“The Impact of Early College High Schools on the Academic Achievement of Minority School Districts”
Tisan Rasool Dawud
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………….
Significance of the Problem………………………….
Theoretical Rationale………………………………..
Relevant Literature………………………………….
Problem Statement……………………………………
Research Questions…………………………………..
Introduction
There is an inequality amongst predominantly White school districts and low-income minority school districts and it has had an adverse effect on college readiness. A significant part of the reason is due to a lack of funding and lower access to effective resources in the predominant minority schools. The funding in minority schools has been redirected to charter schools, voucher programs, and school choice. This has caused a reduction in the amount of equitable teachers, instructional materials, and technology needed to prepare them for college. The classes that are offered in minority school districts lack the rigor necessary to motivate and properly prepare the students for college.
The effects of these differences in the resources and quality of education has resulted in an imbalance in the academic achievement and services offered to minorities when compared to their White counterparts. “The Nation’s Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress” found that students who didn’t have free lunch in predominantly White districts scored 37 points higher on a national reading test than students that received lunch in low-income minority districts. A study found that only one-third of predominantly African American/Latino high schools offer Calculus while 56% of predominantly White districts offer the rigorous mathematics class (Jao and Associated Press). There is also a significantly lower amount of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Advance Placement (AP) courses offered in minority school districts.
Districts located in minority dominated areas are suffering with the teachers having the ability to properly educate the students and get them college ready. Teachers in these areas are twice more likely not to have the certification or experience to teach the subject than predominantly White districts (Jao and Associated Press). Dr. Matthew Lynch, former Dean of Education at Virginia Union states that amongst minority students, African American students are most likely to attend a school system that has unqualified teachers (Lynch). This has resulted in a disproportionate amount African American students receiving a substandard education. James E. Ford of the N.C. State Board of Education and Executive Director of the Center for Racial Equity in Education and Dr. Nicholas Triplett of the University of North Carolina finds that the qualifications of quality teachers are the biggest factor when determining student achievement. Their research further finds that students with unqualified teachers will have a long-term effect of being behind for multiple years. Students of qualified teachers are found to be more likely to attend college, earn a higher salary, as well as not have children during their teenage years (Ford and Triplett). The results of the lack of qualified teachers causes a generation to generation effect on the financial status of minorities.
Significance of the Problem
The lack of rigor in the curriculum and students of color not being challenged in their high school classes have resulted in a low number of minority students going into STEM related fields. Evidence of this has been found in the STEM workforce. African Americans and Latino workers are not proportionately represented in the STEM workforce when compared to their percentage of the population (Jao and Associated Press). STEM supplies and educational resources in minority districts are significantly lower and are causing a lack of student achievement in STEM fields.
In a 2018 report delivered to the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, and Senate Majority Leader, the United States Commission on Civil Rights said that the public school system is economically and racially segregated. The commission found that “in 90 of the 95 of the largest cities in the U.S., students of color are more likely to attend public schools with low-income students than are White students” (Lhamon et al. 13). The report went on to say that 77% of Hispanic students and 73% of African American students attend schools with students of color while 88% of White students attend predominantly White schools.
There is a big discrepancy between Whites and African American in acquiring college degrees. Although the difference in graduating with an Associate’s degree was only 1%, Dr. Andrew Howard Nichols and J. Olier Schak of The Education Trust found a 16.3% difference once you include the completion of bachelor’s and graduate degrees (Nichols and Schak). In addition, they concluded that 23.7% of Whites have earned a bachelor’s degree while only 14.0% of African American adults have earned a bachelor’s degree. These inconsistencies in higher education cause a noteworthy impact on the economic disadvantages of minorities and need to be addressed.
Although the United States has increased its spending on education during the last 100 years, little has been accomplished because it is investing the money in the wrong places. Civil-rights Commissioners Peter Kirsanow and Gail Heriot of the United States Commission on Civil Rights stated that this spending over the last 10 decades has had little to no results on student achievement. According to a long-term study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, reading scores for nine year olds only increased from 208 to 221 over a forty year period. Reading scores for thirteen year olds increased from 255 to 263 during the same time frame. Math scores for nine year olds increased from 210 to 244 and math scores for thirteen year olds increased from 266 to 285. Shockingly, the reading and math scores of seventeen year olds did not experience an increase that was significant enough to mention. The same study elucidated that the spending doubled when spending in the past was represented in current dollars (Mulder).
Theoretical Rationale – Behaviorism
The educational philosophy of our research on early college high school is aligned with behaviorism. John B. Watson was the founder of this theory and in 1913 stated the following, “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors” (Cherry). Behaviorists find that the behaviors of students are a result of their conditioning. The students actions and conducts are a consequence to their surroundings. John B. Watson’s bold statement applies this concept to any child, irrespective of their background, ethnicity, lineage, or situation, can be influenced and shaped to have any outcome as a result of their environment and influences.
The early college high school strives to serve the students that will more than likely not attend college, and if they do, it’s highly probable that they will probably drop out and won’t obtain a degree. The research attributes this to the student’s surroundings. Most of the students that attend early college high schools are minorities from low-income areas. Overall our research finds that their environment consists of poverty and a lower emphasis on education when compared to higher income White suburban school districts. Our research refers to the minority students as underrepresented in higher education because they aren’t proportional in the population when compared to White students in obtaining college degrees.
These underrepresented students in college completion are introduced to the college environment early in high school to improve the number of minorities going to college and increase their chances of completing their degree. The students are also mentored which gives them the necessary nurturing and influences they normally wouldn’t receive in their high school classes. These components help to change the conditions of the students and are derived from behaviorism. In addition, the high school students are exposed to a different environment that fosters a rigor and maturity that isn’t implemented in K-12 classrooms. Some of our research suggests that the climate and culture of schools in low-income districts isn’t conducive to preparing the students for college and as a result the students aren’t successful in completing the degree. Early college high schools attempt to provide an environment that nurtures the students and changes the narrative of their education by making several adjustments to their conditions and circumstances.
Problem Statement
Due to the significantly lower rates of minorities applying and/or completing college, there is a need in the U.S. for programs to be enacted to assist minorities in gaining equity to acquire degrees in higher education (Nichols and Schak). The purpose of this research is to find out if early college high schools have the ability to help minorities obtain college degrees. There are multiple steps and hurdles that must be overcome to make a significant impact to accomplish this goal. As we will see in the current literature, there are a wide array of opinions as to if early college high schools have the ability to accomplish the goals that they set out to accomplish.
The purpose of this research is to investigate if there is a significant difference in the student achievement of 11th graders at an early college high school and compare it to a traditional comprehensive high school in the same school district. Both high schools are from the same area and draw students from the same background, socioeconomic background, and racial mix within the same city. Early college high schools attempt to provide minority students with an aggressive exposure to college classes, nurturing, and mentoring. All of this is done while addressing the socio-emotional needs of the students. It is the intention of the researcher to see if it will increase the amount of minority students that will go and graduate from college. The researcher will gauge student achievement by comparing the results of the state standardized test. Attendance plays a major part in helping students to become successful in school so the attendance, suspension, and dropout rates of both high schools will be compared.
Research Questions and Hypothesis
- How does an early college high school affect student achievement in high school?
- Can early college high school increase the college graduation rates of minorities?
- Do early college high schools improve attendance?