What American eighth graders can do
Today, the first in a series of explorations of the state of standards in American education.
The best national perspective on what American students can and can't do these days comes from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test administered by the National Assessment Governing Board. Sometimes called "the nation's report card," NAEP offers a treasure trove of insight into the academic performance of American students.
I spent the better part of an hour exploring sample eight grade mathematics questions released by the NAEP folks available at NAEP Questions Search Tool. The three questions I share with you below were used on either the 2003 or 2005 administration of the test, and were given to both public and private school students.
Let's start with a question that two thirds of American eighth graders got right:
What is 4 hundredths written in decimal notation?
A) 0.004
B) 0.04
C) 0.400
D) 4.00
E) 400.0
(67% correct, 32% incorrect, 1% omitted)
Now, let's take a look at a question that about half of American eighth graders answered correctly:
Fifteen boxes each containing 8 radios can be repacked in 10 larger boxes containing how many radios?
A) 8
B) 10
C) 12
D) 80
E) 120
(47% correct, 52% incorrect, 1% omitted)
And finally, the most difficult question of our batch, one that only a quarter of American eighth graders answered successfully:
One store, Price Pleasers, reduces the price each week of a $100 stereo by 10 percent of the original price. Another store, Bargains Plus, reduces the price each week of the same $100 stereo by 10 percent of the previous week's price.
After 2 weeks, how will the prices at the two stores compare?
A) The price will be cheaper at Price Pleasers.
B) The price will be the same at both stores.
C) The price will be cheaper at Bargains Plus.
Explain your reasoning.
(25% correct, 72% incorrect and 4% omitted)
So there you have it: a decidedly non-scientific glimpse into what American eighth graders can and can't do. For more perspective, spend some time with the NAEP Questions Search Tool and check back here in a few days for more thoughts.
posted by Bill Jackson @ 6:58 AM
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Educational Leadership for Improved School-Community Relations
Steven Norfleet
PhD Student in Educational Leadership
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View, Texas
Teacher
Fort Bend Independent School District
Houston, Texas
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
Professor and Faculty Mentor
PhD Program in Educational Leadership
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Member of the Texas A&M University System
Visiting Lecturer (2005)
Oxford Round Table
University of Oxford, Oxford, England
Distinguished Alumnus (2004)
College of Education and Professional Studies
Central Washington University
ABSTRACT
The authors use a recent meeting of school district officials, parents, business, and community leaders as a basis to reflect on strategies that aspiring school leaders may want to consider as possible solutions to a key component of school-community relations. Building school relationships with stakeholders must include trust. The authors suggest improving marketing techniques as a way of securing trust.
Introduction
At a recent community forum of school district administrators and parents in a suburban school district, officials found themselves in a state of siege. The hope was that the three-fold rezoning proposal would be accepted by parents to establish new boundaries for three high schools to address overcrowding issues, assignment of several elementary schools as K-6 rather than K-5, and the creation of a sixth grade gifted and talented academy. Instead, barely a few minutes into the presentation by district administrators, parents were ferociously shouting their discontent with all aspects of the proposal. Clearly parents were upset because district leaders were not acting in the best interest of all students in the district and indeed their own children. After all, 5th graders were looking forward to going to middle school, some students were facing rezoning for the third time in three years, some subdivisions were being split in half, and the new concept of a sixth grade gifted and talented academy was not only welcomed in one community but had been asked for several times over several years. As an aspiring leader, Norfleet’s thoughts focused on how this many faceted problems could be resolved by school officials. With the ultimate goal of improved student achievement for all students, the leader of any school district must continuously balance the needs of students and the needs of parents by gaining input from the majority of the community.
Purpose of the Article
The purpose of this article is to reflect on leadership strategies that may be used to improve trust, a vital part of school-community relations. School administrators must continue to build trust by demonstrating to parents, students, and the community that we care about our students and believe that all students can learn.
