Closing the Achievement Gap For All Students

By Dr. Bonita Drolet

“We know what works in education. The research is prolific. The question today is not what works or what does not work. Rather it is why is it that we know what constitutes good teaching and effective learning and yet we fail to implement what we know”

“The Power to Change

High Schools that Help All Students Achieve”

The Education Trust

November 2005

The Achievement Gap has been researched, reviewed and reported on prior to and since the passage of No Child Left Behind and yet the number of failing schools and groups of students continues to rise. We have evidence of schools in New York, in California, in Texas and many of the states in between that this does not need to continue happening. There are schools in high poverty cities where 100% of the students are proficient or above. There are high schools where close to 100% go on to college in spite of the dismal areas in which they live. How do they do it? What changes did these schools that closed the achievement gap make to result in successful achievement for their students?

This policy paper will highlight what research says about closing the achievement gap, outline the characteristics of these successful schools and provide concrete suggestions for making it happen.

Research on Closing the Achievement Gap

The literature base for this article is varied, but highly accepted in the field; extensive because of the immediacy needed for action and as the chart below highlights, narrows to a few critical actions. The references include a broad swath of experts, universities, non-profits and individuals.

Kati Haycock and the Education Trust have been a key resource because of their history of examining test data and explaining why gaps exist. McRel is a private, nonprofit corporation, and according to its website, “dedicated to making a difference in public education. We draw upon the best of education research to translate what works into innovations and results”. The San Diego County Office of Education is represented as it established an Achievement Gap Task Force to combine the forces of 42 districts in finding out what works. It is unique in that it is the work of a collaborative of practitioners with the goal of closing the gap in all of the districts’ schools. The work of companies such as ETS was explored because they not only have a non-profit research arm, but a well recognized assessment division. Jack O’Connell established the California P-16 Council that developed 14 recommendations for “Achieving Success for All Students”. These are but a few of those cited. Each of the papers are fully cited in the bibliography for in depth reading, but the purpose of this paper is not to reiterate all of their findings, but rather to synthesize it for practitioners so that immediate action can be taken to Close the Achievement Gap for good!

The Research and the Characteristics for Success

* Data is synthesized from multiple reports by Ed Trust

The most frequently mentioned strategies to close the achievement gap, in no particular order, are forming partnerships, high quality teachers, professional development, culture, high expectations, clear goals, a focus on learning, curriculum rigor, data analysis, collaboration, leadership and support systems. Since the literature was not exhaustive, but rather representative, there is not a ranking of importance of the strategies. Rather, to be successful in closing the achievement gap, schools must approach from many avenues simultaneously. To provide a common language, each strategy will be briefly defined further.

Partnerships with parents, community, colleges and business provide schools with resources and support that might not otherwise be available.

High Quality Teachers are the key to closing the achievement gap. While No Child Left Behind requires highly qualified teachers, this body of work goes further. Teachers should be adept at what they do, they should be credentialed in the subject taught and they should have a strong interest in student success.

Professional Development should be ongoing and embedded. Teachers should meet together regularly to discuss their practice. Ongoing coaching builds a more highly qualified teacher.

Culture is key to successfully closing the achievement gap. Schools should have norms, beliefs and vision in place. A key belief is that all students can and will learn.

High Expectations abound at successful schools. Students and staff have high expectations for themselves and others.

Clear Goals are actually a part of Culture, but were mentioned separately numerous times. Goals for success are written and referred to often to ensure reaching them.

Focus on Learning is prevalent in the school. Students are prepared for class, teachers have interesting and engaging material to teach and extraneous activities are limited.

Curriculum Rigor means that students are receiving instruction that moves their learning forward, is of high importance and complexity and is expected for all students.

Data Analysis and Use is occurring on a regular basis. Quantitative and qualitative data is reviewed by staff, with students and parents.

Collaboration requires people working together to solve problems, strengthen teaching, and engage in learning

Leadership is important to success. Leadership is shared. Leaders insist on change and provide the resources to accomplish it.

Support is evident in the way the discipline policy is written, how the school responds to needed interventions, how students are treated and what resources are given to teachers.

Each of these frequently mentioned characteristics are evident in the scenarios that follow.

The Characteristics of Successful Schools

"Sadly, too many people view (California's) diversity as a big problem. I don't. Instead, I say: Imagine! Imagine the potential of that diversity in today's–and tomorrow's—global economy. If we educate these students well, our state would not only be able to compete more effectively, but it would be able to lead our nation and the world economically."

