Race, ethnicity could be considered in college recruitment, admissions; Voters may get to alter Prop. 209

The San Diego Union-Tribune asks: Should college applicants or students receive preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity or gender?

So, are we assuming that it's NOT preferential treatment to rely so heavily on test scores? Medical students, for example, should be screened for attributes such as a sense of obligation and concern for others. Lawyers should be screened to make sure they have a certain degree of honesty. Does the public benefit from providing expensive educations to people who may do well on certain tests, but are limited in their innate desire to contribute to the healthy functioning of our society? And are we really serving our society by creating a system that creates domination by Europeans and Asians in certain fields? Or are we sowing the seeds for future conflict?

Certainly, until we have a system that accurately matches prospective students with appropriate careers, race and ethnicity should be used as a check to make sure we haven't got things out of balance.

IQ does not account for the vast differences in membership in certain occupations between different ethnicities. In fact, we clearly have smarter people OF ALL RACES AND ETHNICIGTES being shunted aside to make way for those who have characteristics other than high intelligence, including culture and family support.

Voters may get to alter Prop. 209
Race, ethnicity could be considered in college recruitment, admissions
By Karen Kucher
SDUT
Feb. 18, 2014

The Legislature is poised to give Californians a chance to vote on a highly emotional and politically charged issue that has divided people across the country for decades — affirmative action in higher education.

A proposed state constitutional amendment, dubbed SCA 5, would repeal portions of Proposition 209 that have banned the consideration of race, ethnicity and gender in public colleges’ recruitment, admissions and retention programs since 1998.

The Senate approved the measure last month, and the Assembly — which also has a Democratic supermajority — is set to consider the legislation soon. Passage in Sacramento would mean that voters could weigh in late this year or in 2015.

California became the first state to ban the use of race and ethnicity in the admissions process for public colleges, as well as in state hiring and contracting, when voters approved Proposition 209. Other states followed with similar policies.

State and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have issued numerous rulings on this issue over the years. They have sometimes been at odds, with their legal arguments reflecting the main points of public debate: Critics of affirmative action said colleges should assess applicants on academic ability because that’s the fairest and most objective standard, while supporters said the higher-education system has been biased against certain minority groups and needs to better value students who have overcome special hurdles in life to pursue a college degree.

The latest constitutional-amendment proposal was introduced by state Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina. He has written similar bills in the past, including one vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010 and another vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011. This time, Hernandez wants voters to decide the matter. His co-authors include Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego.

Hernandez said Proposition 209 has resulted in less diversity as fewer underrepresented minority students are admitted and enrolled in the California State University and University of California systems. The senator said he personally benefited from recruitment and scholarship assistance that targeted minority students when he attended an optometry school in Indiana.

“I am not proposing quota systems or preferential treatment,” he said. “SCA 5 simply allows our public colleges to identify achievement gaps, such as a lack of women in the (science, technology, engineering and math) fields or even a lack of men, especially men of color, in teacher-credentialing programs. … Any program a college adopts to consider these factors would have to be narrowly tailored, consistent with all the Supreme Court decisions that already limit the use of race- or gender-conscious programs.”

Backers of Proposition 209 said the law has actually increased representation of underrepresented minority groups. They also said taking racial preferences out of the admissions process has helped minorities succeed more in college — and graduate in larger numbers — because their academic credentials are better matched with the campuses they attend.

“It is not good to send a student where his or her academic qualifications are going to be lower than the average students’,” said Gail Heriot, a University of San Diego law professor who was co-chair of the Proposition 209 campaign in 1996. “To some people, it would seem like they are doing a favor to the student who is getting the preferences, but it ends up being the opposite.”

RELATED COMMENTS

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

So, are we assuming that it's NOT preferential treatment to rely so heavily on test scores? Medical students, for example, should be screened for attributes such as a sense of obligation and concern for others. Lawyers should be screened to make sure they have a certain degree of honesty. Does the public benefit from providing expensive educations to people who make do well on certain tests, but are limited in their innate desire to contribute to the healthy functioning of our society? And are we really serving our society by creating a system that creates domination by Europeans and Asians in certain fields? Or are we sowing the seeds for future conflict.

Bob Giramma · Follow · Top Commenter · UCLA

It's fair to discriminate on the basis of merit, but (almost) nothing else. How does one test for a sense of obligation or honesty?

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

[To] Bob Giramma, Good question. Perhaps a personality test? Can we at least try to keep sociopaths out of medicine and law?

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

[To] Bob Giramma: Remember the discussion about the psychiatrist on the Sopranos series who treated James Gandolfini? Experts were saying that she was wrong to teach him how to understand and manipulate people more effectively. Certainly we shouldn't be training sociopaths to be psychiatrists!

G Ma Donovan · Bridgeport engineering Institute

Merit based societal filtering is de-basing. This limits [ this subjective sifting of meritocracy in society] rewards to persons who respond with the 'answers' for which the testers are looking. Sometimes these answers are patently wrong or myths. This response can reward dishonesty. For example, I use spellcheck so much that I am forgetting most of the basic grammar rules of spelling and its exceptions. I would now fail many intelligence tests, well to tell you the truth, i always failed them...to those who say, we must have standards. Standards that stick in the 1800 or 1900 milieu ...why do you suppose Wikipedia is so helpful? The standards are just so low as to be meaningless. Laughable when one travels.

Michael Dew · Top Commenter · University of Utah

To follow my comment, wouldn't you WANT those to be educated? It's better to educate than allow to fester.

