Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout031505 Work Session attachment 2Orange County /Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Study: Description and Analysis of Educational Resources Executive Summary In response to a request from the Orange County Commissioners, a research team from the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted a study to assess the educational resources available to students in the Orange County Schools (OCS) and the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City Schools ( CHCCS). We reviewed North Carolina Report Card Data and data provided on request from the school districts. We also visited and interviewed every school principal in both districts. We met with the Educational Excellence Work Group, comprised of the two school superintendents, County Commissioners, County Manager and Assistant Manager, and a representative from the Public School Forum for guidance and direction and to check the accuracy of our findings. Resources These are two excellent school districts, working with energy, dedication, and careful judgment to educate diverse student bodies. The local school tax in Chapel Hill and Carrboro generates over 12 million dollars a year for CHCCS schools that is not available to OCS schools. Although the salary supplement for the most experienced teachers in CHCCS is higher than in OCS, salaries below that stage are generally commensurate, and each district is staffed with accomplished and well- credentialed teachers. The local funds available to CHCCS support, however, a number of specialists to provide instruction and support to students. Their presence permits greater attention to individual students as well as alleviating some of the strain made by multiple demands on the time and attention of the general classroom teachers and school administrators. Both districts mirror the national emphasis on early education and elementary school literacy, investing extensive district resources in reading specialists in the elementary schools. At the elementary level CHCCS have more assistants in classrooms and literacy specialists available to work with students. OCS have hired three extra teachers for grades 3 -5 and have been able to keep class size smaller on average by three students than 3 -5 classes in CHCCS. Given the larger proportion of economically disadvantaged children in OCS, it is significant that the literacy achievement, as measured by End of Grade (EOG) proficiency test performance among the elementary school children of both districts, is almost comparable. This parity in achievement at the elementary school level raises the question of what further resources are necessary to support the learning of OCS students as they make the transitions from elementary school to middle school and high school. Despite the fact that the two OCS middle schools have larger student populations than the four CHCCS middle schools, there are fewer specialists available to work with OCS students, and class size is larger. These distinctions have some import, because it is also at this juncture that the achievement scores of OCS students begin to dip below those of CHCCS students. Whereas reading achievement was somewhat even between the two districts at the elementary level, in middle schools the district scores diverge. Achievement Although reading and mathematics scores for 6th graders dip, they rebound in literacy, though less in OCS than CHCCS. In mathematics where CHCC5 stays constant, OCS scores continue to decline in middle school. Both districts register 95% of their grade 5 students at or above grade level on mathematics EOG tests. CHCC5 students level off in the sixth grade at about 93 %, a level sustained through middle school, while OCS students decline steadily in middle school, meeting the statewide level of 85% at the end of eighth grade. These differences are extended into high school with CHCCS getting higher scores on End of Course (EOC) tests in Geometry, Chemistry, Biology, ELPS, History and English. SAT scores for high school students in CHCCS are markedly higher than for OCS; participation rates are substantially higher for CHCC5 as well. Even though high schools in CHCCS have larger populations than in OCS (1740 and 1546 to OCS populations of 899 and 948), the ratios of counselors to students in CHCC5, 1:250 and 1 :258 are lower than they are in OCS, where they are 1:300 and 1:316. CHCC5 report 35 counselors in total, and 005 report 17. It. is important to note that in many schools counselors assume the responsibility for the scheduling, oversight, and implementation of testing, administrative tasks that take up time that they might be spending with students. This might partially explain why dropout figures reported in 2002- 2003 for 9th -12th graders show 5.81% for OCS and .99 for CHCCS. Across the state the percentage is 4.78. NC and CHCCS dropout percentages have been diminishing for the past few years; whereas the 005 rate fluctuates: 5.2% in 2001 -02, 4.22% in 2002 -03, and 5.81% in 2003 -04. Both CHCCS and 005 usually out perform the state on EOG achievement test scores across important educational sub - groups (i.e., Male, Female, White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian /Pacific Islander, Multi- racial, Economically Disadvantaged, Not Economically Disadvantaged, Limited English Proficient, and Students with Disabilities). Both districts have exhibited marked improvement in the EOG scores of their Black and Economically Disadvantaged students at rates greater than the NC rate from 2002 -0303 to 2003 -2004. One of the greatest differences between the school districts is the percentage of their students who are categorized as exceptional because of a learning disability, or an emotional or behavioral problem. Although the total student population of OCS is 40% fewer than CHCC5, its population of students with disabilities is 12% larger: 1,138 (or 17.6% of the total student population) in OCS, and 1333 (or 11.7% of the total student population) in CHCCS. It is interesting to note that the OCS Exceptional Children (EC) numbers of 17.6% are well above the national average which usually runs about 12% of the school population. This finding