KISD - Classrooms to College: Part 3

As the series continues, I’ll begin with a summary of Parts 1 and 2.

PART 1:  (see full report here) We examined the SAT scores of all Katy ISD students, and compared these numbers to the US News and World Report list of SAT profiles of U.S. colleges. Based on this, I reported that the mean or average graduate of Katy I.S.D. in 2005-06 would fit comfortably into the bottom quartile of the entering freshman class of the University of Texas at Austin.

Breaking the numbers down campus by campus, we learned that the average graduate of Taylor and Cinco Ranch High School would fit comfortably in the middle quarter of the University of Texas, while the average graduate of Katy High School and Mayde Creek High School would find comfort in the middle 50% of Stephen F. Austin.

Since the average is, in fact, just the average, these numbers (as reported by the Texas Education Agency) strongly suggest that significant percentages of Katy I.S.D. graduates are not prepared for college performance. We can know this because TEA reports the percentage of high school graduates that score below the equivalent of 1110 on the math and reading SAT tests.

So while the average graduate fits a profile as described, the data strongly indicates the fact that many Katy I.S.D. students are unprepared for college.

Here are two tables from that report that place the ‘graduate’ of Katy I.S.D. into a national standard.

PART 2:   (see full report here) I introduced the concept of academic disparity in classrooms, and the challenges it presents for teachers and students. I also discussed the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), as a nationally standardized test that is helpful in documenting academic disparity– in a way that is more reliable than can be done by looking at TAKS scores or classroom grades. The PSAT is given on a widespread basis to 10th and 11th graders, and therefore allows access to the “big picture” of the academic skills of a school’s student body.

I also noted that there is a very strong correlation (documented by The College Board) between the score that a student achieves on the 11th grade PSAT and their 12th grade SAT test. Therefore, PSAT scores of 11th graders can be used to help us extrapolate forward to evaluating likely college readiness of Katy ISD students upon graduation.

The goal of Part 3 of the Classroom To College Series is to quantify the wide levels of academic disparity that actually exist among 11th grade students in Katy ISD, as measured by a national standard.  It’s important for you to know that there is hard data behind the numbers this report represents, and therefore you’ll be able to link to the actual scores upon which this analysis is based.

In subsequent reports of this series, we are going to actually use our data to go into real classrooms in Katy ISD. As we look into it further, it will become clear why I submitted public information requests asking about any formal evaluation of curriculum initiatives. The District’s formal responses (that they were required by law to provide) will become even more disturbing to the average citizen in Katy ISD.

Now, let’s now take a closer look at the actual PSAT results of over 2,800 11th grade students in Katy I.S.D. for the 2004-2005 academic year. (Since we are working with 2004-2005 data, Seven Lakes High School and Morton Ranch High School are not included. However, these two schools will be included when we move to more current data.)

The analysis will focus on what these scores can tell us with regard to two issues:

• College Preparation (By using the U.S. News and World Report table, it’s relatively easy to track where Katy I.S.D.’s 11th graders are in relationship to enrolling freshman classes of specific universities.)
• Classroom disparity (The distribution of PSAT scores will be of particular importance when we move into the next phase of reporting this data on a classroom level basis.)

Let’s be candid in our college-preparation assessment:  For the 2004-2005 school year, there were 6% of Katy ISD 11th graders on track to fit comfortably into the top quartile of the highest rated universities in the United States. There are 18% who would be in the lower quartile of one of the lowest rated universities, Huston-Tillotson. What you have left is the bulk (75%) of the 11th grade student body.

The importance of this is pretty basic in regards to the majority of the students who are not at the very top or the very bottom.   The question is: Just how does Katy I.S.D. organize the delivery of secondary education to meet the needs of these students who are not going to Notre Dame, the University of Chicago, Harvard and other elite colleges and programs at other top universities, and who are not going to colleges of the ranking of Huston-Tillotson.

While the TEA data lets you look at the average, this is a preliminary look at everyone. Where is your child?

As you look at the data, you can also compare the disparity among students at the District’s high schools in terms of raw numbers, and as a percentage of students scoring at each performance range. You can view the U.S. News and World Report College Profile again here to help you place the full range of students into a context of college preparation.

In the interest of documentation, we are providing a link to a file that shows the data on which the two tables above were constructed. Scores are arranged from highest to lowest.  Individual student names are not shown, (and were not provided by the district, of course) but rather they are “numbered off” according to how many students fell into any given score range (corresponding to the ranges shown on tables above). You may not want to go through all 58 pages, but George Scott Reports wants you to understand that when we report summary tables like those above, there is hard, empirical data to back them.

KATY ISD 11th GRADE PSAT SCORES FOR 2004-05: Student by student & campus by campus

Now that we have an idea of what these numbers tell us about students’ levels of college readiness, let’s look at these same numbers from another perspective:  These 2,800 students are merged into actual classroom units in Katy I.S.D. How are they merged? How many of each student with vastly different levels of academic skills are in the same classroom?

How do the District’s curriculum management strategies, such as Professional Learning Development and differentiated instruction, cope with this disparity in skills? As noted, future reports will give you the answers to those questions. For now, let’s focus upon quantifying the actual scope of the disparity.

Let’s start by noting that Katy High School and Mayde Creek High School each have over 60% of their 11th graders performing below 1000 on the equivalent composite score in math and reading.

Even at Cinco Ranch and Taylor High School, some 40% or more perform at that level.

While Taylor and Cinco Ranch High School have higher percentages of top performers, each high school has significant percentages of low performers. The data is explicit. It is irrefutable.

It’s critical to note something at this point: If you are a parent, understand that a similar table based on classroom grades would not document this level of disparity among students. Frequency distribution reports from the TAKS test do not document this level of disparity among students.

However, a national standard of the PSAT does identify this wide disparity. As a parent, you have every right to choose whatever standard you want to use to evaluate the needs of your child. However, if you are interested as to what world your child is poised to enter, you might find a national standard more relevant.

This data raises many questions that will be addressed in future installments. However, it is first vital that the data itself be recognized as real. The questions to be raised include:

Is an advanced placement course in upper level math, language or science taught at the same uniform rigor at each of the high schools?

In fact, is an advancement placement course in upper level math, language or science taught at the same uniform rigor even within the same campus?

Are there students in advanced placement classes who do not have the requisite academic skills to successfully pursue high-level academic courses?

Are good, solid students that are in regular academic classes receiving the level of instruction they are fully capable of mastering?  Or, is that level of instruction fatally compromised by the inclusion of students within the classroom whose academic skills are severely deficient?

Is the level of disparity among students in each classroom unit so great that the classroom teacher’s burden of meeting the needs of each students borders on ‘mission impossible?’

Here’s the bottom line to Part 3:

The facts document that students in Katy ISD possess an extraordinary range of academic skills.

Just how these students are organized into classroom units plays a powerful role in determining the ability of their classroom teacher to successfully meet the needs of each of these students.

Longer term, the issue of just how school districts design and build high schools will become a very important issue to you and the people of Katy I.S.D.

Part 4 of this series will take a similar look at the 10th grade PSAT results. While we make some reference to using this data to look ahead to college, the primary purpose of using the 10th grade results will be to further document the academic disparity of students in the District.

That will facilitate our subsequent entry into the arena of classroom-by-classroom analysis.

TAKS, Classroom Grades, and PSAT Scores: The Three Musketeers, or Separated at Birth?

Take note, concerned parents: TAKS scores, classroom grades and PSAT scores — particularly in math courses such as Algebra II–just don’t match up. In a nutshell, this is the finding of a recent statistical analysis of the academic performance of high school math students in Katy I.S.D. Read more