Michael Dew · Top Commenter · University of Utah

From my perspective it's a sad reality that we have such huge discrepancies but efforts to address it have definitely helped. I honestly don't feel sacrificing a small percentage of slots to address a societal problem is a bad thing. The socioeconomic benefit of minorities and women going to school to the neighborhood they come from is strong. Many kids do want and opportunity but don't feel it's there for them, for whatever reason. We can blame the students parents but lets think about why they're there in the first place. It's not always laziness, maybe higher ed wasn't an option for Mom or Dad, maybe there was an unexpected pregnancy. Once the student is admitted they still have to pass the tests, do the homework, and make it as any other student using resources available. It is still up to the candidate to finish college, getting in is the first step. A lazy student will quickly find themselves outside the classroom making room for another stronger candidate.

Karen Haney Logan · Top Commenter

Yes, that is my point. If acceptance is based on anything other than GPA or placement exam scores, then the students being accepted under those other terms are being set up to fail. Nobody is being served by using anything other than GPA or placement exam scores to determine acceptance to college.

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

Karen Haney Logan: Did you know that the average high school drop-out has a higher IQ than the average high school graduate? I'll bet the same is true for college. (Bill Gates is an example.) So perhaps GPAs and test scores aren't measuring ability so much as educational support received by a student over his or her lifetime.

Karen Haney Logan · Top Commenter

No Maura Larkins....I did not know that. How to apply ones IQ to the expected knowledge base to enter college would be tricky, but possible perhaps. My point(and I am a current student) is there are many different levels of of intelligence, but if a person cannot even meet the minimum requirement of whatever knowledge base the school requires, why should that person be allowed to enter because of race, ethnicity or gender? As someone else below pointed out, they will just wash out when they are unable to keep up with the work-this seems cruel to me. Just my opinion.

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLAV To Karen Haney : Do you see that we have a problem? Our society is NOT developing the intellects of those with the most ability. Instead, we provide the knowledge necessary for success to those with family advantages.

Gary Swenson · Top Commenter

White, black, brown, yellow, red, purple, green....bring the GRADES and you're in! Nobody deserves to cut in line for ANY other reason.

Shanna McFaddin · Follow · Deckhand at Lilley Pad Charters

I agree. Equal and fair treatment for all. My only caveat is that Veterans should get priority registration, due to the time limits on GI Bill.

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

Shanna McFaddin: Students don't get equal treatment BEFORE taking the SAT, and BEFORE taking high school classes. Until we fix that, we should find a way to level the playing field.

Michael Dew · Top Commenter · University of Utah

I think it's a good thing where you have educational discrepancies. Often those kids become role models for future generations, sustainability is of issue. I don't see an issue with planting some seeds in areas in desperate need of attention. It's not like their talking 30% of all admissions. California has been doing this and I can say it has benefitted low income minorities, also in ways that can't be quantified. There was and still is a problem with few minorities pursuing or even being accepted to a higher ed program, often we have to make decisions to correct societal woes; these actions do improve our society, even if one can't see it directly.

Donna Rogers · Top Commenter · Webster University

Why didn't they include legacies in the question? College students should not receive preferential treatment based on WEALTH or connections either.

Ted James · Follow · Top Commenter

Public universities, no. Private schools, I guess it's there call.

[Maura Larkins: Private universities often receive huge public grants for research. Obviously, the government should not be giving public money to institutions that undermine the public.]

Mike Seneca · Top Commenter

I voted NO... because your skin color places you neither behind nor ahead of my skin color. It's too bad progressives feel race and gender reflect our level of neediness.

Lee Phillippi · Top Commenter

It was never based on "level of neediness". It wasn't long ago that discrimination was legal and discrimination didn't end when the laws were over turned.

James Palen · Follow · Top Commenter · Reporter for San Diego Daily Transcript at The Daily Transcript / San Diego Source

Lee Phillippi Discrimination will never end, and it will always be multi-directional (obviously not by all, but by a portion of the population). There is no such thing as parallel instances of racism and reverse racism (a ludicrous term, as if one race holds the patent on racism); there is only racism, from every direction to every direction. That's why trying to correct racism through policy like preferential admission only winds up bringing those enforcing that policy closer to racism themselves, by denying something to those who aren't allowed to check that box on the application. it becomes an endless spiral which despite its intentions, continues racism.

Bob Harris · Top Commenter · Palm Springs, California

Socioeconomic status: includes everybody who has been exposed to the realities of modern racism and bigotry, INCLUDING women of all races, poor white trash along with the rest of the "socially repressed."

Ted James · Follow · Top Commenter

Ms. Larkins, I don't understand what you are getting at. You want to test college applicants on their levels of empathy and honesty? To what end? Do you believe that when a 19 year old kid is applying for school he or she is going to be as caring or honest as he or she will be at 40? Honestly, if my doctor was a huge jerk but was great at healing me, I could live with that. I don't need him to empathize with me or to show me sympathy, I need him to diagnose my condition and treat me. Maybe empathy is part of that but having a scientific mind is too. I don't need my lawyer to be "honest" (I'm not quite sure what you mean by that), I do need him to be an expert in the law and then advise me on my best course of action. The California Bar Association has provisions for disbarring its members if they are found to have acted unprofessionally or unethically. Also, not everyone who goes to law school becomes a lawyer. Why would you need to be an "honest" person to go to law school? It's a feel good concept but I don't see much value in it.

Bob Giramma · Top Commenter · UCLA

Maura Larkins, I've never seen the Sopranos. I don't watch much TV. But your kind of testing sounds like it would get the government involved in yet another area for them to ruin. My kind of testing it through the free market, where each person chooses what's best for him or her. Government is just a bunch of busybody idiots.

