A STATUS REPORT ON THE NYACK SCHOOL DISTRICT’S DATA CONCERNING THE MINORITY ACHIEVEMENT GAP

Presented by the Education Committee of the Nyack Branch of the NAACP and Nyack PIE

December, 1999

 

In order to move forward on the issue of the minority achievement gap in the Nyack Public Schools, it is obviously necessary to know what the achievement gap is and where it occurs.

Across the nation, other districts are approaching this problem in an open, honest, and aggressive manner. Recent reports include Narrowing the Achievement Gap issued by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Leave No Child Behind prepared by the Chicago Board of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education, and Montgomery County, Maryland’s Our Call To Action: Raising The Bar and Closing the Gap Because All Children Matter.

These districts use their data to 1) define the problem, 2) set bench-marks for accomplishment, and 3) involve teachers and the public in measuring progress towards specific goals. To quote from the urgent language of these reports, the public school systems can "Tolerate no more business as usual," must "Do it now!" and need "To declare war on the test score gap."

Last February, the NAACP/PIE report tried to begin this important process by identifying Nyack’s minority achievement gap, using the data then available. The district’s response has included hiring outside consultants, approving a task force to look into this issue, and -- an historic first -- the public release of data outlining the progress of our children of color. All of these, we applaud.

Unfortunately, these initiatives have been hampered by what the district’s own consultant has characterized as the Administration’s "defensive" approach. This is especially true of the release of data, which -- from an initial March 8, 1999 memo through Spotlight On Facts to this November’s Straight Talk -- has been far from complete.

Take for example, the statistics on discipline. The Administration claims that the in-school suspension data which the NAACP has received for more than ten years is not available. The reason given, that this is "no longer a disciplinary option," evades the question. It was an option last year (1998-99), the year for which the data was requested. More importantly, the Administration neglects to mention that children are still being taken out of class as a disciplinary action, only now it is called "in-school supervision" instead of "in-school suspension." This manipulation of the facts suggests that the Administration does not want to confront the core question of whether children of color are receiving equal disciplinary treatment.

The data which the Administration has released on our elementary and middle schools is equally confusing. While the Administration has had the results of the new 4th and 8th grade English tests for six months, it has repeatedly refused the NAACP’s requests to disaggregate that data by race. Going on the only information that the Administration provided in its Spotlight On Facts (PEP test scores and % entering 6th grade reading below grade level), the public would have to come to the conclusion that there is no achievement gap in the Elementary or Middle schools. How is a group such as the district Task Force on Equality and Excellence supposed to address the issue of reading, for example, when the publicly released data shows alarming achievement gaps in High School and no sign of where it begins in grades K-8? Of what value to our children is it to withhold this vital data?

The Administration’s statistics on hiring and special education show similar lapses. Spotlight On Facts refers to student test results in terms of "black" and "other," but when it comes to hiring, teachers are lumped together as "minority," increasing the apparent number. Further, the hiring patterns are not broken down by building, making it impossible to analyze where we can/should increase the number of African American faculty members. (In the 1998-99 school year, for example, only one (1) out of the thirty teachers at Liberty Elementary School was identified as "minority.")

In the area of special education, Spotlight On Facts fails to show that the percentage of children of color in special education has remained essentially the same: disproportionately and perhaps illegally high.

In Appendix A, we provide a number of other areas where district data needs to be clarified. But what concerns us most is the spirit of the Administration’s response to this crucial issue. In the words of trustee Pierre Davis, we would like to stop debating the problem and move forward. But without accurate, timely information, the Administration’s repeated invitation "to join the district in this effort" can carry little weight.

Much of the public now understands that there is a serious problem in the Nyack School District. Instead of "facts" that attempt to minimize or disguise that problem, the Administration needs to provide what citizens are receiving in Montgomery, Chicago, and Dade counties: information that helps them see what’s wrong, how it’s going to be fixed, and how to measure if the process is working.

If, as the Administration declares, minority achievement is a "top priority," why should data that could help our children’s education be delayed a day, never mind half a year?

The Nyack branch of the NAACP and Nyack PIE have been heartened by the response from much of the Nyack/Valley Cottage community to this vital concern. We look forward to the day when the Administration abandons its defensive position and joins other districts, nationally, in issuing "A Call To Action."

 

APPENDIX A

Below are requests for further information. In all cases, these refer to data which the district has released but which is incomplete or in need of clarification.

First in the order presented in Spotlight On Facts:

Graduation data was compiled in July, 1999, a month after graduation. This speaks to where the 14 students hoped to go to college. Did they actually attend, and are they still enrolled?

Employment is the one category where "black" and "other" are merged into "minority." Please disaggregate to show specifically "black" staff. Also, please make public current figures per building.

Student Achievement is obviously a crucial area where statistics should be made public as soon as possible. 1) Could the data on students entering Grade 6 below the 50%ile in reading be broken down by race? 2) While the PEP test is of interest, it has been largely supplemented by the new state-mandated 4th grade tests. This is why we have repeatedly asked for these results to be disaggregated by race. 3) Again, at the secondary level, the district is emphasizing the new state exams in 8th grade, and we ask that these, too, be disaggregated by race. 4) To clarify the pass rate for Regents Exam: are we correct that in all subjects except English, these figures indicate students passing at a lowered grade of 55?

Suspension data released by the district has, for the last decade, included in-school suspensions. Could that information please be supplied?

Following are the areas where we request additional information, in the order presented in Straight Talk:

Regents Diploma Rate is approximately two-thirds, with one-third of Nyack’s students not reaching that level of achievement. Could that be disaggregated by race, please?

SAT Scores also need disagregation. What % of seniors of color took the tests as compared to white students? What were the SAT scores of children of color compared to their white counterparts?

Advanced Placement Exams does not show what percent of the students scoring 3 or above (those earning college credit) were of color, nor the percentage of Advanced Placement Scholars of color.