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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > October > 10 > Entry
What does black student data tell us?
(Trotwood-Madison High School students last month)
A couple years ago, a fairly affluent Dayton-area suburban school district was cited as in a wire service story for its success educating black students because the percentage of black students who passed state tests was very high.
When we looked at the data, however, we found that while indeed the black students had scored well, there were very few of them. If I remember right, I think the high percentage resulted from something like nine of 11 black students passing a state test. And while applauding their success, we hesitated to conclude, as the statewide story had, that this district was doing something extraordinary to help black students achieve. The numbers were just too small to draw that sort of sweeping conclusion.
But ever since that story, I’ve wondered how we might try examine which Ohio school districts might, in fact, be doing something notable to raise achievement for blacks students. Perhaps there are examples from which the rest of the state can learn, since Ohio has one of the nation’s worst gaps between white and black test scores?
Using this year’s report card data, I started poking around, trying to find trends that might indicate success in helping black students achieve. Some of what I found was interesting. Some of it was curious.
I started by looking for districts with a large percentage of black children. I made a list of the districts in which black students made up at least a quarter of the enrollment. There are 39 of them out of 610 Ohio school districts.
Then I looked at three variables for black students from the state’s data — graduation rate and the percentage of black 10th graders who passed the Ohio Graduation Test’s reading and math sections.
Here’s some of what the data showed:
Low test scores but good graduation rate.
Jefferson Twp. a close-in Dayton suburb, has amazing success graduating black students despite low test achievement. Seventy-eight percent of the district’s enrollment is black, fifth most in the state. Despite ranking in the bottom quarter among the 39 districts for reading and math test scores, Jefferson ranks in the top six for graduation rate, just short of a perfect score. Jefferson and Maple Heights are the only districts ranked among the top 10 in graduation rate that also fall in the bottom quarter for both math and reading scores.
Campbell schools, near Youngstown, remarkably rank second worst in the group for black students’ reading scores but maintain a 100 percent graduation rate for those kids. The other two districts with perfect black graduation rates — Reynoldsdburg near Columbus and the Cleveland area’s Richmond Heights — both also rank in the top 10 for reading and math scores.
Comparing well with peers
Trotwood-Madison is another close in suburb that, like Jefferson Twp., is traditionally one of the Dayton-area’s lowest scoring districts on state report cards. But in this peer group, it’s scores compare reasonably well for performance by black students, ranked 13 of 39 for graduation rate and ranked seventh in math and 16th in reading.
Dayton ranks low when it comes to graduating black students, but better than several of its peers among the large urban districts including Cleveland, Youngstown, Canton, Columbus and Cincinnati. But reading and math scores for Dayton’s black students are in the bottom quarter among the 39 districts and slightly lower than most of those peers.
On the low end
Nearby Springfield’s black graduation rate beats Dayton, but it ranks lower in math and reading scores (in the bottom five among this peer group on both tests).
I also couldn’t help but notice how stark Cleveland’s numbers are here. Ohio’s largest school district was the lowest rated overall on state report cards released in August, and those low scores are reflected here. The district is last in this group by nearly 10 points in black graduation rate, last in 10th grade reading and third to last in 10th grade math.
I’m still not certain how much this data tells us. Give me your thoughts on what you see here and if you have suggestions for what other data you would like to see on this topic, I’d love to hear them.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: My Favorite Posts, Urban School Issues
Comments
By Paul A. Miller
October 18, 2006 10:33 AM | Link to this
Great work, Scott, and important. I fear one conclusion which is almost inevitably drawn is that the high graduation rates in districts with low test scores indicate students are advanced without being educated. As graduation time approaches, the students are “taught to the test” so they can squeak by and the school can look good. Then, they are pushed out the door to fend for themselves. This problem is serious across the board, but particularly so, as you note, for the African-American community which already suffers from an “opportunity gap” founded in the poor job our schools are doing. Present testing requirements and the entrenched education/school administration bureaucracy are both problems which must be fixed.By L
October 16, 2006 9:10 AM | Link to this
Could you explain your last statement? What do you mean when you said that the white students’ graduation is less because of the hostility of black students and their administrators? Have you ever thought about the possibility that the black parents in Dayton are pushing their children to graduation, while some of the white/Appalacian background parents do not think it is important?By Rick
October 12, 2006 9:02 PM | Link to this
Actually, Eve, white students in Dayton score higher in tests. The reason their graduation rate is less is the hostility of black students and administrators. But your point is well taken. My advice should be followed by all demographic groups.By Eve
October 12, 2006 7:27 AM | Link to this
Gee Rick, since the DPS graduates a higher percentage of black students than whites, maybe you’re preaching to the wrong demographic.By Rick
October 11, 2006 7:20 PM | Link to this
My solution is simple. Black families need only follow the following and their children will do better in school. The parents should be good role models and set and enforce the following expectations for their children: Apply yourself in school and do all homework. Show respect to teachers, principals, police, etc. Do not have sex Do not smoke Do not gamble Do not use drugs or hang around with those that do. Get a part-time job and work diligently Read books and other stuff all the time Use standard English When you graduate do not have sex until you are married, stay married, and set the above expectations for your children. Follow those rules and you will be financially able to move to an area with good schools.By Scott Elliott
October 11, 2006 12:32 AM | Link to this
Two points. First, in Dayton black students graduate at a much better rate than white students, as I wrote about this summer. Second, the gap between white and black achievement in Ohio is widely recognized as a huge problem. That was what prompted this study. It’s simply a search for information and answers about that problem.By Oldprof
October 10, 2006 11:11 PM | Link to this
The notion that analyzing data just on the basis of skin color, I’d predict, is going to get us nowhere. Unless “The Bell Curve” is our desired destination, and I’d prefer not.By L
October 10, 2006 9:04 PM | Link to this
I think it is less of an issue between black and white and more of an issue of economics. Take DPS for example. I think if you looked at graduation rates for white vs black students, it would probably be pretty much the same. On another note, I don’t like the idea of having to divide people by race—for any reason—even statistical.