Program for Building Better School-Community Relations
It has been reported according to the American Association of School Administrators’ “Professional Standards for the Superintendency”, that “top-down bureaucratic management is being replaced by bottom-up executive leadership that encourages shared decision making among school staff, community, business, and other stakeholders” (1993, p. 1). Superintendents must be skilled collaborators who can rally all available resources to support better education for all children living in our multicultural society. Under Standard 3, Communications and Community Relations (AASA,1993),
the superintendent is required to articulate district purposes and priorities to the community and mass media; request and respond to community feedback; demonstrate consensus building and conflict mediation; identify, track and deal with issues; formulate and carry out plans for internal/external communication; exhibit understanding
of school districts as political systems by applying communications skills to strengthen community support; align constituents in support of district priorities; build coalitions to gain financial and programmatic support; formulate democratic strategies for referenda; and relate political initiatives to the welfare of children. (p. 7)
A good relationship with the community takes time to build up. There inevitably will be rough spots over volatile change issues such as rezoning in the span of a superintendent. As educational leaders, we must meet the needs of the community. That is, the more schools work to know their communities, the more trusting people will become. It is difficult to create relationships with parents and other stakeholders in a very large suburban school district and get consensus on every issue according to Jack and Suzy Welch (2005). They suggest that leaders should constantly build candor within the organization as a first step to winning with everybody. Much of the school-community relation’s issues in this case on zoning were about trust. Certainly in this example, the public bears some responsibility for the lack of engagement with public schools by not being involved until there were important decisions to be made by the school leaders. On the other hand, school leaders must realize that there must be more of an effort to reach out to constituents in order to encourage engagement. Efforts to reach out means not only more attempts to hear what the community has to say, but also to improve public relations so that parents know the good things that are happening in the schools and the district, and involving them much earlier in the process on important issues.
Building Positive School-Community Relations
In an article written for the American Association of School Administrators, Don Hooper (2004) stresses that effective school-community relations are more vital to our educational systems than ever before, given the climate of public scrutiny that surrounds public education today. Smart school leaders know that good relationships with their communities do not happen by accident nor are they guaranteed. It takes strategic planning and sustained efforts to succeed. Hooper further suggests that as a school leader, one should periodically ask oneself the following questions to ensure that the pulse of parents and the community is being checked often in building and reinforcing positive school-community relations:
• Who are the community stakeholders?
• Who is connected to our schools and/or who needs to be?
• How are we communicating with them?
• Are we using effective methods to interact with our stakeholders to provide them with important and useful information and to gain their feedback?
• What do they know and think about our schools?
• Are we giving them the information they want and need to fully understand our educational programs?
There are many ways to answer these questions. Hooper says that how you do it is not as important as being sure to do it. To address the first two questions in a school district in which he was superintendent, a communications matrix was developed for the
district, which served as a quick-and-easy reference tool for identifying all of the public’s methods used to communicate with them.
To create the matrix, the communications department of the school district assembled a team of district representatives from instruction and various support services.
The groups were asked to identify its customers and list all of the ways they communicate with them. With that input, a matrix listing all stakeholder groups across the top and all methods of communication down the left-hand side was created. With this new tool, everyone quickly recognized the additional groups they might need to reach and the alternative means to do so. Further, Hooper’s school district also identified areas of strength and areas needing improvement in the organization’s communication system.
According to Hooper (2004), the answer to the third set of questions is not as easy. Depending on whom you ask, you get a variety of responses as to what people know or need to know about their schools. Nevertheless, the best way to find out what people know and want to know is to ask them directly, and then listen to what they have to say. Hooper says that surveying your customers is one of the most effective ways to collect useful information. Data one receives from surveying can provide many answers to important questions, such as "what do stakeholders know and think about their schools”, "what do they want to know more about", and "what do they think needs improving?”
