But is it really good news that District 150 has one of the highest-ranking middle schools (Washington Gifted Middle School), which has predominately white students; while also having the third and eighth-lowest-ranking middle schools (Trewyn and Lincoln, respectively) and the second-lowest-ranking elementary school (Tyng Primary School at the time it closed in 2009), all of which have predominately black students (the majority of the rest of the schools in District 150 are also predominately black).
While the news for the select few families at Washington Gifted is outstanding, the gross disparity that exists in the education of black children in Peoria does not escape me.
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Across all sections of the ISAT test, 100.0% of Washington Gifted School students met or exceeded standards, which is better than 99% of all schools in Illinois.
Some statistics (i.e., gross disparities):
District 150: 29% white; 62.4% black; 2 Asian; and 5.9%Hispanic.
Washington Gifted: 72.3% white; 12.6 % black; 14.3% Asian and .09% Hispanic.
Some statistics (i.e., gross disparities):
District 150: 29% white; 62.4% black; 2 Asian; and 5.9%Hispanic.
Washington Gifted: 72.3% white; 12.6 % black; 14.3% Asian and .09% Hispanic.
While the comparison (district vs school) is not exactly apples to apples - the picture is clear.
30 comments:
I'd like to ask...What do you, Emerge, think is the disparity here? I mean, do you think teachers at Lincoln or Trewyn are failing students where teachers at Washington aren't? If so, how? Being poor and being a minority doesn't make one stupid. (or is ignorant a better word?) I think what's missing here and I think the difference would show, is the family base. At Washington Gifted, you can bet parents take a serious interest in their child's education and foster this at home. This is what I think is absent at say Trewyn and Lincoln.
If the students at Washington have been selected based on their IQ (and perhaps ISAT scores from early elementary grades - not sure about that) - Washington ends up with students who have been pre-selected to score well on the ISAT tests. Differences in parental involvement racial makeup at the 150 middle schools may all be true - there are students at the other middle schools that score well - but the main thing that makes Washington scores higher year in and year out is that they pick students who - going in - can be reasonably expected to have high ISAT schores in middle school - this may not be the criteria for selection but it seems logical that it's a result of the selection criteria used.
Peoria Pundit and Susan are both correct.
Emerge, did you not read the front page article about the Richwoods student who plans to attend Harvard? Composite IQ of 145. While her performance and intellect may be exceptional, all the students roaming around Washington Gifted fit a similar profile. And as Peoria Pundit states, at Washington students typically have supportive parents that ensure there children are getting a well-rounded education both inside and outside the classroom, which further cements their academic success.
Why does it bother you there is this educational opportunity for "some" students in the District? Washington caters to an atypical type of learner. Ms. Vogel, according to the PJS, read at 4, skipped early grades, and scores in the top percent in standardized tests. Her educational needs are not easily met in a regular classroom, particularly if it is filled with students that are not even performing at grade level. I don't understand why providing students like Vogel with educational opportunities that fit their learning needs denies any other student what they deserve??
Minorities are underrepresented at Washington because in Peoria, many minorities live in poverty and this is both an indicator and an influence on intellectual ability and academic performance.
Take at look at the minority student performance at ND or Dunlap and I think you will see a different picture.
Easy to get top scores when you can cherry pick your students.
In certain schools in District 150 students are groomed with the expectation to attend Washington Gifted. Those schools are not South of War Memorial. In addition, many of the students who test for Washington Gifted are fortunate enough to test before the test and are prepared on every level. If those are the economics that affect academic performace that you refer to, I agree. There are supportive parents all across Peoria that are desperate for their child to receive a better education - that is why the Charter School is possible.
I think the 'take-away' is the disparity in district 150. Strong students are strong students regardless of where they live, how much their parents push them or what school they attend. I'm at an alternative school for expelled students and it blows my mind how smart some of my students are...unfortunately, they've been bored to death with the 'regular' curriculum and have become post-children for 'under-achievers'.
