In reading, for low-income students:
- 92% of districts delivered better third grade performance than Jefferson County
- 92% delivered better fourth grade performance
- 81% delivered better fifth grade performance
- 89% delivered better sixth grade performance
- 87% delivered better seventh grade performance
- 89% delivered better eighth grade performance
- 61% delivered better tenth grade performance
In mathematics, for low-income students:
- 87% of districts delivered better third grade performance than Jefferson County
- 83% delivered better fourth grade performance
- 82% delivered better fifth grade performance
- 88% delivered better sixth grade performance
- 88% delivered better seventh grade performance
- 89% delivered better eighth grade performance
- 52% delivered better eleventh grade performance
- 95% of districts delivered better fourth grade performance than Jefferson County
- 95% delivered better seventh grade performance
- 90% delivered better eleventh grade performance
- 82% of districts delivered better fifth grade performance than Jefferson County
- 88% delivered better eighth grade performance
- 52% delivered better eleventh grade performance
- 68% of districts delivered better fifth grade performance than Jefferson County
- 81% delivered better eighth grade performance
- 22% delivered better twelfth grade performance
It is very hard to understand how results like that are compatible with the pride Jefferson County has historically taken in its school system.
The chart below provides the numbers behind the reporting above.
Thanks for the great information once again. I also wonder why the rate is not higher in HS. Could it be because so many drop out and are not in the counts for one reason or another. How do graduation rates factor in to this data?
ReplyDeleteAn excellent question!
ReplyDeleteAll districts lose students from grade 8 to grade 12, with Jefferson County losing an unusually high proportion.
As a thought experiment, I considered what would happen to twelfth grade writing if all the missing students reenrolled and none of them were proficient or above.
I think Jefferson County would add about 1,400 students, and from the new total, only 36% would be proficient in writing--compared to the current 45%.
For the state as a whole, about 6,500 would be added, and only 31% would be proficient--compared to a current 35%.
Or, more briefly, a 10 point lead for JCPS would shrink to 5 points.
I think that suggests a ballpark answer to the overall question.
On the one hand, Jefferson County loses an unusually high proportion of students, and that probably does contribute to making the remaining students more competitive.
On the other hand, Jefferson County would still have a lead in writing if all the mislaid students reappeared, suggesting that dropouts aren't the only reason the district is more competitive.
So I'll throw in one more factor: high school improvement has generally been sluggish compared to the other levels.
The main explanation may be that we're comparing Jefferson elementaries and middles to schools that are mostly on the move, and Jefferson high schools to schools that mostly aren't.
In any case, I think the pattern is important: Jefferson is not as far behind at the high school level as it is for earlier grades, and in writing it simply is not behind. I also think that pattern would still be there even if there were no dropouts anywhere in the state.
The Jefferson County School Board members think that we are doing better than most in the state, no need to worry. Whose data are they looking at? Maybe they should spend less time looking at internally produced data and start paying attention to objectively produced data like this. What is KSBA doing to teach our school board members how to analyze data? It appears they need a remedial course!
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't reported in the Courier-Journal, it isn't real.
ReplyDeleteI hear the excuse from board members, central office people and the superintendent, that the reason JCPS students are losing ground is we have "too many of those kids" which is referring to population groups of low income, etc. They say that we are so drastically different than other districts in the state. What is the statistical truth about the income-comparison and the achievement levels of Jefferson County's students and other districts in the state?
ReplyDeleteIf every school district in this country would get rid of the non-performing students we could all be at 100 and could all be called traditional. Why do we all not see that as the sad reality of what we are allowing to be created in JCPS.
JCPS has led people to believe that traditional schools educate better and that the kids do better when in reality they just remove non-performing kids and send them to another school that is required to take all who enter. That is what we have in several of our high performing high schools. We allow selective enrollment and if they take only kids that have performed well then we can hold those schools up as an example of our ability to educate public school kids. Those schools are what keep the myth going and keep them in the public system.
When will we as a district realize that it is our moral duty to educate all students regardless of their situation, income or color of their skin. We wonder why we have so many angry teenagers in JCPS. Well, if you were told from the time you were in preschool that you could not go to a good school because you were black or poor how would you be at 16 after no one taught you to read. We allow JCPS to have low expectations for some kids and make constant excuses. I am fed up!
Why, we even have a campaign boasting 10,000 volunteers teaching kids to read in an effort to get all kids on grade level within 4 years. While I applaud the efforts of volunteers and I think in some schools it has made a drastic difference when used properly, why are we willing to allow a child to leave third grade without learning to read. How long does it take to get a student on grade level? Do we have 4 years to wait?
If we were to compare districts by income how would we do. I would especially be interested in per pupil spending, drop out rates, IEP percentages and income. I know that we have high poverty-high achieving schools even in JCPS. What is that excuse? Why do THEY do so well with so many of "those kids". Those schools do not fit the easy excuse that I am sick of hearing.
If we allow kids to drop out of school then our scores will go up. Maybe that is the goal? I think its high time we start taking responsibility and stop blaming the kids.