate on time. 

> > 

> > The study found that students who changed schools during either
> middle or high 

> > school had much lower graduation rates, including students who
> switched between 

> > the sixth and seventh grades. 

> > 

> > Duardo said the district is responding to those problems. 

> > 

> > She also said the study overlooked the district's recent success
> in keeping 

> > students in school, and on track to graduate, after they miss their 
normal 

> > graduation date. 

> > 

> > "If they don't do it in four years, maybe they can do it in five
> years," she 

> > said. 

> > 

> > mitchell.landsberg@ latimes.com 

> > Monty Neill, Ed.D. 

> > Deputy Director 

> > FairTest 

> > 342 Broadway 

> > Cambridge, MA 02139 

> > 617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224 

> > monty@fairtest.org 

> > http://www.fairtest.org ;

> > Donate: 

> >
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