State Superintendent Jack O'Connell

Sacramento California

Schools that close the achievement gap embrace diversity. Students are treated with respect and encouraged with high expectations, whether they are English Learners, Special Education, minority or high poverty students. These schools had all of those students and succeeded. These examples give a real life view of the literature. The following schools are highlighted from It’s Being Done, Dispelling the Myth 2006 and 2008 Award Winners presented by Education Trust.

Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia is a school of recent immigrants. But one of the highest achieving – and lowest income – schools in Fairfax County. 80% of the students meet the requirements for free and reduced lunches and 95% are non white. But in 2008, 100% of the sixth grade students met state reading standards and of those 70% exceeded the standards. In Math 92% met or exceeded standards. They weren’t always high achieving. What did Graham Road due to change?

A new principal took over leadership and things began to happen. The culture changed as weak teachers were evaluated out, new hires are selected who “believe that even kids who come in far behind their peers in vocabulary and background knowledge can still learn to high levels”. The principal instituted Professional Learning Communities for collaboration and data analysis. A partnership was formed with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., coaches were assigned in reading and math, and the curriculum is rigorous and focused on the standards. The school provides students with needed support – a speech teacher works with students speaking a language other than English, clear targets are articulated at the beginning of each lesson and vocabulary instruction permeates all lessons. Every student at Graham Road is important an nothing is left to chance, including field trips! Carefully planned lessons focus on what constitutes good behavior at the venue and important knowledge about the field trip. Every experience is a learning event and Graham Road has dispelled the myth that high poverty students can’t learn. They do learn at Graham.

Imperial High School in Imperial Valley, California is a2006 Dispelling the Myth Award winner. One student was quoted as saying “The teachers here really make sure you learn what you’re supposed to”. That is the essence of their success. Imperial High has posted considerable improvement in the past five years. This is a school with 70% of the students being Latino and about one third meeting the requirements for federal free and reduced lunches, a school profile not usually in the successful category. The principal says that it is not just about seeing that these students graduate from high school, they focus on success in life after they leave high school. At Imperial High, rigor is the key in the standards, the curriculum and the instruction. In 2001 only 27% of the students were proficient, in 2006, forty two percent had reached that milestone. In 2008, 51.3% boasted either proficient or advanced. What is equally as important is that the Seniors did better than the Sophomores. Graduation rates have jumped to 98.7%. How are they doing it?

Teachers at Imperial tend to stay in this hot, desert border town, because of the success they are making. The teachers collaborate to make sure that all instruction is aligned to the California Standards, they study the achievement data, establish a positive school climate and are constantly refining classroom instruction based on the data. This data driven culture allows teachers to move students into more challenging classes when test data and class work don’t agree. Students are offered alternate forms of a test when at first they do not pass. They are given time to review and reassessed again. The focus is on student learning not moving on to the next chapter. Vocabulary development is key to students grasping knowledge at Imperial, because so many of the students are English Language Learners and those that are English Proficient have limited experiences.

All students are enrolled in the University of California A through G requirements, making all students college bound. A summer algebra Academy provides incoming ninth graders the support to succeed in Math. High expectations are for every student. And all of the students take at least one vocational course. After school tutoring is available. The student body values the education they’re getting and discipline problems are rare. Students are engaged in the learning that takes them where they are and pushes them to succeed. Teachers collaborate with the administration to determine what classes need to be taught to meet the needs of the students at the same time keeping graduation, college and life beyond as the clear goal. The culture is clear, every single student has the ability to learn. They are strategic and purposeful in implementing rigorous curriculum and effective support systems to foster individual academic success.

Recommendations for Action

“The secret to school improvement is doing the right things right. That is schools must use research to identify the right things to do, while at the same time, attending to beliefs, process and change management issues to ensure they correctly implement improvement.”

Cicchinelli, et al

McREL, 2006

To close the achievement gap for all students, schools must be diligent, focused and believe that it can be done. The following are the recommendations derived from the literature, stories of real successful schools and research. They are in an order for implementation as one builds on the other. Do not take any of these recommendations for granted. There must be an overt focus on each one.

1. Strong Leadership is vital to success. Administrators must be willing to share leadership and not be afraid to tackle the big issues of low expectations, low scores and poor teaching. They must be in classrooms and mentoring teachers. Choose principals wisely, provide them with coaches and keep them only if the achievement gap is closing.

