Entry 7: Bay Area Schools Research

Essentially, the book and the data I unearthed correlate with each other in terms of the relationship between under-funding and the racial demographic/socioeconomic gap between poorly performing schools and the schools with higher test scores. Each school's funding is supposedly determined by a placement on the tier system, which is based largely by data such as is provided below.

The book lays all of this complicated material out and applies it visually through his experiences in the field, providing a much clearer understanding of where exactly the money is going and why.

CLASSIFICATION VIA TIER SYSTEM:

Tier I: Elementary, Middle, or High Schools that are in Program Improvement (PI) in the ’09-’10 school year. Has a Local Educational Agency (LEA)-approved plan and are expected to receive Title I funding in ’09-’10. Identified as lowest-achieving 5% of all Tier I schools and are under the High School graduation rate.

Tier II: Middle or High Schools that are eligible for Title I funds based on demographic characteristics (poverty). Not anticipated to receive Title I Part A apportionment in the ’09-’10 consolidated application…Identified as meeting criteria for tier I, but not as part of the 5% lowest achieving.

Tier III: Elementary, Middle, or High Schools that were in PI, includes schools from Tier I and II. Expected to receive Title I, Part A apportionment, but did not receive. Schools show 5-year academic growth less than 50 points, and had 3-year Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) score less than or equal to the highest 3-year average AYP score by school type for schools on Tier II list.

SELECTED SCHOOL SNAPSHOTS

Hillside Elementary, San Lorenzo: TIER I.

School Type: Elementary School

Grade Span: K-5

Student Enrollment: 499

Free/Reduced School Lunch: 86.0%

Socioeconomic Disadvantaged: 92.1%

English Language Learners: 53.3%

Students with Disabilities: 8.8%

Census Characterization: Suburb, Large Territory

Ethnic Breakdown:

American Indian/Alaskan Native:      0.4%

Asian:  3.4%

Pacific Islander:          2.4%

Filipino:           2.8%

Hispanic/Latino:          61.5%

African American:      22.6%

White: 3.2%

Multiple Races:           3.4%

Performance Breakdown:

African American:

85 enrolled, 85 tested. Number of valid scores: 80.

Language Arts: 12 (15%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 15 (18.8%) meet proficiency

Filipino:

11 enrolled, 11 tested. Number of valid scores: 8. 

Language Arts: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency

Hispanic:

186 enrolled, 186 tested. Number of valid scores: 178.

Language Arts: 41 (23%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 72 (40.4%) meet proficiency

White:

10 enrolled, 10 tested. Number of valid scores: 9.

Language Arts: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency.

Socioeconomic Disadvantaged:

293 enrolled, 293 tested. Number of valid scores: 287.

Language Arts: 62 (21.6%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 102 (35.5%) meet proficiency.

Hogan High School, Vallejo: TIER II.

School Type: Middle School

Grade Span: 6-10

Student Enrollment: 1,061

Free/Reduced School Lunch: 58.6%

Socioeconomic Disadvantaged: 66.3%

English Language Learners: 5.5%

Students with Disabilities: 9.4%

Census Characterization: City, Mid-size Territory

Ethnic Breakdown:

American Indian/Alaskan Native:      0.5%

Asian:  4.1%

Pacific Islander:          2.0%

Filipino:           22.9%

Hispanic/Latino:          23.9%

African American:      32.5%

White: 11.0%

Multiple Races:           2.7%

Performance Breakdown:

African American:

327 enrolled, 327 tested. Number of valid scores: 307.

Language Arts: 86 (28%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 50 (16.3%) meet proficiency

Filipino:

240 enrolled, 240 tested. Number of valid scores: 234. 

Language Arts: 159 (67.9%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 122 (52.6%) meet proficiency

Hispanic:

239 enrolled, 238 tested. Number of valid scores: 226.

Language Arts: 84 (37.2%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 59 (26.2%) meet proficiency

White:

108 enrolled, 108 tested. Number of valid scores: 102.

Language Arts: 46 (45.1%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 37 (37%) meet proficiency.

Socioeconomic Disadvantaged:

672 enrolled, 671 tested. Number of valid scores: 638.

Language Arts: 239 (37.5%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 169 (26.7%) meet proficiency.

Glassbrook Elementary, Hayward: TIER III.

School Type: Elementary School

Grade Span: K-6

Student Enrollment: 575

Free/Reduced School Lunch: 88.8%

Socioeconomic Disadvantaged: 92.0%

English Language Learners: 65.7%

Students with Disabilities: 9.9%

Census Characterization: City, Mid-size Territory

Ethnic Breakdown:

Asian:  3.3%

Pacific Islander:          3.3%

Filipino:           1.4%

Hispanic/Latino:          82.4%

African American:      8.0%

White: 1.6%

Performance Breakdown:

African American:

21 enrolled, 21 tested. Number of valid scores: 19.

Language Arts: 4 (21.1%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 2 (10.5%) meet proficiency

Filipino:

9 enrolled, 9 tested. Number of valid scores: 9. 

Language Arts: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency

Hispanic:

269 enrolled, 268 tested. Number of valid scores: 250.

Language Arts: 58 (23.2%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 72 (28.7%) meet proficiency

White:

5 enrolled, 5 tested. Number of valid scores: 5.

Language Arts: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 0 (0.0%) meet proficiency.

Socioeconomic Disadvantaged:

292 enrolled, 291 tested. Number of valid scores: 284.

Language Arts: 67 (23.6%) meet proficiency.

Mathematics: 77 (27%) meet proficiency.

Entry 6

In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson’s Logan’s Run, the authors guide us through dystopian societies, each with their own particular allegories in illustrating the downfall of the human character. While these books were all written in the 20^th century, it is almost chilling how accurately the prolific authors depicted the future of their not-so-fictitious tales. Each book provides tremendous breadth in their respective attempts to encapsulate the issues they saw in the world. Thus, the application of any of these texts is a ready adhesive to any of the relevant and glaring injustices faced by members of society today. Namely, in the arena of public education, the massive loss of identity foretold by Huxley, the destruction of knowledge foreseen by Bradbury, and the rise of classism forecast by Nolan and Johnson are attributed to the impressive twelve-story shadow cast by big business. The subsequent subordination, ignorance, and group-thinking correlate directly with the invisible hand decked in red, white, and blue; the fingers capitalism may be seen dipping into the pool filled with the blank canvases of the young, impressionable, and uneducated.

      In the age of No Child Left Behind, schools saw many faces stream through their halls, but learned little about the curiosity or confusion in their eyes. The immense and sudden loss of identity may be exemplified in the general absence of art and music programs due to cut funding, as well as the installation of mind-numbing and endless standardized testing.

      The implementation of standardized testing left educators with no other option than to starve their lesson plans to skeletal remains, leaving students desperately sucking the precious marrow where they could. This profound loss of knowledge has led to an extreme ignorance that has become a frightening epidemic. Asked who the vice president of the country is, or where Germany is on a map, or who Charles Dickens was, many students past and present respond with a blank stare, then panic, then a string of guesses that quickly turn to defensive dismissals.

      It is true that all businesses must fill positions at the bottom of their pyramids, but it is racist, classist, and truly deplorable for one (or many) to assume responsibility of predetermining on whose backs the business will remain aloft. Nevertheless, time has shown again and again that the corporate goliaths cannot keep their hands out of the proverbial cookie jar, and so we see the end result in millions of individuals with a severe lack of comprehensive knowledge and critical thinking skills, even post-graduation.