Week 2 Discussion - Surprises in Data

Surprises in Data

Monday, January 13, 2020, 12:47 PM

As I look at the data I have collect

ed over these many months, I have been

consistently surprised that our white students show more growth on benchmark

assessments and score higher on state assessments than the majority of our African

American students. Having taught or served as an administ

rator in this school for over

ten years, I knew the trends, but I had the preconceived notion that we were doing all

the right things to close the achievement gap. We have analyzed data, created

instructional plans with up

-

to

-

date strategies, we have chang

ed the “face” of our school

by creating more diversity among faculty members. We have championship sports and

academic teams.

We have been recognized as the only middle school to receive an

Excellent rating from the State Department of Education in our re

gion for the last two

years. Yet, we are not growing our African American students at the same rates as our

white students.

This is the thing I would like to change.

I really do believe all students

can learn, but it is clear to me that, as stated by Fre

derick Brown, we are trying to “make

sense of these data with the strategies we’ve already tried and not confront the barriers

to real progress” (p.2). One of those barriers is the lack of parent participation in our

school.

Studies have shown that studen

ts do better when their parents are

involved.

We must do more to get our parents out for academic reasons and not just

football and basketball games. Another issue is that the current way of things, the lack

of participation, is the culture of the communi

ty.

That has got to be changed if all of our

students are ever going to live up to their potential.

Citation: Brown, Frederick.

Advancing the Standards

. The Learning Principal, Fall 2012.

Surprises in Data

Monday, January 13, 2020, 12:47 PM

As I look at the data I have collected over these many months, I have been

consistently surprised that our white students show more growth on benchmark

assessments and score higher on state assessments than the majority of our African

American students. Having taught or served as an administrator in this school for over

ten years, I knew the trends, but I had the preconceived notion that we were doing all

the right things to close the achievement gap. We have analyzed data, created

instructional plans with up-to-date strategies, we have changed the “face” of our school

by creating more diversity among faculty members. We have championship sports and

academic teams. We have been recognized as the only middle school to receive an

Excellent rating from the State Department of Education in our region for the last two

years. Yet, we are not growing our African American students at the same rates as our

white students. This is the thing I would like to change. I really do believe all students

can learn, but it is clear to me that, as stated by Frederick Brown, we are trying to “make

sense of these data with the strategies we’ve already tried and not confront the barriers

to real progress” (p.2). One of those barriers is the lack of parent participation in our

school. Studies have shown that students do better when their parents are

involved. We must do more to get our parents out for academic reasons and not just

football and basketball games. Another issue is that the current way of things, the lack

of participation, is the culture of the community. That has got to be changed if all of our

students are ever going to live up to their potential.

Citation: Brown, Frederick. Advancing the Standards. The Learning Principal, Fall 2012.