2. Changing the Culture is critical. Insist that all schools go through the process of developing a belief system that permeates the school. The Principals must have a written vision of the future of the school. Without a vision for future success and belief statements written, distributed and followed, any destination will do. In order to close the achievement gap staff and students must belief they can learn. Written norms for how staff will behave will re-enforce a culture of success.

3. High Quality Teachers have been found to increase student achievement. They are a must in a successful school. Administrators must observe frequently, evaluate honestly and provide needed resources for teachers to become high quality. Evaluation year observations are not enough. High Quality teachers are not born, they are developed. Be strong! Demand only the best!

4. Curriculum rigor is the common theme in successful schools. There is an absence of the phrase, “those kids won’t get it” and a belief that “if I teach it differently, all kids will learn.” Teachers must be required to teach the standards in an engaging manner. Rote and lecture don’t work. Students need real life experiences to tie the curriculum to relevancy and understanding, especially for English Language Learners and high poverty students. A focus on academic vocabulary will ensure that all students, including English Language Learners will succeed. Students know the difference between easy and rigorous, don’t give them the choice!

5. High Expectations must be held by student and staff alike. This is a belief that is non-negotiable for success to occur. A minimum of one year’s growth for one year’s instruction must be present. For student’s far below, there is no minimum, only a maximum – that they will achieve at the expected level of the rigorous curriculum in place. Establish a no excuse zone – only high expectations allowed.

6. Clear Goals for learning should be stated for every class, every lesson and every activity. Students should not have to guess what they are going to learn – “it’s Math time” is not a clear goal. Giving students specific learning targets or goals for each lesson has been shown to improve learning because the task is not daunting. “Today we are going to learn the 9 tables up to 9X6 in multiplication” is doable. A student could learn that in one lesson. Goals should be very specific.

7. Focus on Learning throughout the whole school. Make sure there are few if any interruptions of learning time. Administrators should be asking students, “what are you learning”, not “what are you doing?” A focus on Learning moves instruction from “covering the chapters” to really analyzing what students need to learn, working on pacing to include all of the standards and focusing the students on what they are learning not what they are doing. Formative assessment becomes more important than summative assessment, giving students time to learn a difficult concept in multiple settings before giving a test.

8. Support for students and teachers takes on multiple avenues. Students are given many opportunities to learn material. Tutoring is in place for students having difficulty. Volunteers are assigned to assist specific students. Special Education staff have a broader clientele base than just those with IEP’s and Special Education students have multiple learning opportunities in regular classrooms. Discipline procedures must become flexible. Students continually late for class may need to babysit younger siblings before taking off for class; homework wasn’t turned in because there was a crisis on the block the night before, etc. A school must have in place alternative strategies to cope with the myriad of events that occur in a student’s life. Tutoring rooms, making classroom notes available, counseling and problem solving parent meetings are just a few ways to provide support. Support instead of punishment – a student’s grade gets lowered because of one of the above can no longer be a strategy of choice. Standards-based grading preempts the old fashioned way of giving equal importance to completing homework and knowing a concept. Students need to know that a school staff is there for them when they need assistance.

9. Professional development must be seen as a positive, ongoing event and one that develops high quality teachers, one that supports a teacher. Professional Learning Communities are an excellent way to support teachers, giving them a forum to discuss their teaching practice, and improve. There should be a curriculum and instruction focus to each meeting with minutes given to the proper administrator.

10. Collaboration was found to be central to many of the schools researched. Administrators and teachers worked together to solve problems, make decisions, and discuss student achievement. Time needs to be set aside to make this happen. Be creative with the daily schedule in order to open it up to collaboration. Students also need collaboration time. Students given the opportunity to discuss a new concept with another student must be able to verbalize their learning to each other, hence making new connections in the brain.

11. Data Analysis and Use should be embedded into all teacher meetings and at the high school level in teacher-student meetings. Data driven schools are achieving. But just analyzing the data is not enough. Following through and using the data to inform instruction, make placement decisions and curricular plans is an important part of analysis. Using Professional Learning Communities strengthens teachers’ grasp on the data and by collaborating with peers they are able to use the information effectively.