My own child read at age 4; our district was reluctant to evaluate him for additional services because "We just don't evaluate children for G/T services that young". I had to wait for his classroom teacher to say "Uncle" and request help meeting his needs. (This would not have happened if he was on the other end of the bell curve). He attended an accelerated charter school in WI where he thrived.
When we moved to IL, we were told that grade skipping was out of the question because he'd be the youngest in his class.
I'm a white, college eduated lady living in an embarrassingly segregated white district and I've had problems getting my children (#2 son is an equally strong student) the services they deserve to keep them engaged.
If I'M frustrated with the level of opportunities available to MY kids, I can't begin to imagine what a mother or father WITHOUT my limited resources must feel...
There is also a certain level of knkowledge a parent must have to support a gifted child. One must be able to network with educators and other parents on a certain level. Unfortunately, a lot of inner city parents don't feel strong enough personally to advocate for a child they know needs more.
3 things:
1)Frustrated: I am the ANTI Pundit. Good Lord if you confuse me with Billy Dennis, people would think we were a planet. lol
2)Emerge: You said; "many of the students who test for Washington Gifted are fortunate enough to test before the test and are prepared on every level." My son was offered and tested for Washington when he entered Trewyn. Never prepared nor pre-tested. We simply went to an office at Bradley and he was tested. He passed and was admitted but he refused to go. He didn't want to leave his friends, so we left him at Trewyn.
3) I think all children are gifted at a very young age and getting them into a learning environment is what is being done. Head Start, V. Hinton, etc etc. Why aren't the quality of students increasing from these programs?
Having spent my entire career in D150 schools "below the hill", I will tell you Emerge, that I have written MANY letters for my students to apply for Washington Gifted. Many of my students have attended Washington Gifted and for whatever reason, did not stay after a year. Why? I don't know.
An observation from a relative of mine who has a child at Washington. My relative is a former teacher at Dist 150. They have to do various projects throughout the year for science and other subjects. Initially she just let him do his thing. He used whatever they had around the house and did his project. By her estimation it was pretty good work for a kid his age. Let me stress it was all HIS work.
He got a poor grade on the project and likewise on a subsequent one in which she just let him do his thing.
The problem?
Well it would seem the other parents go out of their way to shop for the very best components for the project and quite actively assist the students. So much so, it is quite evident that a parent was directly involved in the project. It was in large part the parent's work. So common was this that it has become the expectation of the teachers when they evaluate the projects.
Now.. well when a project is underway, it is now off to the store to buy those premium components whatever they might be. She now assists much more directly, trying to ensure that he has as much a role as possible. Unsurprisingly, his grades on projects improved remarkably.
There is a very real cost in money and time involved here on the part of the parent. Enough so that it could well be a burden and a source of friction for student's of lesser means.
I don't think the issue is about how well Washington Gifted does - but rather the under-representation of black students there, as well as the performance of admittedly low-income, but predominately black schools like Trewyn.
Frustrated said "Take at look at the minority student performance at ND or Dunlap and I think you will see a different picture."
One of the newer features of the Illinois Interactive School Report Card is that you can now analyze test scores by ethnicity. Using Dunlap High School as an example, 79% of white 11th grade students meet or exceed standards on the PSAT test for Reading, along with 86% of Asian students. However, only 60% of black students meet/exceed. For Math and Science, the disparity is even worse (similar percentages for White and Asian, but Black students who meet/exceed drops to less than 50%). So, the picture at Dunlap is NOT much different - Black students are not performing as well as White and Asian Students.
Perhaps more interestingly, when you look at Trewyn, where 98% of students are low income, there is STILL a general disparity in academic performance, with White students outperforming black students in most categories most years (too many categories/grade levels and academic years to list, but the general pattern is apparent). Let that one sink in for a while.
Now, some might take the position (or admit it only to themselves) that Blacks just aren't as capable intellectually as Whites or Asians. Others might say it's a lifestyle issue rather than innate ability, and that Blacks (and Hispanics, too) are lazier or don't value education as much.