Surveys do not have to be complicated to be effective, but you should seek a professional's help in constructing an appropriate instrument to address your needs. The survey can be put on the district’s web page and gain ongoing feedback at a greatly reduced cost. The feedback received will be valuable in planning and improvement efforts. Asking people what they think is an important relationship builder, and building better school-community relationships is vital to the success of all schools and to the organization’s leaders. After all, public support for public education is vital to every child so that every child will have the opportunity in life that only an excellent educational system can provide.
Strategies for Building Better School-Community Relations
Many school leaders realize that the “decide-and-defend” approach to school district policymaking is a thing of the past because it inflames the issue more. They know that making major decisions without involving parents and other community members can create controversy and threaten funding support. Matt Leighninger (2003) offers a more participatory strategy for school leaders for building better school-community relations. The strategy avoids open conflicts, obtains useful input on major decisions, and
builds support for implementing those decisions. To accomplish this effectively, Leighninger notes that some superintendents are borrowing principles and strategies from successful public engagement efforts in other fields, such as race relations and crime prevention. One of the most successful tactics that superintendents are using is the implementation of small groups to divide and conquer important issues. By using small groups instead of large public hearings, people can share their personal discussions and
experiences, analyze policy options, and decide how the schools, the parents, and other community organizations can all play a role in improving education for young people.
In a recent interview with a large school district school-community relations department coordinator, another organizational structural issue was presented for improving relations with stakeholders. It was noted that many school and community relations departments are not staffed in key areas. A typical department consists of a director, an assistant director, and three or four outreach program coordinators. Communications responsibilities for a school district may range anywhere from creating and maintaining the district web page, to weekly newsletters, to working with the media, to business contacts, and to developing and issuing official school statements. The visionary leader understands that one may face situations in their career that forces them to take an issue such as understaffing or strategic staffing to the whole community. Andrews and Baird (1986, p.428) suggests the following persuasion model to win support for such a message:
• Capture attention of the audience;
• Demonstrate the nature of the problem;
• Connect the proposed initiative to solving a problem;
• Give examples of how the initiative will solve the problem; and
• Use appeals and challenges to move the audience to take action by voting
or affirming your position in other ways.
Don Bagin and Donald R. Gallagher (2002) wrote that to gain support for schools, some educational leaders are beginning to adopt marketing techniques to sell the school’s story to the public. It might be necessary to add two key personnel positions to the school-community relations department such as a marketing professional and a graphics design professional. These key professionals can add creativity and other business model strategies like bumper stickers, special events, and meetings for reaching stakeholders to encourage engagement in issues that involve important decisions for students. In terms of the future, school leaders must employ more creative school-community relations techniques than are presently being used.
We believe that the journey of building good leadership skills and using good, creative strategies with the goal of excellence can make the difference. We also believe that the difference must begin with us. John Maxwell (2005) wrote that if you want to win with people, you have to be a winner yourself--- or at the very least be on your way to becoming one. He also writes that to connect with people, one must have good communication skills, a desire to help people grow and change, and a sense of personal
mission. Maxwell (1997) further recommends the following suggestions to connect with people:
• Don’t take people for granted;
• Possess a make a difference mind-set;
• It is not the follower’s responsibility to make contact;
• Look for common ground;
• Recognize and respect differences in personality;
• Find the keys to other’s lives;
• Communicate from the heart;
• Share common experiences; and
• Once connected move forward. (pp. 162-163)
This may mean using the summer months of June through August to set the tone for community forums. It also may mean making better use of resources including newspaper columns, district web pages, the Chamber of Commerce, and speaking opportunities at church congregations. Gary Schomburg (2006) offers a daily strategy for school leaders in building relations that create trust with employees, parents, and the community:
• Seek gaps in the planner to create opportunities for engagement;
• Use school visits to see what’s on the minds of secretaries, teachers,
students, custodians, counselors, and other specialists; and
• In most schools there are parents that are volunteering or picking up their
child. This is an excellent opportunity to make positive contact and let
them see you actively engaged. (pp. 548-549)
Peter Negroni (2000) wrote that the developmental roadmap for a superintendent should include the following strategies for building better relations with stakeholders on a daily basis:
• Be able to articulate goals more effectively to the public and include
information on the motivation behind the goals;
• Learn how to engage people in genuine dialogue; and
• Provide stakeholders with quality alternatives and relieve people’s anxiety
about the future. (pp. 425-432)
Concluding Remarks
In conclusion, the purpose of this article was to explore strategies for educational leaders to improve school-community relations with all stakeholders. Leadership is about relationships. Leaders can improve schools by nurturing trust, having complete candor throughout the organization, improving communications through marketing, adjusting school practices, asking oneself key questions, strengthening the organization by building
leaders, providing parents and other stakeholders with the knowledge they need to make wise decisions, and by fully engaging the broader community. Sometimes this may mean leading from the front, restructuring a department, using creative marketing tools, rezoning several schools, or leading from afar. It is the responsibility of the educational leader to create the conditions for students to thrive and parents and the community to be engaged. Building good skills in school-community relations and being active and creative in doing so will play a positive role in the outcome.