February 20 at 8:01pm

Zhiyuan Zhu · Seattle, Washington

How does that have something to do with skin color this poll is about? Are you suggesting something else?

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

Zhiyuan Zhu I'm suggesting that the unequal K-12 educations that American children receive are very consistent with skin color. Black and brown children overwhelmingly miss out on the opportunities provided by a good basic education.

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

Ted James If lawyers always advised their clients to obey the law, our justice system wouldn't be having an extreme budget crisis. Instead, lawyers very often use unethical or illegal tactics to help their deep-pocket clients get away with whatever they want. That's how most lawyers accrue all those billable hours. The lawyers control the Bar Association, which protects the system. They only go after a few token small-time crooks. The legal profession in general abuses the court system for financial gain. Society would be better off if it boosted a few ethical applicants over those who are just trying to get rich. Why should society roll over and play dead while greedy, unethical people shove others aside in their quest to get rich? That is NOT in society's best interest.

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

Bob Giramma Each person chooses what is best for him? That is NOT the system that we have. People with undeserved advantages choose what is best for themselves, and leave the crumbs for the rest. You don't need to watch the Sopranos to think about whether or not we should be training sociopaths in how to manipulate others more effectively.

COMMENTS from Voters may get to alter Prop. 209:

Jeremy Merrill · Top Commenter · San Diego, California

Bob Giramma - You can dance around it all you like, but the quote you posted is from a member of the "dominant majority" and you yourself are a member of the "dominant majority" in this nation. That same "dominant majority" has lately taken on the persona of the oppressed every time an attempt is made at leveling the playing field. It's tiresome and intellectually dishonest to pretend that you don't have an advantage as a White American male.

Rex Smith · Top Commenter · College of William and Mary

Here's an idea. How about we recruit on merit and the ability to learn?

Maura Larkins · Top Commenter · UCLA

Sadly, it's hard to measure merit and ability to learn since grades and test scores measure socioeconomic level. In the most miserable places, IQ is completely overshadowed by other factors when it comes to academic success. Experts say there is almost NO correlation between academic success and intelligence in racial ghettos.

Lynne Varner says Seattle teacher protests against testing are focused on the wrong problem

You would think that smarter kids would do better in school, right?

Wrong--and least not for poor black kids.

The fact is that any child of average intelligence can succeed in school--as long as he/she has a rich environment of verbal interactions, a wide variety of experiences, a safe home, preparation for kindergarten and full support for emotional, physical and educational success. Of course, all these things also contribute to a higher IQ.

If your parent or parents are away working at two jobs, or, in a worst-case scenario, abusing drugs and hanging out with gangs, you aren't likely to develop anything approaching your full potential.

A brilliant child with a bad home situation and intellectually impoverished environment will not do anywhere near as well in school as a child with a plodding, low-average intellect who is raised to be a success.

This is true of all races, but the statistics show that a much higher percentage of white and Asian kids are groomed for success. The situation among poor blacks is so bad that the benefits of high intelligence are completely wiped out, statistically speaking. A lot of good brains are being wasted.

The high cost of wasted educational opportunity — now that’s worth a teacher protest
Boycotting a Seattle Schools standardized test is small potatoes. But don’t worry. There’s plenty in education to get riled up over.
By Lynne K. Varner
Seattle Times
February 7, 2013

I remain unconvinced the Garfield High School teachers’ boycott of the Measures of Academic Progress test is anything more than adult hubris.

For one, nearly all Seattle Public Schools have begun administering the required test, despite differing views about its value. For another, the test is unlikely to survive as a ninth-grade requirement. The case to keep it is stronger for middle and elementary grades, but even there pilots of new tests by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium may yield better options.

The push for more sophisticated tests has good intent. But the boycott and its attendant protest rallies — designed to pressure Superintendent José Banda into making a decision a mere three months before he plans to anyway — is overkill.

I’ll give boycotters something to protest.

Let’s start with dismal news that African-American, Latino and Native American elementary students still lag white students in core subjects, such as math and reading. We know this from results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress test given to fourth- and eighth-graders across the nation.

Sure, Washington state as a whole posts test scores above the national average on the NAEP, but that’s far from the case for brown children and those from low-income families. Here’s a chant: “Education, not academic stagnation!”

I’m a parent and I’ve also written about education long enough to become as frustrated as the Garfield teachers and parents. I’m frustrated that despite the $13 billion spent every two years on the K-12 system, students still graduate from high school who don’t read well or understand basic math.

Who’s going to take to the streets about that?

Seattle is a city that prides itself on progressive values but I see a regressive bent in some corners, particularly the obsession over education reforms.

I remember the outrage in 2011 when a Seattle high-school principal was fired from a school that had only 5 percent of African-American students, 16 percent of Latino students and 3 percent of bilingual students passing the district’s standardized math test.

The principal was reinstated and the furor died down. But I’ve wondered what happened to the students with the abysmal scores. Our attention waned because the school’s overall test scores are quite good.

How are those students surviving without basic math skills? Is their future what we would want for our own children?

Schools, teachers and parents are working harder than ever. I see it when I’m out reporting but I also see the efforts reflected in data. Between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of college degrees going to blacks, Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders went up. That’s progress.

But I worry about high-school students and young adults because they are most likely to get caught on the wrong side of the growing mismatch between skills required for available jobs and the skills they actually have.

If the skills gap is not addressed, attention toward picket lines will soon be directed toward growing unemployment lines.

Critics of the MAP and other standardized tests point out their cost. They aren’t cheap. But neither is a poor education.

