1. Achievement Gaps in the SEDL Region: What Data Tell Us Closing the Achievement Gap: School Resources and Beyond SEDL Policy Forum 2004 September 27-28, 2004 Austin, Texas

2. Goals of This Session To describe the achievement gap in the five-state region To examine federal and state data that reveal the relationship between student achievement and demographics To build awareness of additional “gaps” relating to socio- economic resources and deficits that may impact student success

3. ofts: The Achievement Gap and SEDL Policy Work SEDL’s policy unit creates and promotes research-based knowledge for policy audiences to support improved student achievement for all learners. The achievement gap is of particular interest to our work as: 1.a critical policy issue in SEDL’s region 2.the basis of current federal NCLB policy 3.highlighting key features of our current research on resources and student achievement

4. SEDL Regional Educational Laboratory Serves Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas Nationwide network of 10 labs Conducts research on what it takes to improve student achievement

5. Examination of Resource Allocation in Education: Connecting Spending to Student Performance, completed in 2003 Investigation of State Education Databases to Support Policy Research on Resource Allocation, currently in progress Does Teacher Salary Matter to Elementary and Middle School Achievement in High Need Areas?, to be completed in 2005 Four Study States: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas ofts: SEDL Resource Allocation Research

6. ofts: What did We Learn From Our Research About Bringing Data-based Evidence to the Achievement Gap Problem? Socio-economic differences must be considered when addressing the achievement gap Measuring critical factors that influence educational outcomes is a challenge, especially with regard to whole-child well-being Data are improving our ability to identify achievement gap patterns from state to state

7. State-by-State Analysis of Socio-Economic and Achievement Data Introductory page DIVIDER PAGE ofts:

8. Source: U.S. Census Bureau † at or Below 200% Poverty Level SEDL Region Percent of Children Under Age 19, in Poverty †, and Without Health Insurance, Average for 2001, 2002, and 2003

9. Source: National Center for Education Statistics SEDL Region Minority Student Enrollment Public Elementary and Secondary Schools 2002-2003

10. Source: National Center for Education Statistics † Hispanic student cohorts were too small to be included in rates for AR and OK. SEDL Region Public High School Graduation Rate by State and Race † 2001

11. State-by-State Achievement Data Introductory page DIVIDER PAGE ofts:

12. Source: National Center for Education Statistics † NAEP reading tests were not administered for 1999, 2000, 2001. Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading Results † Percent Scoring At or Above the Basic Level, Race/Ethnicity, Free/ Reduced Priced Lunch, Arkansas

13. Source: Arkansas State Department of Education Fourth-Grade State Literacy Results Percent Scoring At Proficient Level. Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Arkansas Source: Arkansas State Department of Education

14. Source: National Center for Education Statistics † NAEP reading tests were not administered for 1999, 2000, 2001. Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading Results † Percent Scoring At or Above the Basic Level, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Louisiana

15. Source: Louisiana Department of Education GPS based on 60% LEAP, 30% IOWA, 10% attendance/drop-out rate all grades tested Subgroup Performance Scores (GPS) Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Louisiana

16. Results for Blacks for 1998 36% and 2003 45%; no data for 2002 Source: National Center for Education Statistics † NAEP reading tests were not administered for 1999, 2000, 2001. Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading Results † Percent Scoring At or Above the Basic Level, Race/Ethnicity, Free/ Reduced Priced Lunch, New Mexico

17. Source: New Mexico Public Education Department Fifth-Grade TerraNova Reading Median National Percentiles, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, New Mexico

18. Source: National Center for Education Statistics † NAEP reading tests were not administered for 1999, 2000, 2001. Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading Results † Percent Scoring At or Above the Basic Level, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Oklahoma

19. Source: Oklahoma State Department of Education Fifth-Grade Reading Results Percent Scoring At or Above the Satisfactory Level, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Oklahoma

20. Source: National Center for Education Statistics † NAEP reading tests were not administered for 1999, 2000, 2001. Fourth-Grade NAEP Reading Results † Percent Scoring At or Above the Basic Level, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Texas

21. Source: Texas Education Agency Fourth-Grade TAAS Reading Results Percent Passing, Race/Ethnicity, Free/Reduced Priced Lunch, Texas

22. What Do the Data Tell Us? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, regional child poverty rates are high compared to the U.S. rates, and the uninsured rate in Texas is almost double that of the 8% U.S. rate. High school graduation rates reveal that non-white subgroups are the least likely to graduate, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that the greatest achievement gaps in elementary-level reading exist between Black and White students, except in NM where it exists between Native Americans and Whites.

23. State-by-State Analysis of Achievement, Demographics, and Resources Introductory page DIVIDER PAGE ofts:

24. Data Used for the Maps Data Sources Common Core Data, National Center for Education Statistics U.S. Census Bureau State Departments of Education

25. Data Used for the Maps Socio-Economic Conditions Student poverty Percent of students on free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL) Minority enrollment Percent of students who are non-white Parent education Percent of population with children in public schools without a high school diploma Public assistance Percent of households with children in public schools with public assistance income

26. Data Used for the Maps Student Achievement Arkansas: Benchmark Exam, 4th grade, composite math/literary scaled score Louisiana: LEAP, 4th grade, percent passing, math and English language arts New Mexico: TerraNova, 4th grade, median composite score Oklahoma: Core Curriculum Tests, 5th grade, percent at satisfactory or above, reading and math Texas: TAAS, 4th grade, percent passing, reading and math

27. Data Used for the Maps Resources Expenditures per pupil AR: Total expenditures NM: Net operating expenditures OK: Total general fund expenditures Teacher salaries TX: Teacher basepay Teacher quality LA: Percent of classes taught by highly qualified teachers (certified and teaching in-field)

28. Level Of Analysis Arkansas: 75 Counties Louisiana: 66 School Districts New Mexico: 89 School Districts Oklahoma: 77 Counties Texas: 254 Counties Note: In AR, OK, and TX, district-level data were aggregated to the county level for ease of display Data Used for the Maps

29. Mapping Process To create the maps, SEDL researchers Computed correlations to find the strongest relationships between variables in each state Created ranges for each variable by dividing the school districts or counties in each state into 3 groups with an equal number of districts/counties in each group Data Used for the Maps

30. AR Public Assistance

31. LA Parent Education

32. NM Minority Enrollment

33. OK Student Poverty

34. TX Minority Enrollment

35. LA Min. Enrol./Stud Pov.

36. TX Stud. Pov./Par. Educ.

37. NM Min. Enr./Stud. Ach.

38. AR Stud.Pov/Stud.Ach.

39. LA Stud.Pov/TchrQual

40. AR StudPov/Expend

41. TX Stud.Pov/TchrSal

42. LA StudAch/TchrQual

43. OK StudAch/Expend

44. NM StudAch/Expend

45. For Further Information Celeste Alexandercalexan@sedl.org Debra Hughes Jonesdjones@sedl.org Diane Pandpan@sedl.org Zena Rudo zrudo@sedl.org Lotte Smith-Hansenlsmith@sedl.org Southwest Educational Development Laboratory www.sedl.org