Fri, Dec 05, 2008
Assessment Technology, Inc Social Studies Content Writer Health Care Rio Salado College PA's/Online Instructors General CORT WAREHOUSE/DRIVER Construction Komatsu Equipment Co Mechanic General CORT Warehouse Supervisor Tucson RegionStar reporters answer readers' questionsArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.13.2008
When the Star began its series on student achievement Sunday, we asked readers to submit questions about the project. Below are some answers.
Q: Are the districts in the Tucson area significantly different with respect to these data than other districts throughout the state and the nation? Why don't the principals in the various schools have this data about their own students?
— John T. Gilkey, Sahuarita
Our experts were unaware of any national- or state-level comprehensive databases that gauge social promotion. In fact, a 1999 federal report called it a "hidden problem." The experts were quick to note that social promotion is not unique to Tucson, though. They know this through small-scale studies and other research.
Principals, along with teachers and superintendents, know which students are failing what classes. Many schools have what is commonly known as an "F list," which details the facts.
Q: Advancement from middle school is "promotion." Advancement in high school is based on credits earned. Doesn't the article's analysis confuse the two?
—Steve Bernhardt, math teacher, Sunnyside High School
Although the word "promotion" may not be used in high school, the concept does exist. High school grade levels are based on credits earned. But the state still keeps track of the number of students in each grade level each year who are promoted or who graduate.
At the same time, school districts gave the Star grade data that stated what students' grade levels were, based on the number of credits they earned. Thus, it is an apples-to-apples comparison of promotion.
Q: My son has been one of those socially promoted since the third grade. At one point, he failed every subject the whole year, and they moved him on. He is now graduating high school. When we approached the school about it, all they said was, "We find that keeping them back doesn't help." What statistics are they protecting?
— Brad Caryl
The Star examined only middle school and high school students' grades, so it's hard to say how elementary students fared. Still, the idea of retaining students is rejected by some educators who believe holding them back will cause more damage than unearned promotion will.
Q: What percentage of failed (but still promoted) students were not proficient in English?
—A. Wolfel
English proficiency was hard to analyze because the data we received did not come with biographical information. In fact, the Star asked districts to make the data anonymous so that worries about student privacy were assuaged. We also could not analyze data by gender, race or ethnicity.
But we were interested in this issue, so we compared the number of students who failed English-language-learner courses with ELL enrollment in TUSD, the city's largest district. There, ELL students failed less often than the general population did. Read a longer story about this at azstarnet.com/socialpromotion.
Q: I am curious why you did not include statistics from charter schools in your investigation. Since charter schools are a major part of the education scene in Tucson and are publicly funded, it would be interesting and informative to see how they compare to the school districts that were covered in your report.
— Louise Heuberger, retired educator
That is a good point. But there are several hundred charter schools in Pima County, so this would have required going to each school and requesting grade data individually. The Star decided the widest measure of student achievement would be gained by examining the largest traditional school districts in the Tucson area. That itself took 10 months to accomplish, so there were time constraints on our efforts as well.
● Answers by George B. Sánchez, an education reporter who covers the Tucson Unified School District, and Jack Gillum, a database specialist and business reporter who conducted the analysis for the investigation.
|
|
