myths, realities, potential and future of urban schools
DESCRIPTION
Urban myths will be debunked; realities, challenges and joys of serving in the urban environment will be presented; successes and the potential of urban students will be shared; and a dialogue on these topics will occur leading to questions about the future of urban schools. The conversation is designed to be stimulating and provocative while raising questions about issues of urban education to which a lack of solutions may portend grave implications for our nation and its’ preeminenceTRANSCRIPT
EDUCATIONAL STUDIES COLLOQUIUM
The 2006-2007 Brown Bag SeriesWinter Semester
Presents
Dr. Kenneth Stephen BurnleySenior Resident Fellow
Myths, Realities, Potential and Future of Urban Schools
Urban myths will be debunked; realities, challenges and joys of serving in the urban environment will be presented; successes and the potential of urban students will be shared; and a dialogue on these topics will occur leading to questions about the future of urban schools. The conversation is designed to be stimulating and provocative while raising questions about issues of urban education to which a lack of solutions may portend grave implications for our nation and its’ preeminence
Brownlee RoomThursday, April 19, 200712:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Kenneth Stephen BurnleyBackground & Experience
• Education
• Work Experience
• Career Decisions
Colloquium on Urban Education in General
Detroit Public SchoolsIn Particular
What is the Graduation Rate Around the Nation?
• 2002 national rate of 72% (Jay Greene and Marcus Winters, Manhattan Institute)
• “Students from historically disadvantaged minority groups (American Indian, Hispanic, Black) have little more than a fifty/fifty chance of finishing school.” (Christopher Swanson, The Urban Institute, February 2004)
• “In the class of 2002, about 78% of white students graduated….compared to 56% for African American students and 52% of Hispanic students.” (The Gates Foundation, 2005)
Graduation Rates Around the Nation
• Chicago 1995: 61.2%
2004: 70.7%
• Detroit 2005: 68%
• Philadelphia 2005: 41-46%
• Boston 2004: 53%
Graduation Rates Around the Nation (continued)
2001 Four Year Graduation Rates (Dropouts in America, Christopher B. Swanson)
Nation: 68%South: 62%West: 68%Northwest: 71%Midwest: 75%
What’s My Point?Myth: DPS graduation rates are the lowest in
the nation
Truth: Contrary to popular opinion, the DPS graduation rates are NOT the worst in the nation. In fact, they are better than those for minorities nationally (Gates 50/50) are similar to or better than the rates in other urban districts, and are about 10% away from the national rate for whites (Gates)
• DPS graduation rates are not acceptable and must improve
Truth: Until Recently, State Calculations Varied Widely
Wild Fluctuations1998: 68% (last year of DPS calculation) 1999: 46% (beginning of state calculation)2000: 58%2001: 54% 2002: 67%2003: 44%2004: 61% (State begins to search state-wide for students)2005: 68%
Beginning in 2004, the state looked for DPS leavers in the state-wide data base. These DPS leavers were enrolled in other districts but DPS was not informed. Thus, previously, they count as dropouts for DPS.
What’s Going On?
The old formula did not look at individual students. It calculated a rate based on the number of entering Grade 9 students and the number of graduates 4 years later.
• Formula favors stable districts and growing districts
• Penalizes districts with declining enrollment • Forces a district to count a student as a dropout if
their new enrollment is unknown (students illegally enrolled in other districts, students enrolled in districts that don’t request records from DPS, etc.)
MI Projected Fiscal Year 2007 Per Pupil Funding
School Districts Per Pupil Funding
Hold Harmless
Total
Pontiac 7,269.00 0.00 7,269.00
Detroit 7,469.00 0.00 7,469.00
Livonia 8,173.00 317.00 8,490.00
Dearborn City 8,698.00 280.00 8,979.00
West Bloomfield 9,012.00 259.00 9,271.00
Grosse Pointe 10,080.00 198.00 10,178.00
Farmington 10,261.00 191.00 10,452.00
Southfield 11,187.00 157.00 11,344.00
Birmingham 12,140.00 122.00 12,262.00
Bloomfield Hills 12,220.00 120.00 12,340.00
Myth: DPS wastes moneyTruth: inequitable funding places DPS in a position to be short of resources
Top 8 Metro Average $10,414
Difference in Metro Average vs. Detroit 2,945
# Detroit Students105,000
A More Equitable State School Finance Act could yield more Financial Support to DPS
Federal Funding is Limited to Use Category
$309,225,000
Myth: Detroit teacher salaries are too highTruth: Detroit teacher salaries are not in the top 47 highest paying districts in the Tri-County area Salary Ranked Bachelors Max
District/County Salary Ranked
Bloomfield Hills/Oakland 72,560.00
Dearborn/Wayne 72,093.00
Walled Lake/Oakland 70,975.00
West Bloomfield/Oakland 70,854.00
Farmington/Oakland 70,026.00
Myth: DPS is not closing the “student achievement gap” between it’s students and the rest of the State
Truth: Detroit is closing the achievement gap in spite of the resource gap in the two areas on which it has focused: reading and mathematics
Truth
In 2005 and 2006, Grades 3-8 were tested in reading and mathematics.
For reading, the gap decreased in 4 of 6 grades tested, remained the same in 1 grade, and increased in 1 grade.
For mathematics, the gap decreased in 3 of 6 grades, remained the same in 2 grades, and increased in 1 grade.
