Saturday, March 24, 2012
Week #2 of Cedo565 Leadership and Planning
This week we looked at data from our school we teach at. I actually enjoyed this a lot. I wasn't sure if looking at data would intrigue me much, but it really opened my eyes to how my school has changed in recent years. The school I teach at is Appleton West High School. One huge change that has been happening to my school is a change of demographics. As recently as 1995-96, West had a minority student population of 5%. Most of these students were Hmong students who live in Appleton. However, if you look at our demographics of current students, we now have 30% of our population who are minority students. We have many more Hispanic and African American students who have moved here from other parts of the country. Although are demographics have changed immensely, our performance on state tests scores aren't much different than they have been in the past. They are lower, but most categories are 2 to 3 points lower than they were 10 years ago. Act scores really haven't changed at all, still scoring, on average, around 23 points. It really is amazing to see how diverse our school is now and I really enjoy the challenge of helping all different types of students and learning about their back grounds and ways that help them succeed in school.
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Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the scores in different subjects changed along with the demographics. For example have the language and reading scores changed more than math and science? With a greater percentage of minorities, I would also expect a greater percentage of people with English as a second language, and I wonder if that shows up in test scores. How has you school adapted to the changing demographics?
John, I think our school has done a great job at changing with the changing demographics. We currently have cultural specialist for Hmong, Hispanic and African American students. These people work with students and families to help them in school and I think they are a huge impact because students feel more comfortable at times with people of the same background. I imagine that our English scores do take a hit mainly due to the percentage of English Language learners in our school.
DeleteI really liked reading what you discovered about your school. Many people think that when a minority grows in their school their scores will go down too. However, I think that is just an excuse. You school proves that and shows that minorities are there to be just another students like the rest. Thank your for sharing your schools successes.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me to hear of other schools demographics as we talked about during group time, we are very much the opposite of diversity. Did you grow up in a similar school to the one for which you work?
ReplyDeleteBecause your district is becoming more diverse, and you did mention that scores have dipped a little, I wonder if you would be able to look at test results by ethnicity to see if there is a specific demographic that is scoring significantly lower than other ethnic groups. I imagine that having such a shift in the student population can make a difference, whether or not the impact is felt right away in the way of test results. It could be interesting and proactive to dig a little deeper into the demographics to see if there is one group with greater needs than the rest and then develop a plan to promote increased achievement...just a thought!
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