invites further scrutiny in order to determine whether this larger proportion of children identif led as having special needs reflects over - classifying or under - serving these students. The most striking achievement disparity that we have observed is the significantly lower achievement of OCS students with disabilities compared to the achievement of CHCCS students with disabilities. The percent of middle school special needs students at or above grade level on EOG achievement tests in CHCCS is 63.1 %; in OCS it is 49.4 %. We may assume that the number of exceptional children's teachers and assistants in CHCCS working with these students as well as the personnel available to coordinate this work in the schools and central office may play a factor in the achievement of these children. Curriculum leadership is important for the continued development of instruction in these districts. OCS schools have significantly fewer central office staff to guide text book adoption, development of instruction, analysis of district data, and professional development than CHCCS. This distinction in curriculum leadership is critical because of the challenges facing these districts: the need to align curriculum across the district, and to assure that it prepares students for proficiency examinations; the need to balance instruction focused on proficiency with instruction for deep understanding and cognitive fluency, the support of all students in heterogeneous and inclusive classes through differentiated curricula; and access to and utilization of research that provides analysis of extant materials and methods and proposes improved methods of instruction. Recommendations Increasing OCS Resources Pre K -12 1. Increased Provision of Social Workers Given the individualized instruction and support that children with special needs require, OCS needs more specialists to work with students at every level of the system. Acknowledging the difficulty of finding resources to increase the number of certified EC teachers to work with students, we recommend that the county explore how to increase the number of social workers for every Orange County school. Perhaps the County can use some portion of social service funding to provide this support for students. Z, Increased Resources for Exceptional Children (EC) Specialists in OCS Social workers will alleviate some of the strain that OCS schools deal with as they work to support students in crisis. But at every level of OCS this system needs to be buttressed. Student Assistance Teams need training, crisis intervention counselors need to be present. Analysis of the referral system is needed to ensure that there is not a process of over - identification. Support for students still struggling with literacy needs to be extended into middle schools and high schools. 3, Improved Transportation for After-School Programs for OCS In families where both parents are working it is often difficult to provide the private transportation needed for attendance at after school programs. Often the children who need the extra support and enrichment of the after school programs are those least able to get access to it. Whereas CHCCS use their busses to provide transportation to after - school programs at all their middle schools and have access to free public transportation, OCS lacks similarly reliable resources. 4. District Resources for Grants and Data An investment in an OCS central office staff research position for someone who will provide and analyze data will also make it possible for district leadership to better assess resources and needs. 5. Subject Area Specialists Although schools in both districts experience drops in achievement scores as students move from 5" to 6t" grades, there is insufficient staff at the OCS central office to facilitate curriculum alignment, a process that could diminish the inconsistencies in preparation that undermine students' success as they make that transition. Furthermore, OCS district leadership needs to be available to share the exemplary work at Stanford Middle School with its feeder schools and with other schools in the area of reading. It also needs to provide additional support to elementary and middle school teachers in the development and implementation of mathematics curriculum to improve the achievement of OCS students. Curriculum development and leadership is also an area where asking CHCCS specialists to work with OCS schools, sharing professional development resources, and best practices among schools in both districts could be mutually beneficial. 6. Increased Resources for Pre - School Services By blending federally supported preschool programs with a tuition based program, CHCCS not only makes its programs available to more families it also provides a cohort experience for all children that is culturally diverse. We encourage OCS to increase its programs with this option. Communication and Collaboration Between Districts 7 Increased Access to High School Courses Across Districts OCS students should have access to CHCCS Advanced Placement (AP) courses that may be different from 005 offerings, or that may be available when OCS courses are not offered. Reciprocally, CHCCS students interested in OCS courses that are not offered in CHCCS should have access to them, notably AP and Honors courses as well as courses in the Career Tech Program area of the OCS curriculum. In addition, CHCCS should have access to OCS programs that offer certificates that qualify students for employment directly after graduation. 8. Development of Shared /Nomenclature Collaboration between the two school districts to arrive at a similar nomenclature for personnel positions would greatly clarify efforts to study and compare resources. 9. Increased Collaborative Professional Development Across Districts The UNC- Chapel Hill School of Education's Center for Educational Excellence may provide a place as well as facilitation for collaborative professional development ventures between the districts, extending some of the collaboration that already takes place under the auspices of the Research Triangle Schools Partnership. We recommend that this proposal be explored by the CHCCS, OCS, the UNC - Chapel Hill School of Education, and the Center.