My next point puts this into context: Eliminating the achievement gap would have boosted by $240 million the earnings of currently working African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, according to the Washington state Policy and Budget Center.

Protesting standardized tests is not so much wrong as it is misdirected.

The high cost of wasted educational opportunity is the bigger problem and far worthier of a rally or two.

Grand jury indicts 35 in Georgia school cheating scandal

See further discussion here.

What do you expect when you allow schools to keep their culture of secrecy and backdoor politics? If you want real reform, you have to change the culture of the education establishment.

Schools don't like people who make waves. They like people who fall in line with school politics.

"For example, teachers who reported other teachers who cheated were terminated, while teachers who were caught cheating were only suspended."

Beverly Hall reminds me of the administrators and board members I knew at Chula Vista Elementary School District.

Report: Test cheating may be widespread

Grand jury indicts 35 in Georgia school cheating scandal
35 employees indicted over alleged cheating
By Chelsea J. Carter
CNN
March 29, 2013
Watch this video

Atlanta (CNN) -- In what has been described as one of the largest cheating scandals to hit the nation's public education system, 35 Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators were indicted Friday on charges of racketeering and corruption.

The indictment is the bookend to a story that was once touted as a model for the nation's school districts after the district's test scores dramatically improved in some of its toughest urban schools.

Among those indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury was Beverly Hall, the former schools superintendent who gained national recognition in 2009 for turning around Atlanta's school system.

"She was a full participant in that conspiracy," Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard told reporters during a news conference announcing the charges.

"Without her, this conspiracy could not have taken place, particularly in the degree in which it took place."

The indictment follows a state investigation that was launched after a series of reports by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper found large, unexplained gains in test scores in some Atlanta schools.

A state review determined that some cheating had occurred in more than half of the district's elementary and middle schools. About 180 teachers were initially implicated in the scandal.

Threats and intimidation

Hall has denied any role in the cheating scandal. In 2011, she told The New York Times that her subordinates had allowed the cheating to occur, but denied she was involved.

Hall resigned from her position in 2011 following the state investigation, which lambasted her leadership and found widespread cheating in dozens of Atlanta schools.

The alleged cheating is believed to date back to early 2001, according to the indictment, when standardized testing scores began to turn around in the 50,000-student school district.

For at least a period of four years, between 2005 and 2009, test answers were altered, fabricated and falsely certified, the indictment said.

Hall allegedly oversaw a system where threats and intimidation were used against teachers, it said.

"As a result, cheating became more and more prevalent," the indictment said.

By the time the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, as the standardized test is known, was administered in Atlanta Public Schools, "cheating was taking place in a majority of APS's 83 elementary and middle schools."

The allegations, the indictment said, are substantiated by the Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement analysis of erasures on standardized tests.

'Suspicious' test score gains

According to the indictment, Hall placed unreasonable goals on educators and "protected and rewarded those who achieved targets by cheating. It also alleges she fired principals who failed to achieve goals and "ignored suspicious" test score gains throughout the school system.

In 2009, Hall was named the National Superintendent of the Year by the Schools Superintendents Association, which at the time said her "leadership has turned Atlanta into a model of urban school reform."

But the indictment paints another picture of Hall, one of a superintendent with "a single-minded purpose, and that is to cheat," Howard told reporters.

"For example, teachers who reported other teachers who cheated were terminated, while teachers who were caught cheating were only suspended," the indictment alleges.

"The message from Beverly Hall was clear: There were to be no exceptions and no excuses for failure to meet targets."

At the heart of the conspiracy to cheat, the indictment said, was money.

"It is further part of the conspiracy and endeavor that targets achieved through cheating were used by Beverly Hall to obtain substantial performance bonuses," the indictment said.

It also alleges a number of others received performance bonuses based on test scores.

2011: Seven edcuators step down as scandal unfolds

Racketeering and conspiracy

Of the 65 counts in the indictment, Hall and 34 others were charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as RICO.

In addition to racketeering, Hall also is charged with making false statements and writings and theft by taking.

If convicted on all counts, she could face a maximum of 45 years in prison.

Among those also indicted were four of Hall's executive administrators, six principals, two assistant principals, six testing coordinators, 14 teachers, a school improvement specialist and a school secretary.

These Atlanta Public Schools officials are among those named:

-- Millicent Few, director of human resources, is accused of participating in the conspiracy and making false statements during the investigation.

-- Tamara Cotman, a regional supervisor who oversaw dozens of Atlanta's schools, is accused of intimidating witnesses, including a principal and other staff, in an effort to hinder an investigation.

-- Sharon Davis-Williams, who also oversaw a region of Atlanta's schools.

-- Michael Pitts, who oversaw a region of Atlanta's schools, also is accused of intimidating witnesses, primarily staff at Parks Middle School, in an effort to hinder or delay an investigation.

-- Christopher Waller, principal at Parks Middle School in Atlanta, where at least four teachers are accused of conspiring to cheat on standardized tests, is also alleged to have pressured teachers to cheat as early as spring 2006.

-- Armstead Salters, principal of Gideons Elementary School, where at least four teachers say he allegedly pressured them into cheating.

Hall and the 34 others named in the indictment have been ordered to surrender to authorities by Tuesday, said Howard, the district attorney.

Florida Adopts Different Standards For Students Based On Race

It seems that Florida teachers should get a cut in pay along with their new achievement goals for kids. As a teacher, I knew how easy it was to improve scores of average and high-performing kids. I knew my real achievement was bringing the kids who were behind up to grade level and above grade level. Kids in middle class families tend to get more intellectual stimulation outside the classroom, including verbal interactions with parents.