Or, might there be other factors that have as much or even more influence on the outcomes of these students? Is there any relationship to the fact that over 90% of D150 teachers are white and white students perform better than black students (even at almost exclusively low income schools like Trewyn)? Are the tests themselves racially biased and, if so, how much does that factor in to the scores.
In any event, you can look at the numbers and recognize that there are future generations of Blacks who, upon leaving school, are at a competitive disadvantage - much like their parents before them. And if it's the parents who are so important to the success or failure of their children, then when or how will the cycle be broken?
Emerge - I don't think you can "cheat" the test to get into Washington and I don't believe there is some conspiracy to groom certain students.
Applicants are evaluated on a number of factors: Cognitive Abilities Test, ITBS Achievement Test, Weschler's Intelligence Scale (the IQ test), along with school standardized test results and class performance. Seems like a pretty multi-faceted analysis of student ability to me.
There application process seems pretty much by the numbers. You receive with your acceptance letter your child's test results and also the average of the selected class on each of the factors considered.
I agree with Mahkno that the projects at Washington require a lot of parental involvement but I felt this was an opportunity for parents to become involved with their child's learning and development. I felt, however, that there were students at Washington that were at a distinct disadvantage because of their personal circumstances and the school, knowing this situation, should have assigned a mentor to assist these children.
Frustrated, I did a lot of research on Washington Gifted and analyzed test scores for the current group of 5th graders (reviewing the data only - no names or other identifiers of students). Aside from there being errors (twice) with how the scores were tabulated - and which the district corrected, I can tell you that, with a class size limited to 60, there is a very narrow margin of difference between students ranked 40 through 80 (half who will get in and half who won't).
As such, being better prepared can most certainly help. That means knowing that the Wechsler is worth twice as much as any other test. It means taking a practice exam on the Wechsler. That means having and fighting for the "good" teachers prior to Washington is crucial. And that is NOT a knock on the parents who strive to do those things.
One more interesting thought - what is "gifted"? Certainly the Richwoods girl you described fits the bill as an IQ of 145 is higher than 99.8% of all people her age. At what academic level does it make sense to have a separate Washington Gifted - should all of the students be in the 97th percentile, for example? How about the 95th percentile? What if half of the students are at or below the 90th percentile nationally?
Alternatively, if Washington is no longer a primarily "gifted" school, but the majority of students are now "consistent above average", is a separate school with 60 students per grade too small in a district with around 1,000 students per grade?
Jon sez: "Is there any relationship to the fact that over 90% of D150 teachers are white and white students perform better than black students "
In Chicago inner city schools as an example, most of the teachers are black and yet they are in the same boat District 150 is in regards to students failing.
Gosh Jon, you are definitely a guy who does his research. Do you think parents really have their kids taking Weschler practice tests, really??
I think you raise some thought provoking questions about "gifted" education. Here is what I believe is the dilemma within District 150. There are so many low functioning students within 150, that above average learners are not challenged in some mainstream classrooms. So, do I believe everyone selected to attend Washington is all that gifted -- no I do not. But I also believe that those that do attend there receive an education that is better suited to their learning level.
If not a school like Washington, what should the District do to meet these students learning needs?
Gosh Jon, you are definitely a guy who does his research. Do you think parents really have their kids taking Weschler practice tests, really??
I think you raise some thought provoking questions about "gifted" education. Here is what I believe is the dilemma within District 150. There are so many low functioning students within 150, that above average learners are not challenged in some mainstream classrooms. So, do I believe everyone selected to attend Washington is all that gifted -- no I do not. But I also believe that those that do attend there receive an education that is better suited to their learning level.
If not a school like Washington, what should the District do to meet these students learning needs?
Yes Frustrated...
we know for a fact that parents are having their children take preliminary Weschlers. Additionally, schools are segregating students they cherry pick to prep them for the NWEA.