References
American Association of School Administrators (1993). Professional standards
for the superintendency. Retrieved July 12, 2007, from AASA Website: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/15/64/4b.pdf
Andrews, P. & Baird, J., (1986). Communication for business and the professions.
Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Publishers.
Bagin, D. & Gallagher, D. (2002). The superintendent as CEO. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hooper, Don (2001). School community relationships: A vital lifeline. Retrieved July 10, 2007, from American Association of School Administrators Website: www.aasa.org/publications/prescornerdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3518
Leignninger, M. (2003). Working with the public on big issues. Retrieved July 5, 2007, from American Association of School Administrators Website: www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=1708
Maxwell, J. & Dornan, J. (1997). Becoming a person of influence. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Maxwell, J. & Parrott, L. (2005). 25 ways to win with people. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Negroni, P. (2000). The superintendent’s progress: Moving from ’lone ranger’ to lead
learner in an urban school system. In Senge, P., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J. & Kleiner A. (Eds.), Schools that learn (pp.425-432). New York: Doubleday/Currency.
Schomburg, G. (2005). Superintendent in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(7), 548-
549.
Welch, J. & Suzy (2005). Winning. New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, Incorporated.
National FORUM of Applied Educational Research Journal
21 (3) 2008
An Exploratory Phenomenological Study of African American Male Pre-Service Teachers at a Historical Black University in the Mid-South
Lucian Yates, III, Dean
Barry A. Pelphrey, Associate Dean
Patricia A. Smith, Assistant Professor
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Member of the Texas A&M University System
Prairie View, Texas
________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
This exploratory phenomenological study was conducted to ascertain which factors caused African American male pre-service teachers to persist at a HBCU in the Mid-South. The work is grounded in the conceptual framework called resiliency. Resiliency asks the question, “How do children, adolescents, and young people “make it” when they are exposed to or face major stress and adversity? The results of this study point to what are commonly called “protective factors” that exist in the lives of these young men. They are: (1) families/communities, (2) the individual, and (3) the school. To see entire article, go to: www.nationalforum.com
________________________________________________________________________
Concluding Remarks
This study underscored the notion that despite the abject conditions that many African American males face in the country and despite the current conditions and dearth of African American male teachers in America’s schools, colleges or schools of education can create programs and conditions that will improve the number of African American males in the teaching profession. This article showcases the work done by a program called Protégés and Provocateurs at a small HBCU in the mid-south. Replication of this model and further research is suggested to triangulate and institutionalize these results.
Formatted by Dr. Mary Alice Kritsonis, National Research and Manuscript Preparation Editor, National FORUM Journals, Houston, Texas. www.nationalforum.com
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
Professor
PhD Program in Educational Leadership
PVAMU – Texas A&M University System
The Adolescent’s Perception of Failure
The following talk was delivered by William Allan Kritsonis during the summer of 1971 at Seattle Pacific University. At the time, Kritsonis was completing the master's degree in education and the talk was given before a live audience of graduate students and professors, thus satisfying one of the special requirements needed for the degree. The talk influenced many people deeply and forced them to re-evaluate their own attitudes about success and failure.