Florida is pretty much telling teachers to worry only about Asian, white and Hispanic students, and forget about black students.

Florida has not only given up on equal achievement for all races, it has also given teachers permission to pretty much ignore black students altogether. They not only have lower goals for black students, but they also say that fewer black students need to meet those lower goals!

Florida Adopts Different Standards For Students Based On Race
JONATHAN TURLEY
JonathanTurley.org
October 15, 2012

As the Court considers the future of affirmative action in higher education, the Florida State Board of Education is moving to create different grading in schools on the elementary and secondary levels in terms of the levels of proficiency expected for students based on their race.

The plan would set different goals for students in math and reading based upon their race. The plan would expect schools to show that Asian students meet 90 percent to be performing at or above grade level in English and white students would have to meet 88 percent of the goals. However, Hispanics would be expected to meet only 88 percent while black students would be expected to meet just 74 percent of black students.

In math, the schools would need to reach 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient and 86 percent for white students. Hispanics would be expected to be at 80 percent while blacks would be expected to be at 74 percent.

By lowering the percentages for hispanic and black students, the school officials hope to satisfy federal and state guidelines. However, it also institutionalizes the lower scores for minority groups. It also raises the danger that teachers might push harder with white and asian students to achieve higher levels of performance after achieving lower levels for hispanic and black students. I understand the frustration with these state and federal goals. I also understand the differentials found in the baseline for different communities. However, in my view it is still a mistake. I have long argued for a greater investment in our public school system with additional teachers and better pay for teachers. My wife and I are committed to public schools and send our kids to public schools. We believe strongly in the key role that public schools play not only in socializing children but in society as a whole in having a common educational experience...

Study Measures Bullying's Academic Toll

Study Measures Bullying's Academic Toll
By Nirvi Shah
Edweek.org.
August 23, 2011

While bullying is known to leave physical and emotional scars, a new studyRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader finds that victims may suffer long-lasting academic effects, and high-achieving black and Latino students are especially vulnerable.

Building off of previous research that found high-achieving black and Latino students are more likely to be bullied, Ohio State University doctoral student Lisa M. Williams and Anthony A. Peguero, an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Tech University, found that bullying, in turn, could lead to lower achievement for victims.

Their study is due to be presented Tuesday at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas.

The sociologists found that the grade point average of all students who were bullied in 10th grade dropped slightly by 12th grade. By their senior year, black students who had a 3.5 grade point average, on a scale of 0 to 4, as freshmen, lost almost one-third of a point if they had been bullied. The result was more pronounced for Latino victims of bullying: They lost half a point. That compares with a loss of less than one-tenth of a point for white students who had undergone such harassment, the researchers found.

One reason minority students seemed to suffer larger academic aftereffects, Ms. Williams said, could stem from some of the stereotypes about minority students, including that they are tough or street smart, compared to their peers from other racial and ethnic groups.

“Schools may think that because students are black and Latino, they’re better able to handle bullying,” she said, “and their schools won’t have the same type of [bullying prevention] programs.”

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On the other hand, Ms. Williams said, there are often prevention strategies in place at many predominantly white schools. Instead, schools must employ bullying-prevention programs regardless of the racial and ethnic backgrounds of their students, she said.

This fall, the U.S. Department of Education will begin a study that looks at how local bullying policies are put into action in several individual school districts and states. At about the same time, the Education Department will share the results of an analysis of current state anti-bullying laws and model policies. The study will aim to identify promising strategies that school districts are implementing to combat bullying in schools. This information will be used by the department to better support bullying-prevention activities.

Ms. Williams’ and Mr. Peguero’s results were based on the academic performance of 9,590 students in 580 schools. While many factors contribute to students’ academic performance, the researchers controlled for some other variables often associated with students’ academic achievement. They eliminated family background, previous grades, and school characteristics when calculating the effect of bullying on students’ grades.

In a previous study published earlier this year, Ms. Williams and Mr. Peguero found that black and Latino students who have high test scores, countering stereotypes of low academic achievement among such students, are more likely to be harassed or teased at school. They also found that low-achieving Asian-American students—going against stereotype—were also particularly vulnerable to bullying. Another study by Mr. Peguero has found that black and Latino students bullied at school are more likely to drop out than their peers.

For the study released at this week’s conference in Las Vegas, Ms. Williams and Mr. Peguero came to their conclusions by comparing students’ academic baseline performance as 9th graders, before they had been bullied, with their academic achievement four years later as high school seniors. They found that about 40 percent of all students in their study answered yes to questions about being bullied, including whether they had been hit, bullied, or threatened with violence in the previous year.

Earlier this year, another studyRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader involving school bullies and stereotypes suggested that the most likely campus aggressors aren’t the most popular or most socially outcast students—those most typically thought of as potential bullies. Mapping of students’ social networks found instead that children somewhere in the middle of the social hierarchies in their schools were the most likely bullies on campus.

Better-than-Average Scores, Big Achievement Gaps in Science

Better-than-Average Scores, Big Achievement Gaps in Science
February 24, 2011
by Emily Alpert
Voice of San Diego

San Diego Unified did better than the average for large urban school districts on a national science test, ranking fourth out of 17 big city districts in the percentage of students scoring proficient or above.

That may not be surprising, since San Diego Unified also has fewer students poor enough to get free or reduced price lunches than the average big city district, something that tends to make San Diego Unified look good when compared to other urban school systems.

But San Diego Unified also had some of the biggest achievement gaps between its white students and their Hispanic and black classmates, as well as economically disadvantaged students and better off ones, according to an analysis done by the school district itself. Boys also outperform girls.

