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Minorities score lower on state test
Schools chief says problem lies with educators
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More from Education: K-12While a majority of high school students in Ventura County and statewide have passed the high school exit exam, local and state school officials said Thursday that more efforts are needed to bridge the achievement gap between whites and some minority groups.
"We cannot afford the achievement gap morally, socially or economically," state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell said. "We know all students can learn no matter what ethnicity, economic status or native language. Now we must confront and change those things that might be in our education system that could be holding some students back."
About 76 percent of sophomores who took the exam for the first time passed the math portion of the California High School Exit Exam this year, while 77 percent passed the English-language arts portion, according to a report released Thursday by the state Department of Education.
In Ventura County, 80 percent of sophomores passed the mathematics portion and 82 percent the English portion. Students must take the exit exam to graduate.
Students take the test for the first time in their sophomore year. If they don't pass, they can also take it twice in their junior year and three more times as seniors.
About 93 percent of seniors in the Class of 2007 statewide, or 401,486, passed both portions of the exam, a 2 percent increase from last year, Thursday's results showed.
About 29,030 seniors still have to pass the exam, but the numbers do not include July test scores, which will be available in the fall.
O'Connell said he is pleased with the gains students have made over the year, but he is still concerned about the achievement gap that exists among subgroups, particularly those still learning how to speak English.
First-time test takers who were English learners showed a decline in both English and math scores, O'Connell said.
"This was one group that went the wrong direction and something we clearly need to address, because it is one of our larger subgroups," he said.
O'Connell said the achievement gap cannot be explained solely by economic factors. He said low-income white students generally still do better than Latino or black students.
For example, 75 percent of low-income white students statewide passed the English test in their first attempt, compared with 73 percent of black students who were not low-income. And 74 percent of low-income white students passed the math portion, 2 percent higher than Latino students who were not low-income.
In Ventura County, 69 percent of Latino sophomores passed the English portion and 67 percent passed the math test, far below the overall passing rate in the county.
The number of English learners within each ethnic group was not available.
"We're still not where we want to be, and we are working toward that, particularly with our Latino students, because they are our fastest growing population," said Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Charles Weis. "What this suggests is that we are not meeting the needs of that population, especially the young Latino males.
"This is not a problem with the kids, but with how those of us in education are serving the kids. We have to find ways to help Latino kids acquire the same knowledge as other kids. It's definitely not a simple answer."
Joe Nardo, an administrator and an exit exam specialist for Las Virgenes Unified School District, said focusing on race is not the answer.
"We're not going to be a district that singles out ethnic groups," Nardo said. "The issue is, what kind of support do all of our students need?"
Linda Murray, an official with The Education Trust — West, agreed that factors other than economics contribute to the achievement gap. The trust is a nonprofit agency based in Oakland that focuses on education reform.
"It's a vicious cycle," Murray said. "From our research, we believe oftentimes that schools that serve a large population of Latino and African-American students expect less from their students. These schools give less rigorous assignments, so there is already a lower expectation of achievement. If they are not challenged by the coursework, then that reinforces low standards. Certainly there is something more going on than just poverty that's impacting these students."
Posted by ewarnold on August 24, 2007 at 9:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Any body notice no one mentioned that the Asian kids do really well? Why??? Because their parents get involved! When the parents instill a value system in their children that includes education and then follow up by making them do their homework and actively addressing the problems, the kids do well. When will these "educators" learn that the teachers are not to blame? The system is in English so of course the non English speaking kids don't do well. Give the test in Spanish? And the Black kids have no excuse. Their parents need to get with the program. If they do their kids do as well as anyone, better even than those parents who think education is the sole responsibility of the teachers.
Posted by Face on August 24, 2007 at 9:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is the way it will always be, no matter how much money is spent or special programs you come up with. This can only change when the families of these students take it upon themselves to encourage education in their children. Economics is not the problem. A recent study showed poor white children do better in school than middle class blacks. This is because of the way education is valued in the home. We should bring back the idea of Technical Schools. By trying to educate everyone into a college, we get dropouts who have no job skills. Wouldn't it be better to give those type of students a real job skill? Mechanics make more than computer engineers since these types of jobs cannot be outsourced or be replaced by visa holding foreigners who undercut professional wages. One does not need a degree to have a skilled job. Putting students into technical schools will give them a skill that can lead to a much better economic outlook for them than preparing them for a college career which they do not want or seek.
Posted by MRCLEAN on August 24, 2007 at 10:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Parenting.
