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.