And even with some of the highest scores among urban districts, San Diego has a way to go, with only 29 percent of fourth graders and 20 percent of eighth graders scoring proficient or advanced on the exam.

...Keep in mind, though, that California lagged near the bottom nationwide on these same science tests, which means San Diego was still behind national scores in both fourth and eighth grade.

Your school's best bet for higher scores? Get Emily Alpert to profile you!

Remember That School Where … ?
Emily Alpert
Voice of San Diego
August 17, 2010

... * You might remember Montgomery High, a seemingly ordinary school south of the Otay Valley Park that had become a battleground for Sweetwater Union High School District because of its lackluster scores. It brought in a peppy new principal, changed its schedule, and tried to implement a slew of changes to how teachers teach, sometimes rankling teachers and their union.

So what happened? Well, Montgomery saw some big gains on the state test.

The percentage of students who met state goals in math, for instance, more than doubled. The share of students meeting state goals grew nearly 13 percent in English, nearly 15 percent in history and 12 percent in science. I haven't heard the official word yet, but the scores likely mean that Montgomery will avoid state takeover.

* Scores also surged at another school under siege: King-Chavez Arts Academy.

This charter school in Barrio Logan has had a roller coaster of a year. After the controversial firing of most of its teachers two years ago, the school landed on a state list of persistently low-achieving schools that are supposed to create dramatic plans to turn themselves around. But at the same time that it was being labeled as a failure, the Arts Academy saw English scores rise 14 percent and math by nearly 23 percent.

* We also profiled another school that landed on that state list of low achieving schools: Burbank Elementary. Scores jumped there, too, giving some credence to its plans to keep on with reforms it has already started rolling out, instead of reversing course.

* Finally, we stopped into San Ysidro High to see how teachers like Jessica Vargas were trying to toughen up classes to help English learners pass the high school exit exam.
In every grade, more English learners reached state goals, though it is still quite rare -- 8 percent instead of 2 percent among high school juniors, for instance...

Mayor: Schools Report is ‘Cause for Great Concern’

Mayor: Schools Report is ‘Cause for Great Concern’
Voice of San Diego
Emily Alpert
Jul 20, 2010

A coalition of philanthropists, parents, academics and business leaders aired an updated study of San Diego Unified schools at a press conference today, touting it as a call to action to change the way a "failing school system" is governed.

The University of San Diego study, commissioned by businessman Rod Dammeyer, is likely to be the opening salvo in a longer battle to alter how the school district is run. It draws no conclusions. But simply by airing data on test scores and finances and diagnosing the schools as failing, the group is taking its first public step toward a more concerted, more specific campaign.

The report was built largely on publicly available data from the California Department of Education from 2002 to 2009...

For instance, the report noted that on a national math and reading exam, at least two-thirds of students tested last year were still falling short. Achievement gaps have grown between white students and their black and Hispanic classmates... the report also noted bright spots, such as a decreased dropout rate.

Sanders said he supported efforts to reexamine how the school district is governed, aligning him with the new group. But he did not invoke the idea of a larger school board, an idea the group has quietly discussed. It was the first public event for the coalition, which includes dozens of members ranging from Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs to retired educator Linda Sturak to San Diego State professor emeritus Alberto Ochoa...


‘We Have No Idea Where You’re Coming From’
Voice of San Diego
Emily Alpert
July 22, 2010

...Scott Himelstein, the leader of the newly named San Diegans 4 Great Schools, explained that his group was disappointed with test scores in the local schools and believed "governance" -- a buzzword that translates into "how the school board works" -- was a big part of the problem. Dramatic changes in the school board have caused superintendent churn, he said, causing wild swings in direction.

Several at the meeting agreed that the schools needed help. Community Council President Scott Hasson said he believed the schools were "in a shambles." Conroy said he was aggravated that so few graduates seemed to know the basics for science careers...

How Schools Can Boost Students’ Reading Scores

Here is a guest post by Anna Miller:

The verdict is in and the result is not really flattering for children in the USA – according to the survey conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the reading scores (a dismal 221 on a scale of 500) of fourth graders across the nation has not improved at all over the period of a year. The same tests conducted for eighth graders did not show much improvement either with the scores rising just one point (from 263 to 264) in a whole year. There is more reason to hang our heads in shame when we consider that this lack of improvement is despite the efforts of the No Child Left Behind law and the Reading First program that was a part of it. So where are we going wrong and what can schools do to boost their students’ reading scores?

• Get them to read, read and read some more: The best and easiest way to easily understand what you read and be able to infer facts from what you have read is to read as much as you can. The more you read, the more your comprehensive ability increases. The written word does so much more than tell you a story – it improves your vocabulary, boosts your comprehension capabilities, and even allows you to become a writer in your own right. So if schools want to get their students to improve their reading scores, they must encourage and insist on reading habits right from the time the child is able to make sense of a string of words.

• Minimize the use of technology in the classroom: While technology is a good thing, there are times when it hinders with the natural learning process by allowing you to take shortcuts that don’t help your brain in the long run. So if students are permitted to use calculators to work out formulae, if they’re allowed to use cell phones to remember vital facts, and if they’re allowed to look up the Internet for the solution to every single problem they’re given, how are their brains going to be pushed enough to develop and grow? Reading and comprehension skills are associated with the ability to reason and infer facts and solutions from the given set of information. So unless children are allowed to challenge their brains in more ways than one, they will always remain poor readers and writers.