The Adolescent’s Perception of Failure
Upwards of a thousand students commit suicide every year. They had their whole lives ahead of them, and somehow, they lost hope. No one cared, they thought; life was not worth living. They asked themselves: Is that all there is?
Suicide is certainly the ultimate self-punishment for having failed. Life was no longer worth the struggle, the effort, the will.
I would like to take a look with you at the concept of failure-at how adolescents in high school and college see it-and what we, as parents and teachers, have taught them about it.
We have all had a part in it, and we have all had to come to grips with it and to decide what failure actually means to each of us individually.
Success is important in our society, more important, surely, that the desire to live sanely and to enjoy the good things of life which one has worked for. Success for its own sake is valued-valued, and I believed at any cost, and the road to success rationalized in the name of the great American competitive way, at the expense of honest and, perhaps, sanity.
The “F” for failure has become so feared that we in education have revamped our marking system in preference for U's and E's without revamping our attitudes -attitudes of those who should know.
We are apt to be very objective when we look at our students-and we give
them what they deserve and in doing so, feel very smug. We have given out the material, we have given the examinations and now it follows, as night follows day, that we give out the marks. Yet, we forget that there is much more that a teacher gives to his or students, willingly or unwillingly. A teacher gives an example of how to look at life and at people. And if failure is viewed as the worst fate, if it is something that is given the connotation of shame, unworthiness, and hopelessness, then indeed, we have taught much more than English or history or mathematics.
Adolescence marks the trying period of search which may have the significant effects on subsequent personality structure, on later adjustments in the years that lie ahead. Probably, what brings the greatest amount of equalizing balance to the period of adolescence is the presence of significant people in the adolescent's life. Since people become so very important to him, it is the importance of some people who have that ingredient of compassion who can help the adolescent come through this unfolding, transitional period into the fullness of adult life.
The world is full of people who are fearful that they will fail at some tasks or goal and who usually manage to avoid trying for what they want because they construe failure as the worst of all possible crimes.
In a study, it was found that competitive situations around two major motives: either to achieve success... or to avoid failure. The strivers-for success were found more likely to be middle-of-the-roaders in their aspirations or ambitions, where as the failure-avoider will be either excessively cautious or extravagantly reckless in the things he tries. Because failure is painful, he will choose either extreme rather than take the 50-50 chance.
Feelings of adequacy and success may depend more on self-acceptance than on actual achievement. Regardless of actual test performance, self-accepting students tend to be optimistic, non-anxious, and non-competitive. Self-rejecting ones are anxious and unrealistic in goal-setting.
In another study, the subjects were asked to rate themselves on a list of traits as they thought they were, as they hoped they were, as they feared they were, and as they thought others regarded them. The group had first been classified as stable and unstable on the basis of a personality inventory. The stable group rated themselves higher and there was less discrepancy between their self-ratings and the way they thought others would rate them. They were also better liked, better adjusted socially, less situation dominated, and showed less defensive behavior.
Approximately half of those who enter college drop out. Many are in the highest levels of ability. When students drop out, it usually is understood that they have failed. At the college level, a great deal of attention has been given to the question: “What can we learn about those who have failed in the past that will enable us to reject similar persons who might apply for admission in the future?” Little consideration is given to the question: “What might the institution do to prevent failure, to help remedy shortcomings within the college and with the individual student, which produce failure?”
Reasons for coming to college are always multiple. Stress is usually placed on one or another of these:
- to get a better paying job
- status of a degree
- social life-all my friends are going
- avoid work
- get married
- because of parents
Many are disillusioned with what is expected of them. Many find that it's the same old things as high school-all these things which aren't practical. Others who were eager to learn find that it is not the kind of challenge they had expected.