Posted by RT on August 24, 2007 at 10:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It might help if teachers do more teaching in the classroom, rather than defer to the text book and homework. Most of these kids are "on their own" as far as learning is concerned, due to working parents and teachers who just don't really care anymore. Most teachers are their for the paycheck and the lucrative benefits the state guarantees them (100% plus pensions, lifelong medical coverage – one of this country’s biggest secrets are the retirement benefits promised to state employees, something none of the state unions want discussed). So while these teachers are bankrupting our state, their students become illiterate. Talk about a recipe for disaster? How about rate the teachers by the performance of their classroom? Gee, what a novel approach, but then corporations have been doing this for eons! Has anyone ever heard of a Union employee being evaluated based on "performance"? While this will never happen (particularly in California), it doesn't mean that it shouldn't.
Posted by shaver_one on August 24, 2007 at 12:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It would also help, if the schools taught in English.
Why do we still have high school students that don't speak English?
Get rid of the bi-lingual classes. Replace them with English emersion classes, from the beginning. Stop the teachers from speaking Ebonics, or 'hip-hop'. Have have them teach in English. If they kids don't hear English in the classroom, and their parents don't speak English well, or at all, these kids will never learn the language. Their chances in life will be very reduced. Teach the language, AS IT'S MEANT TO BE SPOKEN.
Posted by Ventura22 on August 24, 2007 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Teachers do not make that much. They also are expected to wear many other hats, besides just being a teacher. They are expected to be social workers, disciplinarians, parents, babysitters...
These school employees have become the parents of many childern who have no parents in the home that do the job well. Different cultures have different parenting values, and place different priorities on education. The teacher gets to pick-up the slack in the classroom, and in many cases, is the closest thing to a real parent a lot of kids experience.
RT, you need to make sure you know what you are talking about next time you make BS statements like you did. If teachers make such good money and have great benefits, then why is it so hard to recruit and retain them? They leave for better paying private sector jobs where they don't have to own so many responsibilities and then get accused of doing none of them well! That's why. Apparently, you know very little, other than what you see on TV and speculate on. There are many private sector jobs in this county that pay far more than public school teachers and have far less responsibilities. If you are dissatisfied with the level of service you get from the public schools, you can always home-school your kids, or send them to a private school; those are your options. Unfortunately, this dilemma is not going away.
Posted by Freedom1 on August 24, 2007 at 4:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here we go again - minorities lagging in education and it must be the teacher or the education system to blame. Nonsense! The public education system used to have one common denominator regardless of the race of the child - the English language. That no longer exists and everyone suffers the consequences. Overcrowded classrooms and no common language creates lower expectations so those falling behind can pass and the system can make a check mark in the right column to acquire the funding to move forward - teaching to the lowest common denominator. Such a shame for us all. I can't imagine anyone wanting to go into the teaching profession in todays World. If you can afford it, you find a private school for your child and then spend every waking moment helping them learn.
Posted by dpennock on August 24, 2007 at 7:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Teachers do not get lifetime health benefits. When you retire, they are gone. A beginning teacher may make $40,000 after 4 years of college. A fifth year is then required within a few years or you lose your credential and your job. With 15 years of experience and 6.5 years of expensive college (including a master's degree), you might make $80,000 if you are in a very high paying district. Compare this to many other jobs that require college or even no college that pay a lot more (mortgage broker, plumber, auto tech., etc., etc., etc...)
But, anyway, you could put the best teachers in the world in a classroom with kids who choose to be losers and it won't do any good. If they just want to lead a thug lifestyle, be little gang bangers, listen to toxic rap music, play violent criminal video games, stay up until 4 a.m., do drugs, drink alcohol, never open a book, not listen in class, not take notes, and be very lazy, then they probably won't learn much. And that's the problem with a lot of kids no matter their background.
Posted by endianaDOTcom on August 26, 2007 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Charter schools for black students have stunning success.
My view:
http://endiana.blogspot.com/2007/08/b...
Source article:
BlackVoiceNews.com
Posted by EDinCT on August 26, 2007 at 3:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The reason some minorties (blacks and mestizos)have lower test scores is because they have lower IQs. Asians score higher on school tests because they have an IQ that's slightly higher than Whites.
Average IQ of American Black: 85
Average African Black: 70
Average IQ of Mestizo: 85
Average IQ of White: 100
Average IQ of Asian: 103
American Blacks score higher than their African kin due to the fact that most American Blacks have about 20% White genes.
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