Report Details Racial Inequity in School Achievement

By Linda Borg

Providence’s new school superintendent calls the critical review by a consultant a call to action.

PROVIDENCE — Minority students in certain grades will never catch up academically with their white peers unless the district dramatically changes the way it teaches reading and math, according to an independent evaluation performed by a national education association.

After examining reading scores, the consultants, Phi Delta Kappa International (PDK), concluded that the following groups would never reach parity with white students: black students in grades 6 and 7; Asian students in grades 3, 4 and 6; and Hispanic students in grades 6 and 7.

The group also said:

– It would take between 10 and 12 years for black students in Grade 3 and Hispanic students in Grades 4 and 5 to reach parity with their white peers.

– In each of the six grades tested by the state, black students, Asians and Hispanic students were not improving at sufficient rates to meet the proficiency target set by the federal No Child Left Behind act. The act says that all students must be 100 percent proficient in core subjects such as reading and math by 2014.

A similar goal holds true for math scores. The years required for 100 percent of the system’s students to reach proficiency range from approximately 8 years for white students in Grade 3 to 152 years for Hispanic students in Grade 4.

“While there were some modest gains on the New England Common Assessment Placement, in most cases, they were insufficient to close the achievement gaps and some gaps may never be closed,” the consultants wrote. “Auditors found no substantial trends in student achievement beyond consistently low levels of proficiency.”

These findings are part of a 200-page report commissioned by former school Supt. Donnie Evans in December. The entire report was released by Supt. Tom Brady yesterday and will be posted on the district’s Web site, www.providenceschools.org., along with a letter from Brady.

In an interview yesterday, Brady said he was outraged by the findings but heartened that the report spells out exactly what the district must do to improve student performance.

“We asked for it and we knew it wasn’t going to be good,” Brady said. “This is a blueprint for where we are and where we need to be.”

The report offers a damning critique of what is wrong with the school system. The consultants, who interviewed dozens of staff and reviewed hundreds of records this winter, reached the following conclusions:

– The City Council interfered with Evans’ ability to do his job.

“Calls to dismiss the superintendent for the one-time consequences of a snowstorm were an inappropriate attempt to influence the school board,” PDK wrote, “and out of proportion compared to the need to give the superintendent time to correct long- standing problems facing the school system.”

Yesterday, Brady referred to the council’s hostility toward the superintendent as “ancient history,” and said that council members have assured him that he will be allowed to do his job. The council’s unanimous passage of the school budget last week, he said, is clear evidence that the council is willing to cooperate with the district.

– The school system lacks a uniform curriculum and until one is in place, student achievement will continue to languish.

“Everyone who discussed curriculum with the auditors agreed that the school system’s curriculum lacked substance and that there is little capacity at the central office to develop curriculum,” the auditors found. “A staff member showed auditors a list of approximately 200 high school courses that were developed without central office coordination. Under these conditions … it should come as no surprise that students are not achieving proficiency.”

The consultants, however, did find that the elementary curriculum is adequate.

Sharon Contreras, the district’s chief academic officer, said her office has already asked the University of Texas to help the department develop math and science curricula during the upcoming school year. Several high-performing school districts have offered to help the department rethink its curriculum and a number of teachers and staff will be assigned to work on this effort full- time.

Contreras said, “We’re deeply committed to engaging the teachers.”

The goal is to have new math and science curricula by June 2009 and literacy and social studies curricula by June 2010.

– The school system doesn’t have enough central office staff to develop a system-wide curriculum or to evaluate how well it is taught. No job descriptions are available for 43 percent of the positions listed on the School Department’s organizational chart.

Teachers are omitted from the table of organization, which the consultants called significant because teachers are the “frontline employees through which the system’s mission is accomplished.”

Essential positions were not filled, including supervisors in guidance and counseling, science and math. The math and guidance positions have been filled, and the department is getting ready to post the math job.

Brady promised that the human-resources department will be transformed in a year and said that John Short, a retired administrator, is serving as the chief operating officer on an interim basis.

– Turnover among superintendents, principals and central office staff has deprived the district of the stability it needs to improve student achievement. Principal turnover has increased since 2000 and more than half of the 20 principals reviewed by PDK have less than two years in their current schools.

Brady said the turnover rate is not alarming, adding that he wants to analyze why administrators are leaving before he jumps to any conclusions.

– Teacher evaluations lack depth and rigor and offer little or no recommendations for improvement, despite chronically low student performance. A similar criticism was made about principal evaluations. In several reports from the same evaluator, approximately half of the evaluations were identical. One report identified the principal as male and female in the same sentence.

Although Brady said teacher evaluations must be negotiated, he said that he wants a clear review process with mid-year and final year evaluations.

– Minority students are over-represented in special education and other remedial programs and underrepresented in advanced academic programs. School assignments are perceived as unfair and as not serving the best interests of the students. The staff is nowhere near as diverse as the student body.

– Staff, in many cases, don’t know how to use data to improve classroom instruction. Principals and teachers have limited access to data and limited time and knowledge to use it.

Contreras said that situation is about to change. The department has developed a “data dashboard” that will give teachers immediate access to three years of student information, from test scores to student attendance.

The consultants did find positive things to say about the district. The audit team said the department has managed the district’s resources “in the face of a looming fiscal crisis.”

PDK also found that the proposed $800-million facilities master plan addresses the district’s needs but is not adequately financed. Maintenance, however, has been sorely neglected, and the report includes photographs of leaks, deteriorating bathrooms and damaged stairs and floors.

Despite the parade of criticism, Brady hailed the report as a call to action and said he is committed to addressing the findings. lborg@projo.com / (401) 277-7823

Originally published by Linda Borg, Journal Staff Writer.

(c) 2008 Providence Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.