Minorities do best in the best schools!
Minorities Do Best in the Best Schools
Too often the Clover Park School District (CPSD) cites academic disparities between White and minority students as the basis for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The implication is that without “woke” support minority students are just not able to compete with Whites academically. This myth is perpetuated along with statistics on free lunch, poverty, military-connected students, race, ethnicity, kindergarten unpreparedness, etc., as recounted in the November 2022 issue of Inside Schools.
I’ve just completed a mini-analysis of the disparity in academic performance between Blacks, Hispanics, 2+race/ethnicity, and White students. Depending on how you do the analysis you find out that the myth, as currently expressed, is that Blacks, Hispanics and 2+race/ethnicity are ”marginalized groups” who have great disparities in academic performance when compared to Whites. Surprising how the academic performance of Asian and on-base, military-connected students doesn’t support this assertion!
The so-called disparity just isn’t so when comparing schools that are succeeding within a District which on the whole is failing.
I did an analysis of Beachwood, Carter Lake, Meriwether and Rainier elementary schools’ scores in ELA, Math and Science (spotty data) and the CPSD as a whole for Black, Hispanic, 2+race/ethnicity and Whites. These schools are the top four elementary schools in the District that just happen all to be located on Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), compared to District schools located outside of JBLM.
The following figures are the percentage of students who meet Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) standards, which can be obtained from the OSPI Report Card website:
https://washingtonstatereportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/100047
(The figures shown in RED are scores that fall below the CPSD average for White ELA, Math and Science.)
ELA MATH SCIENCE
Beachwood
Black 63 63
Hispanic 63 64 38
2+race/ethnicity 82 82
White 67 65 63
Carter Lake
Black 55 31 60
Hispanic 63 50 67
2+race/ethnicity 53 42
White 69 54 54
Meriwether
Black 46 55
Hispanic 50 50
2+race/ethnicity 73 67
White 60 52 68
Rainer
Black 49 32
Hispanic 51 43 67
2+race/ethnicity 52 55
White 59 52 58
CPSD average across all schools
Black 31 16 24
Hispanic 34 20 23
2+race/ethnicity 41 24 27
White 47 34 42
Note that the OSPI Report Card scores for Black, Hispanic and 2+race/ethnicity groups in these four elementary schools in most cases far exceed those for the District’s White population scores and even more so for their racial/ethnic groups. There are only four instances (out of thirty) where their performance drops slightly below that of the general White population. Apparently, a rising tide does indeed lift all boats!
Want to raise the performance of minority students? Then raise the performance of the individual school! If equity has any purpose, it is at those schools that need it most, regardless of race/ethnicity or any other group identification.
Minorities, and everyone else for that matter, do best in the best schools.
Minoritiesdobest