PAP - actually, in the Chicago Public Schools, 50% of teachers are white, 30% black and 15% Hispanic. And yes, as a whole only 64% of students meet/exceed standards - and that is below the state average of 76%. That does sound bad - until you realize that 83% of of CPS students are low income compared to the state average of 45% and mobility is 19% compared to 13% for the state.
So, if you believe that, as a whole, low income students who switch schools more often than non-low income students are less likely to perform as well academically, the CPS results don't seem so bad relative to the state (and perhaps even better).
However, the more relevant issue, I believe, is to compare how different ethnic groups, who are at the same income level, perform. In other words, you could compare low income white students vs low income black students. However, such a comparison isn't easy to do with the way the data is currently sortable (you can sort by low income or ethnicity, but not both.) I was able to do that with Trewyn only because I knew that school was already 98% low income and it had enough students in both categories (though it would be statistically more accurate if the number of white students was higher). I've tried looking at several CPS high schools, but each one that is 95%+ low income has virtually no white students.
Finally, to be clear, I'm not saying poor kids can't learn. I'm saying low income kids are at an academic disadvantage to those students who aren't low income. And, I'm saying that it would appear that black students, whether low income or not, are not doing as well as white students in the same income group. And obviously that needs to change.
Frustrated - yes, I know that some take a pre-test, especially for the Wechsler, which is a different type of test that most kids haven't experienced. I also know someone who administers the test - and he said it is helpful if kids know that they should elaborate (the test is given orally) even though the test giver tries to overcome shyness and such.
I'm not sure about the current structure of a separate Washington Gifted. I do think that if you had at least 60 kids who perform at the 97th percentile or higher (the state of Wisconsin uses that as a qualifier for "gifted") in one or more areas of ability, then a separate environment like that can be very beneficial for that type of unique ability.
However, when the majority of students are no longer "gifted", but consistently above average, I'm not sure being "separate" is necessarily beneficial. The key, of course, is that each student is challenged to their abilities, regardless of what school they are in.
Now, Washington Gifted does represent an "out" for high performing students whose neighborhood school is consistently below average - who are perhaps not challenged as they could be. However, more Washington Gifted students come from Kellar/Lindberg than any other school, and Lindberg still has about 90% of students who meet/exceed, so it doesn't sound like those students are getting out of a bad situation. Nonetheless, I do appreciate the fact that it provides another potential option - like the charter school or Roosevelt Magnet.
At the end of the day, there are probably many different ways that schools can meet the learning needs of students, and very similar people can have very different opinions on what works. Of course, there are financial limitations. The charter school is 85% of the cost of the rest of the district. Schools within a school also would appear to be less expensive. I like data, but I don't have enough to make an informed opinion as to which of the various options have the best cost/benefit ratios. But I'd like to see as much choice as is fiscally possible.
Jon - Why is it so essential that all the students attending Washington be truly "gifted?" Isn't it all relative? Even a student scoring in the 85% - 90% is a stand out and learns at a different level than the general population of students in the District.
From my exposure to children at Washington more performed like Ms. Vogel than not, regardless of their recorded I.Q.
If students ranked 61 through 80 are being unfairly excluded, I would rather see Washington expand to accommodate another 30 students to create a 4th incoming class of 5th graders rather than have the program dissolved.
My children attended Washington Gifted between the years of 2004 and 2007 and according to the test information I received, the average of the 60 students selected scored a 124 on the Weschler in one year, and a 125 in another (which supports your conclusion that the population as a whole is not really gifted). Hows do these scores compare to more recent classes admitted? Before and during that time period referenced above, Washington was consistently ranked 3rd in the State and one year, maybe 2006, it was ranked No. 1. Has the caliber of students gone down at Washington based on your analysis of the data?
Are there two different education systems going on in the U.S.??