Many entering students are sorry about the time they wasted in high school. They didn't try hard enough; they didn't apply themselves; they were more interested in athletics, social life, or other things. If we go back a bit, we find that there were many things that they were concerned about during those days-some things which were, indeed, are more important to them at the time than geometry or American history, an which sometimes were far more necessary and pressing in order that they might grow up. But, those who observe the adolescent in high school are very often unaware of what he is facing and are not able to understand why he can't buckle down. What they can't understand is that the reason is...that there are many things the adolescent is trying to accomplish and school work often provides him with no stimulation, no incentive for interest or involvement. School is just a bore! And teachers are a bore! And adults, in general, are a bore! Adults are forever talking, but what they say often doesn't seem to mean anything.
A new interest can be sparked in school when there is a teacher who does mean something. But it takes more than one teacher to make a school program relevant. When competition and success are the significant ingredients of a program, then we are apt to be creating egocentric (or self-centered) intellectuals who gloat over their achievements as they look down on those who have successfully developed feelings of worthlessness because-they have lost and lost and lost, and fear that they will probably never win-and only those who win are important.
Our task ought to be to help the adolescent to see that failure is neither good nor bad. It is, however, and inevitable fact of reality. The way we use it in our lives will determine, ultimately, its goodness or badness for us.
Each of us must learn to live with certain limitations in ability. It is only when an individual falls consistently below the norm areas that seem important to him that inferior ability constitutes a serious limitation.
From studies of both high and underachievers in high school, the pattern of the relationship between self-concept and achievement becomes clearer. There is a relationship between positive self-concept and high achievement, negative self-concept and under-achievement. The research does not indicate which is cause or effect. Chances are we can see a circular pattern beginning earlier with perception or experiences. Every experience contributes to the adolescent's evolving picture of himself, which, in turn, becomes a guide to future action.
Parental pressure for success seems to arise naturally out of a parent's desire that this child must have the best that the world has to offer, yet...in the same breath, it may be that many of them see the failure which their son or daughter may face as a failure for themselves. Many parents want their children to be a credit to them, forgetting that if a child is a credit to itself, the other will follow naturally.
Likewise, it is not important to be better than the next guy so much as it is to try to do our best. We should be our own chief and best competition. We cannot always achieve our goal, but we ought to find satisfaction in knowing we did the best we could. Too often, we are teaching the idea of striving for success in high school, in college, in athletics, in all the aspects of living, for the wrong reasons. Let's change our own attitude about success and failure.
A Thought in Words
Chance favors those in motion. Zen
Dr. William Allan Kritsonis Inducted into the William H. Parker Leadership Academy Hall of Honor
Remarks by Angela Stevens McNeil
July 26th 2008
Good Morning. My name is Angela Stevens McNeil and I have the privilege of introducing the next Hall of Honor Inductee, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis. Dr. Kritsonis was chosen because of his dedication to the educational advancement of Prairie View A&M University students. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in 1969 from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. In 1971, he earned his Master’s in Education from Seattle Pacific University. In 1976, he earned his PhD from the University of Iowa.
Dr. Kritsonis has served and blessed the field of education as a teacher, principal, superintendent of schools, director of student teaching and field experiences, invited guest professor, author, consultant, editor-in-chief, and publisher. He has also earned tenure as a professor at the highest academic rank at two major universities.
In 2005, Dr. Kritsonis was an Invited Visiting Lecturer at the Oxford Round Table at Oriel College in the University of Oxford, Oxford, England. His lecture was entitled the Ways of Knowing through the Realms of Meaning.
In 2004, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis was recognized as the Central Washington University Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Education and Professional Studies.
Dr. William Kritsonis is a well respected author of more than 500 articles in professional journals and several books. In 1983, Dr. Kritsonis founded the NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS. These publications represent a group of highly respected scholarly academic periodicals. In 2004, he established the DOCTORAL FORUM – National Journal for Publishing and Mentoring Doctoral Student Research. The DOCTORAL FORUM is the only refereed journal in America committed to publishing doctoral students while they are enrolled in course work in their doctoral programs. Over 300 articles have been published by doctorate and master’s degree students and most are indexed in ERIC.
