Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
16
Socioeconomic performance gap on tests declining in La.
Sixth-grade boys from Rusheon Middle School in Bossier City seem embarrassed to be on the stage during a demonstration about electricity at Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport.
But their eager stabs at answering the presenter's questions show they're engaged. They wave their hands to test a Van de Graaff generator, an electrostatic device that creates high voltages by accumulating large quantities of electric charge and causes one's hair to stand on end.
"If I could have them here every day, it would be awesome," said Sandra Weaver, sixth- and seventh-grade science teacher at Rusheon Middle. "What I see is an excitement that is created here more than in the classroom. I see mor
e individual work. They're not depending on each other."
Schools lik
e Rusheon Middle that have racially diverse enrollments and students from a variety of economic circumstances are turning to extras like Sci-Port's PASS program to improve test performance among all students, not just white children from middle- to upper-income families.
Three years ago, the No Child Left Behind Act focused attention on the performance of poor, minority students. The gap between those children and students from white, wealthy families is declining locally and statewide.
Bossier Parish school officials committed money so students at all high-poverty schools could attend structured visits to Sci-Port all year. Several high-poverty Caddo schools also participate. Donors helped other schools sign up. Veterans provided half the cost for Rusheon Middle.
Rusheon Middle goes one step further in attacking score gaps. Boys and girls attend Sci-Port separately because research shows middle
and high school students focus more on learning than social issues that way, said Weaver and Kri
stin Takara, Sci-Port's educational coordinator.
Adrian Gee, 11, has been coming to Sci-Port on school field trips since the second grade. Coming without the girls is "kinda different," but the exhibits are "cool."
"It changes from year to year. I haven't checked out Grossology yet," Gee said, referring to Sci-Port's newest exhibit.
Schools must tailor learning programs to motivate students like Gee, who have some exposure to enrichment activities, and children who rarely travel from Bossier City to Shreveport. The gap between black and white students in Bossier Parish was 38 last year, down from 39 in 2003. The gap between poor children and their wealthier peers also shows a one-point decline.
But schools, whether they take all comers from a particular neighborhood or attract elite students, still must ov
ercome a lack of preparation for school and outside learning experiences that dog children from poorer families, as well as the crime and instability that often aff
ect those families.
"With poverty, it doesn't matter what color you are," said Ollie Tyler, Caddo schools superintendent.
In her parish, the score gap between black and white students was 52 points last year compared to 54 in 2003. It ranges from 56 points at Byrd High School in Shreveport to slightly less than 7 points at Turner Elementary/Middle School, a Shreveport campus which draws mostly children from low- to middle-income families.
At Caddo Magnet High School, one of the top-ranked campuses in the state, Asian students outperform everyone. At Caddo schools with magnet programs and full magnet schools, the composite score for black students is well above average.
But blacks lag behind whites ev
en at magnet schools where white children are in the minority. At South Highlands Elementary Magnet in Shreveport, considered an elite school statewide, black students achieved an average score 32 points below white students last year. That's down from
a 40-point gap in 2003, but the decrease occurred primarily because white students' scores declined in the same period.
Beginning in August, South Highlands Elementary teachers will participate in the Teacher Advancement Program, a joint project of the state Education Department and the Milken Family Foundation.
Six schools are in the program, known as TAP, this year. South Highlands Elementary would be the first school in north Louisiana to sign up.
TAP encourages teachers to remain in the classroom instead of becoming assistant principals, principals or district-level supervisors, the traditional career path for educators looking to move up the ladder and earn more money.
Teacher pay
also depends partially on how well students perform.
Tyler thinks TAP reflects Caddo's districtwide goal of putting certified, qualified, experienced teachers in all classrooms. That goes hand in glove with research-based programs that target specific weaknesses, she said
. Beginning last year, district supervisors compiled a systemwide academic improvement plan based on each school's goals.
Principals "had to give us school improvement plans. They have to tell us why they need a program," Tyler said. "We didn't let them spend the Title I money on anything that wasn't data driven."