Reading is as important as, if not more important than Mathematics and the Sciences because it forms the basis for every other subject. If you’re able to comprehend the essence of a paragraph with just one reading, you don’t really have to struggle to study the subject in question. Reading itself constitutes studying, so that’s all the more reason for schools to focus on boosting their students’ reading scores.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degree. She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com

Reference

In spite of high-profile efforts to improve the reading skills of the USA's poorest schoolchildren over the past several years, their reading abilities barely improved last year compared with 2007, results of a federally administered test show.

Reading scores essentially didn't budge in 2009, both for students overall and minority students, according to results issued Wednesday on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. Fourth-graders' scores were unchanged at 221 points on a 500-point scale, and those of eighth-graders rose just one point, from 263 to 264.

ILLITERACY: Why Johnny still can't read.

San Diego reading scores improve slightly

San Diego reading scores improve slightly
By Maureen Magee
San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 21, 2010

BECOMING A BETTER READER

Want your child to be a good reader? Here are a few tips:

• Before your children start school, read to them for 30 minutes every day. Ask them to find letters and words on the page, and talk with your children about the story.

• Have plenty of children’s books in your home, and visit the library regularly. Let your kids pick out their own books.

• Set a good example by reading newspapers, magazines and books.

• Set up a reading area in your home. Keep books that interest your children in places where they can easily reach them.

• Ask your children to describe their daily events. Talking about their experiences makes children think about them. Giving detailed descriptions and telling complete stories also helps children learn about how stories are written and what the stories they read mean.

• Limit television time.

SOURCE: Reading Is Fundamental (rif.org)

San Diego’s fourth- and eighth-graders made modest gains on a federal reading assessment administered in the nation’s largest urban school districts, according to data released Thursday.

The “Nation’s Report Card” shows results of reading tests taken by fourth- and eighth-graders last academic year in 18 big-city districts.

Administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the tests gauge students on their ability to comprehend, interpret and evaluate various types of text — from poetry to nonfiction.

The average score for San Diego fourth-graders improved by 3 points to 213 from the 2007 assessment. That’s above the average score of 210 for other large-city districts in 2009, but the overall national average was 220.

Although the jump in scores was deemed statistically insignificant by NAEP, 29 percent of San Diego fourth-graders scored at or above the proficient level in 2009, compared with the 25 percent who scored proficient or higher in 2007.

Among San Diego eighth-graders, 25 percent of students scored at or above proficient in 2009, up from the 23 percent who ranked proficient or better in 2007.

For local eighth-graders, the average score was 254 last year, two points higher than the average score of 252 for large cities and below the national average of 262. In 2007, the average eighth-grader’s score was 250 on the same exam.

At least one expert believes the “relatively flat” performance may have something to do with the churn of superintendents in the San Diego Unified School District.

“San Diego has kind of been stuck. It hasn’t been moving very much lately compared to some of the other urban districts like Atlanta, New York and District of Columbia,” said David Gordon, a member of the governing board that steers the National Assessment of Educational Progress. “Improvements in reading have been made where there is consistent and stable leadership and focused professional development.”

San Diego is searching for its fourth schools chief in less than five years, and the district has earned a reputation for fostering difficult relationships between its superintendents and school board.

Consistency with leadership, curriculum and teaching is a trend among urban districts that have made the most gains in reading scores, said Gordon, who is also the Sacramento County superintendent of schools.

In 2009, San Diego Unified’s eighth-graders were in the national spotlight for their impressive gains in math scores administered by NAEP. But progress in math, Gordon said, does not always rely as heavily on administrative consistency.

Troubling to educators is evidence that the persistent achievement gap between white students and their minority counterparts continues, the scores show. For example, the average score of a Hispanic fourth-grader in San Diego was 43 points lower than the average score for white students, according to the 2009 data. That’s a deeper chasm than the 36-point difference reported in 2003. The gap also grew between students who qualify for government-subsidized meals compared with those who don’t. San Diego Unified officials saw the good and the bad in the latest statistics...

Washington D.C. a bright spot in U.S. reading test data

Michelle Rhee, controversial superintendent of DC schools, will be happy to see this.

Reading scores stalled under 'No Child' law, report finds D.C. fourth-graders a bright spot in disappointing 2009 data
By Nick Anderson and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 25, 2010

Reading achievement in D.C. public schools has climbed in the fourth grade in recent years, the federal government reported Wednesday, while progress nationwide has stalled despite huge instructional efforts launched under the No Child Left Behind law.

A report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that fourth-grade scores for the nation's public schools stagnated after the law took effect in 2002, rose modestly in 2007 and remained unchanged last year. By contrast, the long-troubled D.C. schools have made steady advances since 2003, although their scores remain far below the national average.

The national picture for eighth-grade reading was largely the same: a slight uptick in performance since 2007, but no gain in the seven years when President George W. Bush's program for school reform was in high gear. The District's eighth-grade reading scores showed meager growth in that time.

When Bush signed the law, hopes were high for a revolution in reading. Billions of dollars were spent, especially in early grades, to build fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and a love of books that would propel students in all subjects. The goal was to eliminate racial and ethnic achievement gaps. But Wednesday's report shows no great leaps for the nation and stubborn disparities in performance between white and black students, among others...

Test scores matter for firemen in in Connecticut but not for teachers in California

Why did New Haven create a formula that relied 60% on a multiple choice test? It's not that I have anything against multiple choice tests. It's just that I can think of jobs where such tests are more important, but are not used at all!

Teachers don't take tests to get raises. But they should.



Supreme Court rules in favor of Conn. firefighters
Group accused city of racial discrimination
Boston Globe
By Joseph Williams

WASHINGTON - A sharply divided US Supreme Court ruled yesterday in favor of a group of white firefighters who accused the city of New Haven of racial discrimination, potentially making it much harder for employers to bring racial balance to the workplace, while handing ammunition to critics of high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on the eve of her confirmation hearings.