What’s Going On?
Students have made progress in subjects that have been emphasized and supported with massive professional development, new programs and texts, etc.
The highly mobile student population in DPS progresses when programs are systemic across the district.
Reading and mathematics have received massive support and are systemic.
Grade 4 Reading
Grade 4 Reading (test change fall 2005)
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10
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DPS
State
DPS 55 60 67 68 70
State 75 79 82 85 83
Winter 03 Winter 04 Winter 05 Fall 05 Fall 06
Grade 7 Reading
Grade 7 Reading (test change fall 2005)
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Per
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DPS
State
DPS 32 40 48 52 57
State 61 61 73 76 80
Winter 03 Winter 04 Winter 05 Fall 05 Fall 06
Grade 4 MathematicsGrade 4 Mathematics (test change fall 2005)
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10
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Per
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DPS
State
DPS 45 55 54 56 65
State 65 73 73 82 85
Winter 03 Winter 04 Winter 05 Fall 05 Fall 06
Grade 8 MathematicsGrade 8 Mathematics (test change fall 2005)
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Per
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DPS
State
DPS 20 32 35 33 39
State 52 63 62 63 68
Winter 03 Winter 04 Winter 05 Fall 05 Fall 06
Myth: Charter schools out perform public schoolsTruth: In the aggregate public schools out perform charter schools
• It is difficult to assess as many charter schools have fewer than 30 students at a grade so the scores are not presented
• A study using 2005 MEAP scores showed that DPS outperformed charter schools at the elementary level but not at the middle school level.
Myth: Nothing “Extra” For KidsTruth: DPS Offers a Multitude of After School Academics, Sports and Activities
• Number of DPS schools offering before/after school Academic Programs
• 2002-03: 205• 2003-04: 208• 2004-05: 224Total number of offerings in various categories:
Approximately 1,600 by 04-05
*DPS Students win science, robotics, debate, state, regional and national competitions, etc.
Myth: DPS does not partner with outside organizations
Truth: In 2004-05, there were 1,307 partnerships operating in Detroit schools
Myth: People flee mixed-race neighborhoods due to perception of bad schoolsTruth: Some do, but more flee for economic reasons
• Percent saying it is very or somewhat likely that fear of lower quality schools would keep them from moving into a mixed-race neighborhood
Black: 20% White: 32%
Truth (con’t) Percent saying it is very likely that fear of
lower property values would keep them from moving into a mixed-race neighborhood
Black: 40% White: 46%
Source: Mitchell Research and Communications, Inc. survey of 650 metro Detroiters, Aug. 13-17, 2001 (+ or – 4.4%)
Accomplishments
July 1, 2000 Initial Assessment
June 30, 2005 Final Assessment
See handout accompanying this presentation for details
Systemic Improvement In Student Achievement
How to do it, and how it was done in DPS
• Literacy
• Mathematics
*See handout accompanying this presentation for details
Challenges
• Declining enrollment• State midyear reductions in the
business plan caused student/teacher disruptions
• Finance inequity• Racism/bigotry• Bright flight
Challenges
• Disproportionate numbers of lower socio economic homes
• NCLB collision course with school finance
• Media representation without regard to human natures need for imbalance in positive to negative stories
Challenges: Declining Population
Estimated Population of Detroit July 1, 2005: 892,034• Change from 2000 to 2005 -59,236
Source: SEMCOG Population and Households in Southeast Michigan, 2000-2005
Challenges: Segregation
• 2002: Metro Detroit is “nations most segregated metropolis.” Detroit News, February 19, 2002
• 1989: “Detroit [metro area] is second in housing segregation among 10 metro areas.”
Hyper-segregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Blacks and Hispanic Segregation Along Five Dimensions,” Douglas Massey, University of Chicago Population Research Center as reported in Free Press, 8-4-1989
•
Segregation
• “Metro Detroit has the highest level of neighborhood segregation between blacks and whites in the nation.”
Separate analyses of 2000 census data by The Detroit News, the Brookings Institution, and the State University of New York at Albany.
The Cost of Segregation
Segregation
• “Black suburbanization is a trend we’re seeing across the country.” Jacob Vigdor, Duke University for the Brookings Institution report on segregation data
• Of the 185 cities and townships in the six-county Detroit region, 115 are more than 95 percent white. (From the 2000 census)
Joys
• Systemically improving student achievement and performance
• Stewardship over Detroit’s resources• Leading a challenge most cower from• Serving• Solving complex human challenges• Grace and humor under fire
Joys(Continued)
• Building a team• Building relationships• Creating a vision, mission, goals with
annual objectives where the whole Organization makes it happen one team on one page
• Succeeding where others said we couldn’t
• Theodore Roosevelt
In Spite of the Accomplishments The Challenges Seem To Be Winning The Day and Suggest a Continued Spiral Downward for Urban School Districts Worst Fears• Spiral Down Continues• Workforce Suffers• Productive Citizens
Declines• US Loses Preeminence• Inequitable Funding
continues• Racism is our Achilles
Heel
Best Hopes• NCLB Finally Inspires
the Nation• Schools Not Seen as
the Problem• The Village Really
Operates• Medical Home
Conditional Cash Transfers
• Regentrification
What Do You Think Can Be Done?
What are your worst fears?
What are your best hopes?
What would you do?