Another commentary on education, a documentary investigating the high levels of stress and fatigue some students are experiencing.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358158n&tag=cbsnewsSidebarAboveMPUArea.0;promo
Providing elaborate answers will only help students with one index of the WISC. It will do very little to help them with the other three index scores, all of which are used to produce the full scale IQ. I've administered this test many many times and can tell you that a child can perform extraordinarily on one index, bomb another, and this discrepancy completely evens out in the full scale IQ.
I'm also a bit leery of so much stock being put into a test that is being administered by a graduate student who is learning how to give the test...
So, for the students who do not have the 60 dollars, or the parents who can take them to Bradley for testing, what accommodations are provided for them?
To resolve the issue of choosing students for Washington Gifted requires getting factual information about all the students who really wanted to go to Washington and weren't asked, etc.
The problem, of course, is that uneducated parents are truly not a judge of whether or not their children are gifted. Many parents are quite happy if their children turn out to be good people with average jobs, etc. My parents were very much in that category. They truly did not want me to go to college and thought it was a stupid idea for me to do so.
For instance, Frustrated's goals for her children are just way beyond the goals of most parents, and, like it or not, it is the parents, not the schools, who are going to recognize their children's abilities and push them in the directions they want them to go. For some highly educated and wealthy parents, that push was a death sentence for children who did not have those ambitions for themselves.
I do not believe for a minute that teachers in the south end schools in Peoria have not been able to spot students who are truly capable of going to Washington. First of all, "raw" intelligence just isn't enough. It is as much or even more nurture than nature. Teachers see potential in kids but the nurturing just has to come from home.
As for Washington Gifted, to argue against the selection policy, one just must present concrete examples of children who have been left. Just assuming that kids on the south side were left out just isn't enough. Now I guarantee you that before the 1960s, there were plenty of bright minority young people in the south side schools--and I think we found them for the most part--but they didn't necessarily go to Washington. (And most likely weren't invited).
However, as integration gave more options of where to live, the black population moved away from the southside. These parents saw their kids' potential and believed, right or wrong, that the better opportunities were away from the south end.
Jeff did a good job of explaining a few posts ago about how and why many young people would be uncomfortable at Washington. Unfortunately, we like to believe that the social classes mix well--they just don't. White lower class young people are just as uncomfortable with the culture of upper class whites as are black young people.
It is far more class "warfare" rather than race at play at gifted schools.
Frustrated, the whole intent of Washington Gifted was to create a separate school for gifted children because at that extreme end of the spectrum, those kids very often had a way of learning that was much more different than their peers. Think of it this way: Suppose you could quantify the degree of different learning styles on a scale of 1 to 10 (totally arbitrary but used to illustrate the concept). Assume that between kids in the 30th percentile and kids in the 50th percentile, the "degree of difference" is 1 (i.e. there's not much difference). Between the 50th and 70th percentiles, it's another 1 degree. Between the 70th and 90th it's another 1 degree. However, from the 90th to 95th, it's 3 degrees, and from the 95th to 97th it's 7 degrees. So, as you reach the end of the spectrum, the difference increases at a faster rate (and the same is true at the other, low end). That begins the basis of the creation of Washington Gifted as a separate school. Those rare gifted children were, as a whole, learning in a much different way - and the learning needs of those kids were best addressed in a separate learning environment.
Now, would kids in the 85th or 90th percentile benefit from being in a separate environment like Washington Gifted? I'd say very likely for those who are in a school where they have very few peers at that intelligence level. And I'd say "probably" for many of those who are leaving a solidly performing school that has a high number of similarly capable students. However, compared to the truly gifted, those benefits are far less for the 85th to 95th percentile - and perhaps not worth the costs (and I don't mean just the financial costs).
Now, that doesn't mean I'm against putting kids of similar capabilities together. But to do so, I think that the pool should be larger than 60 out of 1,000 kids per grade. And I think that at many schools the grouping can be done within the school - and that style is less costly.
Still, as I said before, I do appreciate that Washington (Gifted or not) is another potential option for parents/children.
For the current 5th grade class, the mean Wechsler full scale score was 124 for the 60 students with the top overall scores (scores that included Wechsler, CoGAT, etc.). The median was 123, and the range was 109 to 149.
