Closing the Achievement Gap - Washington State School Directors ...

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ForewordAll children can learn. If we teach them at high levels, theywill achieve at high levels. We have evidence that this is truein school after school all across the country.There is also ample evidence that what we, as school board members,believe about children’s abilities makes all the difference. If we believe thatall children can learn, we will design our school systems to make this possible.We have recognized that children don’t come to our school doors in cookiecutter fashion. They reflect their homes, communities and cultures. Ourschools need to address the uniqueness of each child, celebrating theirbackgrounds, gifts and contributions, while providing the individualizedinstruction, time and attention each needs to be successful.We have learned that equity does not mean equal in measuring resources.Need should be the measure of our allocations. School board membersmust ask ourselves if we have aligned our resources so that all children,regardless of the learning assets and deficits they bring with them, have aneven chance to meet our standards.All of this requires courageous decision-making on the part of schoolboards. While reducing the achievement gap that exists among ethnic andincome groups was always a moral obligation, it is now the law, too. TheNo Child Left Behind legislation passed by Congress in 2001 holds alldistricts receiving federal dollars accountable for the achievement of studentsin each ethnic group, for children living in poverty, for English languagelearners and for children needing special education assistance.This guide presents some of the best thinking about the difficult and puzzlingwork of improving student achievement. Taken as whole, it gives acomplete picture of what it will take to close the achievement gap.WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL DIRECTORS’ ASSOCIATIONv
My thanks to the members of the Achievement Gap Task Force for theirdiligence and thoughtfulness and passion for the success of all students.Thanks are also due to the WSSDA Board of Directors for forming andsupporting the Task Force, to the WSSDA Diversity-Multicultural AdvocacyTeam (D-MAT) for its advocacy of this project, to the WSSDA staffwho supported the Task Force, and to Debora Boeck, our skilled consultant.Best wishes to you all in this challenging and critically important workahead of us.CONNIE FLETCHERPresident, Washington State School Directors’ AssociationChair, WSSDA Ad Hoc Achievement Gap Task ForceviCLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP: A POLICY ACTION GUIDE
Page 4: Table of ContentsForeword .........
Page 9 and 10: Assess the achievement gap problem.
Page 12 and 13: Overview of the PolicyAction GuideT
Page 14 and 15: Understanding theAchievement GapWSS
Page 16 and 17: Data also show a clear pattern of a
Page 18 and 19: cient (LEP) students were dispropor
Page 20 and 21: All Students Can Learn:Evidence Tha
Page 22: The two building graphs are from Wa
Page 25 and 26: Allocation and Alignment of Fiscal
Page 27 and 28: What School Districts Are DoingIn t
Page 29 and 30: The No Child Left Behind Act (www.n
Page 31 and 32: What School Districts Are DoingThe
Page 33 and 34: Questions to Guide the Discussion1.
Page 35 and 36: economically disadvantaged families
Page 37 and 38: “We need to look inside ourdistri
Page 39 and 40: 5. To what degree have new ways to
Page 41 and 42: “Closing the achievementgap requi
Page 43 and 44: “Where there are differentlevels
Page 45 and 46: What School Districts Are DoingKenn
Page 47 and 48: 5. To what degree are parents and c
Page 49 and 50: the classroom, grade level, school
Page 51 and 52: technology and professional develop
Page 53 and 54: tion, learning environments, progra
Page 55 and 56:
Statewide 6th Grade ITBS Results: 2
Page 57 and 58:
Train teachers to meet the demands
Page 60 and 61:
ReferencesBrumbaugh, S. (1997). “
Page 62:
Waymack N. & Drury, D. (Summer/Fall
Page 65 and 66:
Gary Wilson Principal and Linda Hah
Page 67:
Notes
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