Blazing New Trails - Connexions

282 CRITICAL ISSUES IN SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act (Illinois
State Board of Education: School Report Cards, 2010). In 2009, East St. Louis had a high
school graduation rate of 62.1%, compared with the Illinois statewide average of 87.1%
(Illinois State Board of Education: School Report Cards, 2010). All high school juniors in
Illinois take the ACT examination, which is a college entrance examination. The ACT is
administered as a section of the statewide testing program for AYP purposes. Students in East
St. Louis had an average composite ACT score of 15.2, compared with a statewide ACT
composite of 20.6 in 2009 (Illinois State Board of Education: School Report Cards, 2010). In
Cairo, a district under state oversight, the 2009 ACT composite was 16.1 (Illinois State Board
of Education: School Report Cards, 2010).
RAMIFICATIONS
There is no guarantee that increasing school funding for school districts in low-income
areas will automatically improve student academic achievement. Indeed, the issue of poor
academic achievement among many low-income students may be more related to background
experiences, or lack thereof, as opposed to the number of dollars spent on each student in
particular schools and school districts (Marzano, 2003; Ravitch, 2010). However, if the
districts educating students from lower income homes do not have a level of financing on a
par with the wealthier districts, it is highly unlikely that major strides can be made in the
improvement of academic achievement. The disparate funding is truly a violation of the ethic
of justice, which calls for all students to be given the same baseline of opportunities (Ubben,
Hughes, & Norris, 2007). All school districts need to start on a level playing field. There is
also some indication that additional funding, such as that allocated in Colorado, may help
erase some of the deficits faced by low income students.
It appears unlikely that the school funding mechanism will change soon in either
Illinois or Colorado. Even if the public school funding system is overturned by the courts in
either state, it will then take additional time to devise and implement a replacement system. In
the interim, many school districts in lower income areas will continue to operate with less
money per students than those in more affluent areas.
There are school districts in the U.S. commonly referred to as 90/90/90 school districts
(Reeves, 2003). These are schools which have a 90 percent poverty rate, a 90 percent minority
enrollment, and a 90 percent academic success rate. In spite of the poverty rate in these
90/90/90 districts, students are still making excellent academic progress. While the inequity of
school financing certainly exists in many states in the U.S., and while these disparities are
being exacerbated by the economic downturn in the U.S., the students in these economically
distressed districts still deserve the best education possible. Until such time as more equitable
funding mechanisms can be put into place in the U.S., it is incumbent upon school leaders and
school boards to become familiar with and to implement the best practices from the 90/90/90
schools, to the extent possible. Marzano (2003) addressed the best practices in the most
effective schools, which includes the 90/90/90 schools in the following prioritized listing:
1. Guaranteed and viable curriculum;
2. Challenging goals and effective feedback;
3. Parent and community involvement;
4. Safe and orderly environment; and
5. Collegiality and professionalism. (p.15)