Currently, Dr. Kritsonis is a Professor in the PhD Program in Educational Leadership here at Prairie View A&M University.
Dr. William Kritsonis has dedicated himself to the advancement of educational leadership and to the education of students at all levels. It is my honor to bring him to the stage at this time as a William H. Parker Leadership Academy Hall of Honor Inductee.
National Agenda: Who Fails? Who Doesn’t? Perceptions Held by Teachers Comparing Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Scores of Lower Socioeconomic Students Versus Higher Socioeconomic Students in Texas Public Schools
Jessica L. Watley
M.A. Student in Educational Leadership
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View, Texas
English Teacher
Katy Independent School District
Katy, Texas
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
Professor and Faculty Mentor
PhD Program in Educational Leadership
Hall of Honor (2008)
William H. Parker Leadership Academy
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Member of the Texas A&M University System
Prairie View, Texas
Visiting Lecturer (2005)
Oxford Round Table
University of Oxford, Oxford, England
Distinguished Alumnus (2004)
College of Education and Professional Studies
Central Washington University
Dr. Louis Reed
Department of Educational Leadership and Instructional Technology
McNeese State University
_______________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
The author looks at critical dialogue surrounding the cause for alarming rates of failing test scores of lower socioeconomic students versus higher socioeconomic students in the subject area of Reading on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test in Texas public schools. See: www.nationalforum.com
Authors note: thanks to Dr. Kimberly Grantham Griffith for her assistance in getting this article published.
________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Over the years many parents, teachers, as well as community leaders have embarked on the troubling realization that many students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are not dealt an even playing hand when it comes to the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Test. An area of concern would be the Reading portion of this standardized test. In the past, it has been perceived that students from poverty stricken areas are more likely to perform at a much lower rate than their higher socio-economic counterparts.
Purpose of Article
The purpose of this article is to explore perceptions held by teachers comparing Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores in the subject area of Reading from lower socio-economic students versus higher socio-economic students in Texas public schools.
What’s the Problem?
In 2001, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act that insured that all students would have equal opportunities for learning (Swanson, 2003). The scale to measure this learning would be measured as a comprehensive score of what all students should know at the end of each school year. Research has provided information that states that all children do not share the same life experiences and does this standardize test take that into account.
Most often professionals indicate the TAKS test is bias in such a way that it caters to those whom can afford financially life experiences that most cannot. The topic of concern to most would be, “Is it fair to provide the exact same test to those who are financially challenged versus those who are not?” These are concerns that parents, teachers and community leaders deal with on a daily basis.
Testing, Behind the Scenes
Each school year principals, teachers and parents come together to devise a plan for all students to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) exam. Each year pressure is added to principals from the district, to teachers from the principals, and finally to parents to have their child equipped to perform well on this cumulative standardized test. Teachers are bombarded with objectives and TEKS from year to year in preparation of this assessment.
Teachers face the task of educating hundreds of students that are not only from different ethnic backgrounds, but different social and economic backgrounds as well. Many times, students from higher socio-economic backgrounds have engaged in lifestyles that has advanced them in ways that students that are from a lower socio-economic backgrounds have not. Having the benefit of experiencing different aspects of culture has proven to be helpful with different concepts and objectives related to the TAKS test.
Raising the Achievement of Low-Socioeconomic Students: What Students Can Do Reading
For additional help in the area of Reading students may take opportunities to seek and use information from manuals, journals, periodicals and other documents that will assist in becoming more knowledgeable in areas that there is no experience. Such as travel, art, and foreign language. Students may use information from several sources to make interpretations and draw conclusions, identify and solve stated problems, recognize limitations in available information (Haney, Maduas, Abrahams, Wheelock, Miao, & Gruia, 2004).
