What’s Race Got To Do With It?Looking at student achievement data through
the racial lens
Equity Alliance
Phoenix, Arizona
February 17, 2010
Session Outcome
Participants will be able to:
Use research-based practices to engage school districts/school communities/grade
level teams in the interpretation of standardized and classroom data to
improve instructional practices.
Here’s what today will look like:
Personal Cultural History
Data Analysis through the racial lens
Q and A
Personal Cultural History
Choose 3
• Race
• Region
• Religion
• Gender
• Language
• Age
• Socioeconomic Status
Data helps us to do many things in schools; understand where we are, define
where we want and need to go, and measure progress along the way.
(Holcomb, 2004, p. xv)
MSA Proficiency Levels Grade 3 Mathematics
Everybody Achieves ESAdvanced 19.4% 23.7% 24.8%
Proficient 55.3% 57.7% 54.8%
Basic 25.3% 18.6% 20.4%
2007 2008 2009
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Advanced Proficient Basic
StudentsStudentsStudentsStudents
MSA Proficiency Levels Grade 3 Mathematics
MSA Proficiency Levels Grade 3 Mathematics
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Advanced Proficient Basic
AsianWhiteAfr AmLatino
Advanced Proficient Basic
Hispanic 6/31 18/31 7/31
African
American5/25 13/25 7/25
White 15/35 17/35 3/35
Asian 1/4 2/4 1/4
MSA Proficiency Levels Grade 3 Mathematics
Who Needs to Move?
Hispanic 18/31 – Rosa
African
American13/25 – Jamal
White 3/35 – David
Asian 1/4 – Tina
Leaders must come to grips with the reality that there are some staff members reluctant to use data:
Lack of proper training and/or time
Feast or famine
Fear of evaluation and/or exposure
Confusing a technical problem with a cultural problem
Session Outcome
Participants will be able to:
Use research-based practices to engage school districts/school communities/grade level teams in the interpretation of standardized and classroom data to improve instructional practices.
The Golden Question
How do I get started?
First, examine your own beliefs about students’ academic potential.
Next, help your school community face it’s problems and come up with a strategic plan of how to address each problem. PRIORITIZE!
Finally, make the consistent use of disaggregated data a non-negotiable for your entire school community.
The key here is not the kind of instruction but the attitude underlying it. When teachers do not understand the potential of the students they teach, they will underteach them no matter what the methodology.
Lisa Delpit, author of Other People’s Children
Questions
Resources
Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement. New York: Eye on Education.
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Holcomb, E. (2004). Getting excited about data: Combining people, passion, and proof to maximize student achievement. California: Corwin Press.
Lindsey, R.B., Roberts, L. M., CampbellJones, F. (2005). The Culturally Proficient School: An implementation guide for school leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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