The 5-to-4 ruling struck down the decision of a three-judge federal appeals court panel that included Sotomayor, President Obama’s first Supreme Court pick and the first Latino chosen to serve on the nation’s highest court. Since her nomination, conservative Republicans have attacked Sotomayor’s views on racial preferences and stirring up hot-button questions about whether diversity and background should be considered for a lifetime judicial appointment. If confirmed, Sotomayor would replace retiring Justice David Souter, who agreed with her and sided with New Haven in the case.

Conservative legal analysts were quick to link the ruling, issued on the last day of the court’s session, to Sotomayor.

“It suggests that we have somebody who’s quite out of sync with the right approach to the law in this area,’’ said Roger Clegg, who heads the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank.

At the same time, legal analysts said the court’s decision dramatically shifts the affirmative action landscape. Opponents of race-based preferences cheered the ruling as a major step toward a society that doesn’t place significance on color, while supporters said the majority ignored the ongoing need for remedies to past discrimination, virtually wiping out advances made over the last quarter century.

Marge Baker, executive vice president for policy and program planning at People For the American Way, a liberal advocacy group, said the ruling is more evidence that Chief Justice John Roberts is presiding over “a piecemeal dismantling of really, really important civil rights protections.’’

“It’s going to make it harder for the typical employer to make choices in their employment decisions with an eye toward achieving some kind of racial diversity,’’ said Stephen Vladeck, an American University constitutional law professor. “These choices will invariably be seen as discriminatory against whites. The court has been moving this way for some time.’’

At the heart of the case is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which makes it illegal to base hiring decisions on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.’’

Although New Haven had tried to make its promotion examination race-neutral, too many whites and Latinos and too few African Americans met the standard for promotion. The city, worried that it would be sued by black firefighters, voided exam results and did not promote any of the white firefighters, even though they scored high enough to advance...

The testing gap all but eliminated when Obama at peak

Voice of San Diego
DAVID WASHBURN
January 23, 2009
SDSU Researcher Finds 'Obama Effect'

The performance gap between black and white Americans when it comes to test-taking was significantly narrowed during key points in Barack Obama's ascension to the U.S. presidency, according to a study by San Diego State University researcher David Marx.

Over a three-month period last year, Marx and researchers from Northwestern and Vanderbilt universities administered an online verbal exam, which resembled the Graduate Record Exam, to 84 black Americans and 388 white Americans -- a breakdown equivalent to the overall U.S. population.

The results showed that whites scored better than their black counterparts on tests administered during periods when Obama's achievements were the least visible. However, during the points in the campaign when Obamamania was at its peak, the performance gap was all but eliminated.

"Barack Obama has been widely heralded as a role model for Black-Americans because he inspires hope," said Marx, an SDSU professor of psychology in a news release. "This research provides evidence that this election has had a concrete beneficial effect on Black-Americans on at least this one measurable area of academic performance."...

[Maura Larkins' comment: I have noticed since the election that I see more African-Americans shopping at my local Costco, and they are more likely to catch my eye and smile. I've also noticed that people of color, of every ethnicity, seem to be smiling more.]

Kids were divided by race and sent to very different pep rallies at school

I'm sure their hearts were in the right place, but the people who planned these rallies didn't use their heads. Actually, I'm not sure their hearts were in the right place. I think they just wanted to manipulate kids into scoring higher on tests.

All the kids should have been together to enjoy jazz and other cool music from people of various races. It actually sounds like the white kids got the worst pep talk. They surely should have been given something more than test scores to strive for. The goal is to learn a lot in order to accomplish a lot in life, not just to score well on a test to make administrators happy.

Maybe what we need is basic thinking skills testing for administrators.


Cheers and Jeers
NEA Today
Sep 2007
by Simpson, Nadine


While one California principal turns to race-based pep rallies to make a difference in high-stakes testing, educators are finding better ways to make their voices heard about NCLB.

HERE'S JUST ANOTHER example of how pressure to meet demands of the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) has some administrators making unusual decisions: This past school year. Black students walking into a pep rally at Mount Diablo High School in Concord, California, were greeted with jazz and Martin Luther King Jr. posters, while their Asian and Hispanic peers were sent to separate pep rallies. And White students? One told a local paper that organizers opened her rally by calling the kids "White people," then flashed slides with recently released state standardized test scores, encouraging them to aim even higher in the future.

The segregated pep rallies suggest that no matter how hard educators work to help their students bridge the achievement gaps, it's not always enough for antsy administrators.

Mount Diablo High's principal doesn't see what the fuss over the pep rallies is all about-and there most certainly was one when news of the events became public. Beverly Hansen says the assemblies were meant to inspire students to do better while being honest about the differences in test scores among racial and ethnic groups. She says she doesn't know why parents are so upset; racial statistics have been reported for years and those categories were simply represented in the numbers that were given to the students at the events.

That doesn't wash with Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy. "It's segregation by race, whatever the motivation," he says, adding that the booster sessions show the pressure on educators to increase test scores at all costs. "Separate sessions of students, separated by race, is not a wise decision. One of the purposes of public education is to bring students together to form a common citizenry, and when students are separated by race, public schools are sending a different signal."

NEA is working to send lawmakers a strong signal as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, better known as NCLB, comes up for reauthorization. For more on how NEA is lobbying for effective changes to the law-including using more than test scores to measure student learning and school performance-check out the Association's Positive Agenda for ESEA Reauthorization at www.nea.org/ref7agenda.

- NADINE SIMPSON