*************
Socioeconomic performance gap on tests declining in La.
Sixth-grade boys from Rusheon Middle School in Bossier City seem embarrassed to be on the stage during a demonstration about electricity at Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport.
But their eager stabs at answering the presenter's questions show they're engaged. They wave their hands to test a Van de Graaff generator, an electrostatic device that creates high voltages by accumulating large quantities of electric charge and causes one's hair to stand on end.
"If I could have them here every day, it would be awesome," said Sandra Weaver, sixth- and seventh-grade science teacher at Rusheon Middle. "What I see is an excitement that is created here more than in the classroom. I see mor
e individual work. They're not depending on each other."
Schools lik
e Rusheon Middle that have racially diverse enrollments and students from a variety of economic circumstances are turning to extras like Sci-Port's PASS program to improve test performance among all students, not just white children from middle- to upper-income families.
Three years ago, the No Child Left Behind Act focused attention on the performance of poor, minority students. The gap between those children and students from white, wealthy families is declining locally and statewide.
Bossier Parish school officials committed money so students at all high-poverty schools could attend structured visits to Sci-Port all year. Several high-poverty Caddo schools also participate. Donors helped other schools sign up. Veterans provided half the cost for Rusheon Middle.
Rusheon Middle goes one step further in attacking score gaps. Boys and girls attend Sci-Port separately because research shows middle
and high school students focus more on learning than social issues that way, said Weaver and Kri
stin Takara, Sci-Port's educational coordinator.
Adrian Gee, 11, has been coming to Sci-Port on school field trips since the second grade. Coming without the girls is "kinda different," but the exhibits are "cool."
"It changes from year to year. I haven't checked out Grossology yet," Gee said, referring to Sci-Port's newest exhibit.
Schools must tailor learning programs to motivate students like Gee, who have some exposure to enrichment activities, and children who rarely travel from Bossier City to Shreveport. The gap between black and white students in Bossier Parish was 38 last year, down from 39 in 2003. The gap between poor children and their wealthier peers also shows a one-point decline.
But schools, whether they take all comers from a particular neighborhood or attract elite students, still must ov
ercome a lack of preparation for school and outside learning experiences that dog children from poorer families, as well as the crime and instability that often aff
ect those families.
"With poverty, it doesn't matter what color you are," said Ollie Tyler, Caddo schools superintendent.
In her parish, the score gap between black and white students was 52 points last year compared to 54 in 2003. It ranges from 56 points at Byrd High School in Shreveport to slightly less than 7 points at Turner Elementary/Middle School, a Shreveport campus which draws mostly children from low- to middle-income families.
At Caddo Magnet High School, one of the top-ranked campuses in the state, Asian students outperform everyone. At Caddo schools with magnet programs and full magnet schools, the composite score for black students is well above average.
But blacks lag behind whites ev
en at magnet schools where white children are in the minority. At South Highlands Elementary Magnet in Shreveport, considered an elite school statewide, black students achieved an average score 32 points below white students last year. That's down from
a 40-point gap in 2003, but the decrease occurred primarily because white students' scores declined in the same period.
Beginning in August, South Highlands Elementary teachers will participate in the Teacher Advancement Program, a joint project of the state Education Department and the Milken Family Foundation.
Six schools are in the program, known as TAP, this year. South Highlands Elementary would be the first school in north Louisiana to sign up.
TAP encourages teachers to remain in the classroom instead of becoming assistant principals, principals or district-level supervisors, the traditional career path for educators looking to move up the ladder and earn more money.
Teacher pay
also depends partially on how well students perform.
Tyler thinks TAP reflects Caddo's districtwide goal of putting certified, qualified, experienced teachers in all classrooms. That goes hand in glove with research-based programs that target specific weaknesses, she said
. Beginning last year, district supervisors compiled a systemwide academic improvement plan based on each school's goals.
Principals "had to give us school improvement plans. They have to tell us why they need a program," Tyler said. "We didn't let them spend the Title I money on anything that wasn't data driven."
*************