Concluding Remarks
In conclusion, the performance of lower socioeconomic student’s performance versus higher socioeconomic students should be a concern to everyone. Research shows a relationship between lower socioeconomic student’s test scores compared to their higher socioeconomic counterparts. The initiation of No child Left Behind has hindered many students across the nation, but the result is that the students that are hurt the most have so little to begin with.
References
Swanson, C.B. (2004). “Projections of 2003–04 high school graduates: Supplemental analyses” based on findings from Who graduates? Who doesn't? Washington, DC: The Urban Institute. Retrieved from, http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=4110
Haney, W., Maduas, G., Abrams, L., Wheelock, A., Miao, J., & Gruia, I. (2004). The education pipeline in the United States, 1970–2000. Boston: Boston College, The National Board on Educational Testing and Public Policy.
Swanson , C. B.(2003). NCLB implementation report: State approaches for calculating high school graduation rates. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute. Retrieved from, http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=410848
See: www.nationalforum.com
About Dr. William Allan Kritsonis
Remarks by Jennifer Butcher
August 22nd 2008
I have the privilege of introducing Dr. William Allan Kritsonis. Dr. Kritsonis earned a Bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. He earned his Master’s in Education from Seattle Pacific University and his PhD from the University of Iowa. He also was a Visiting Scholar at both Columbia University in New York, and Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
Dr. Kritsonis has served education as a teacher, principal, and superintendent of schools. He has earned tenure as a professor at the highest academic rank at two major universities. He was also a professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
In 2004, Dr. Kritsonis was recognized as the Central Washington University Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Education and Professional Studies.
In 2005, Dr. Kritsonis was an Invited Visiting Lecturer at the Oxford Round Table in the University of Oxford, Oxford, England.
Dr. Kritsonis is a well respected author of more than 500 articles in professional journals and several books. In 1983, Dr. Kritsonis founded the NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS. These publications represent a group of highly respected academic journals in education.
Currently, Dr. Kritsonis is a Professor in the PhD Program in Educational Leadership here at Prairie View A&M University. At PV he has helped graduate students publish over 400 articles in professional journals and most are indexed in ERIC.
Dr. Kritsonis has dedicated himself to the advancement of educational leadership and to the education of students at all levels.
On July 26th this summer, Dr. Kritsonis was inducted into the William H. Parker Hall of Honor. He was nominated by doctoral and master’s degree students at Prairie View. It is my pleasure to welcome Dr. William Allan Kritsonis.
About Dr. William Allan Kritsonis
Remarks by Jennifer Butcher
August 22nd 2009
I have the privilege of introducing Dr. William Allan Kritsonis. Dr. Kritsonis earned a Bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. He earned his Master’s in Education from Seattle Pacific University and his PhD from the University of Iowa. He also was a Visiting Scholar at both Columbia University in New York, and Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
Dr. Kritsonis has served education as a teacher, principal, and superintendent of schools. He has earned tenure as a professor at the highest academic rank at two major universities. He was also a professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
In 2004, Dr. Kritsonis was recognized as the Central Washington University Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Education and Professional Studies.
In 2005, Dr. Kritsonis was an Invited Visiting Lecturer at the Oxford Round Table in the University of Oxford, Oxford, England.
Dr. Kritsonis is a well respected author of more than 500 articles in professional journals and several books. In 1983, Dr. Kritsonis founded the NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS. These publications represent a group of highly respected academic journals in education.
Currently, Dr. Kritsonis is a Professor in the PhD Program in Educational Leadership here at Prairie View A&M University. At PV he has helped graduate students publish over 400 articles in professional journals and most are indexed in ERIC.
Dr. Kritsonis has dedicated himself to the advancement of educational leadership and to the education of students at all levels.
On July 26th this summer, Dr. Kritsonis was inducted into the William H. Parker Hall of Honor. He was nominated by doctoral and master’s degree students at Prairie View. It is my pleasure to welcome Dr. William Allan Kritsonis.
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