For the most part, Asian and white students at WW-P consistently score at more advanced proficiency levels than their African American and Hispanic classmates, a district analysis found.
The analysis also showed that in most areas, more Asian students scored at advanced levels than any other group.
But WW-P officials are not alarmed by the achievement gap: the trends found among four groups of student populations — white, African American, Asian, and Hispanic — mirrored those seen everywhere, said Russell Lazovick, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
“The district is still, in all categories and across the entire district, high performing,” he said. “We perform consistent with, if not better than, our district factor group, and across the state.”
The District Factor Group is a group of districts with similar demographics. WW-P is in the “J” group, with the most affluent and high-achieving districts.
For example, taking fourth grade test scores in language arts, the graph shows that just below 20 percent of white students and slightly below 10 percent of Asian students were only partially proficient in language arts.
However, just below about 40 percent of African American and Hispanic students scored at partially proficient levels in the fourth grade. The graphs also showed that about 35 percent of Asian students scored at advanced proficiency levels in language arts in the fourth grade, compared with 20 percent of white students, 15 percent of African American students, and less than 10 percent of Hispanic students.
In fourth grade in similar high-performing districts to WW-P, the results were almost identical.
But around the state, more students in every demographic group performed at only partially proficient levels in fourth grade language arts. Around the state, about 30 percent of white students, more than 60 percent of African American, more than 20 percent of Asian, and nearly 60 percent of Hispanic students scored only partially proficient.
The trends showed that in most subjects, the subgroup of students who placed in the advanced proficiency levels the most were Asian students — but that is a statewide trend that is not exclusive to WW-P and is not affected by WW-P’s larger Asian population, Lazovick explained.
Rather, “our trends mirror the trends elsewhere,” where Asian students score at high advanced proficiency levels. However, every single subgroup of students scored at higher proficiency and advanced proficiency levels than around the state. Compared to numbers statewide, all of WW-P subgroups of students scored higher across the board.
As for the achievement gaps between different groups, “there is still an issue in every district,” said Lazovick. “We are committed to making sure every single student is proficient. We are trying our best to deal with those gaps.”
A method the district has implemented to monitor its progress is to use a program known as Performance Matters. The board approved a one-year agreement in June with the firm to help track student progress. The program can track SAT, AP, and other student scores, and helps teachers improve their instruction methods.
The program allows teachers to measure trends and understand the strengths of any individual student, compared with another student who is at the same point in the curriculum.
The analysis was presented on November 9 and was aimed at sparking discussion and understanding among district officials, teachers, and community to pinpoint ways to increase performance levels of the small number of students who do not meet proficiency levels on state-mandated tests.
Lazovick, who gave the presentation during the meeting, showed various bar graphs and also explained the state’s progress tracking method known as Adequate Yearly Progress.
“Our community needs to understand exactly how our kids are performing when they come here,” said Lazovick. “Students here perform better. That’s due to the work we do in district, starting with the teachers.”
Last spring, the district began the conversation by releasing information from its annual state Department of Education report card, which showed that WW-P Students improved their performance across the board in 2008-’09 on annual tests measuring proficiency in language arts and math. The levels of advanced proficiency in both areas increased in nearly every grade level.
Barbara Edmonds, president of the African-American Parent Support Group, said the group is “actively engaged in discussions with the WW-P school district on strategies to address the achievement gap, and we have been for some time.”
Earlier this month, the topic was addressed during the 25th anniversary program of the formation of the AAPSG. The conference, “An Update on Cutting Edge Strategies for Addressing the Achievement Gap and Increasing Parental Engagement in Our Community,” was held at Thomas Grover Middle School.
Officials from the school district, including Superintendent Victoria Kniewel, as well as Angel L. Harris, an assistant professor of sociology and African American studies at Princeton University, were involved in the discussions. Also participating in the program were officials from around the state, students at the district, and AAPSG members.
“We’re very concerned about the gap in the numbers in the proficiency levels, and we will be working aggressively with the school district to do whatever we can to address it,” said Edmonds, who emphasized that the AAPSG has had a close working relationship with district officials on an ongoing basis to address the issue. “We realize it’s not one of those issues you can resolve overnight, but it’s going to take a lot of strategic initiatives, including a lot of stakeholders,” as well as a lot of consultants like the people that were brought in for the conference, she said.
“We’re also very interested in trying to get more African American faculty and high-level administrators, and we’ve been working with the school district,” she added.
In other business during the November 9 meeting, the board hired Lee McDonald as the district’s new supervisor of guidance.