12. Partnerships with universities, parents, and the community help close the achievement gap. University personnel and students can provide expertise in content areas, man tutoring rooms, and provide grant funds to provide needed support. Parents need to be included in the discussion of high expectations and how they can assist their children to want to succeed. The community can provide much needed resources from reading to students, offering up “beyond high school information” and internships. Think of every person in the surrounding area as someone who can help you close the achievement gap!

Closing the Achievement Gap is difficult but not impossible if the above twelve items are implemented. While there are additional items in the table above, these twelve occur over and over in the literature. Stay focused on them and you will find that your students will succeed and that pesky learning gap will be closed for good.

Bibliography

P-16 Council. Closing the Achievement Gap: Achieving Success for All Students. Report Recommendations, Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2009.

Asher, Carol, and Cindy Maguire. Beating the Odds. Providence, Rhode Island: Annenberg Institute for School Reform At Brown University, 2007.

Barton, Paul E., and Richard J. Coley. Parsing the Achievement Gap II. Policy Information, ETS, 2009.

Cicchinelli, Lou, Ceri Dean, Mike Galvin, Bryan Goodwin, and Danette Parsley. Success in Sight. Denver, CO: McREL, 2006.

Closing the Achievement Gap. "Closing the Achievement Gap: Achieving Success for All Students." Closing the Achievement Gap. 2007. http://www.closingtheachievementgap.org/cs/ctag/print/htdocs/about_background.htm.

Durborow, Richard. "Breaking Through to Real Change." Leadership (Association of California School Administrators) 38, no. 4 (March-April 2009): 32.

Force, Achievement Gap Task. Report on Mathematics for Special Education Students. San Diego: San Diego County Office of Education, 2005.

Guckenburg, Sarah and Mundry, Susan. An Analysis of State Data on the Distribution of Teaching Assignments Filled by Highly Qualified Teachers in New York Schools. Descriptive Research, San Francisco: West ED.

Jack O'Connell, Superintendent of Schools. "State of Education Address." California Department of Education. Sacramento: California Department of Education, January 22, 2008.

Lieberman, Ph.D,Gerald A, and MA Linda L. Hoody. Closing the Achievement Gap. Executive Summary, State Education and Environment Roundtable, Poway: Science Wizards, 1998.

Lipscomb, Stephen. Students with Disabilities and California's Special Education Program. Sacramento: Public Policy Institute of California, 2009.

Loeb, Susanna, and David N. Plank. Learning What Works: Improvement in California's Education System. Policy Brief, Palo Alto: PACE, 2008.

Marzano, Robert J, Debra Pickering and Jane Pollock. Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2001.

McGee, Glenn W. closing Illinois' Achievement Gap, Lessons from the" Golden Spike" High Poverty Schools. Research, Wilmette, Il: Superintendent of Schools, Wilmette School District 39, 2003.

National Council of Teacher's of Mathematics. "Closing the Achievement Gap." NCTM. April 2005. http://www.nctm.org/about/content.asp?id=6350.

Samuels, Christina A. "Special Ed is Funding Early Help." Education Week, September 10, 2008.

Snell, Lisa. "Poor Instruction Puts Special Ed Students in Low Achievement Trap." School Reform News, December 1, 2004.

The Education Trust. "Background Knowledge Matters." The Education Trust. 2008. http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/.

—. "Gaining Traction, Gaining Ground, How Some High Schools Accelerate Learning for Struggling Students." The Education Trust. November 2005. http://www.edtrust.org.

—. "It's Being Done." Achievement Alliance. 2009. http://www.achievementalliance.org.

The Education Trust West. "Latino Achievement in California." The Education Trust West. 2008. http://www.edtrustwest.org.

The Education Trust West;. "African American Achievement in California." The Education Trust West. 2008. http://www.edtrustwest.org.

The Education Trust. "Yes, We Can, Telling Truths and Dispelling Myths About Race and Education in America." The Education Trust. September 2006. http://www.edtrust.org.

The Education Trust;. "The Power to Change, High Schools that Help All Students Achieve." November 2005. http://www.edtrust.org.

The Education Trust-West. "Achievement in California 2008." The Education Trust West. 2008. http://www.edtrustwest.org.

the Principals' Partnership. "Closing the Achievement Gap." The Principals' Partnership. October 2003. http://www.principalspartnership.com.

Zacharias, Maria C. "Closing the Achievement Gap in Math and Science." National Science Foundation. May 2008. http://www,eyrejakert,irg/pub_releases/2008-05/nsf-cta050208.php.