Though I recognize it is no easy task to come up with a perfect method to determine those chosen for Washington Gifted, one of the problems I have with the current method is that it averages the scores of tests that are identifying very different types of ability. There are 8 separate test scores that are included in the calculations (3 CogAT, 2 NWEA MAP and 3 Wechsler scores). The three CogAT tests, for example, are for verbal, quantitative and non-verbal abilities. A child can have a truly gifted ability in quantitative tasks (99th percentile), but only a slightly above average ability in verbal (60th percentile) but his average is only 80.
Also, when averaging scores, one bad score can effectively ruin any chance of getting in. Getting a high score of 97 or 99 is hard to fake - whereas having one bad test out of 8 is much more likely. As a result, many of those who make it in to Washington Gifted are arguably "consistently above average" whereas some who did not make the cut had scores in one or more areas of ability that were arguably gifted (97th percentile or above) but their average scores were lower.
Case in point, in the current 5th grade class, 6 students in the top 60 did not score above the 95th percentile in any of the eight different tests. 12 students outside of the top 60 scores in the 97th percentile or higher in one or more tests. Who is more deserving? As I said, it's a difficult task to determine the perfect selection method.
Jon, I always enjoy your posts. Always good info and things to consider.
My concern with gifted programs being offered at the regular MS is that I am afraid it simply won't happen to the degree it needs to.
As you mentioned, students flowing back into Lindbergh and Mark Bills would be fine. Likely 20 or more kids per grade would feed into Lindbergh if Washington were to be closed, so this school could create more curriculum levels, new classes, etc. It would probably make Lindbergh a even better school, because they already have a number of bright students attending and adding more would just offer justification for enhanced program offerings.
But what about the children that will be returning to failing middles schools? How will that really work in practice? Will special classes be created? Or will they get a free pass to go to Lindbergh or Mark Bills where their educational needs can better me meet and where they can be part of a motivating peer group? If that's the case, than I am all in. Just close Washington up! My fear is the students that need Washington the most (those pulled from lower-performing MS) will be the students most short-changed.
Oh, and what about the students wishing to attend Lindbergh on a boundary waiver or eligible for transfer opportunities based on the NCLB? Certainly won't be anymore of these available to students not in the attendance area, because of all the former Washington students swelling the ranks. Does Lindberg even have room to accommodate 100 plus kids transferring from Washington?
So, Jon, you state the Weschler test mean for this year's 5th graders was 124. Seems much the same as in the 2004 - 2006 time period that I previously referenced. SO . . .maybe Washington has never really catered to the truly "gifted."
All I know is, I feel Washington helped my children bloom and created in them a drive to do their best and to understand what it means to be academically competitive. It was an important influence on their development and my hope continues to be that this school remains in tact to be there for generations of students to come.
Hey Sharon, welcome back. I have missed you.
One of my former students from the 1980s just called me because she inadvertently ran into my name when she was Googling her own daughter's name and somehow (not sure the connection) was taken to a post of mine on this blog.
We haven't been in contact for years, so we hit on many topics, once of which was Washington Gifted and the Richwoods IB program. I was pleased to learn that her daughter, who happens to be African-American, went to both and has been one of Richwoods' star basketball players.
She said that while her daughter was at Washington Gifted, four other students in her class had parents who were Manual grads. I guess that proves what has been my own thinking. Even if, for all possible reasons racial and otherwise, southside students may not have made it to Washington Gifted in earlier years, at least their children are today availing themselves of the opportunities.
Here's my question: my child started all this testing December 2010 and now it's the last day of April 2011 and we still have no information as to whether my child is "in" or "out." Can someone give me a contact so that I can simply find out the results? The waiting is killing me and I seem to get "blocked" when I call or email to ask when results will be out.
Anonymous:
I would contact my Board of Education Representative about that. Laura Pettele is responsive to inquiries - give her a try.
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