low-income urban schools

(re: http://taksboycott.blogspot.com/2006/06/stupid-if-you-fail-criminal-if-you.html)

yes, it is harder to attract good teachers and harder for students to pass the TAKS in urban schools. why? well, within cities...
1. the average class size is larger
2. there is more bureaucracy, which means more paperwork and less time for teaching
3. even when pay is equivalent, the cost of living in Dallas is much higher than in a small town, so in real terms urban teachers earn less
4. students are more likely to have a single parent, and more likely to have no stay at home parent

we can solve 1, 2, and 3. smaller classes have high correlation with achievement. small classes are actually more important than parents' income or parents' educational level.

as for number 4, that's a societal problem. it decreases parental involvement, extra-curricular activities, and homework completion rates. parental involvement at urban schools is always a challenge. some charter schools in Dallas, Houston, and Austin succeed at bringing in parents - and not coincidentally, they have small class sizes...

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considering your point, that there "some of the kids in my children's school that come from money, and they did not score as well," that's certainly common. rich kids can and do blow off classes and tests. i'm glad that many students do not blow off the test, and i'm glad that some parents are involved in the schools even though they don't make much money.

but you miss my point. i don't mean that YOU specifically have money. i mean there are numerous kids at your school with money - that is, at least middle class ($40,000/year). which means the school receives more property tax support, and parents show up for more activities. as i wrote, at wealthy schools, even low-income kids do well. the intense problems are when almost all (over 80%) children are below the poverty line.

don't think of income for individuals. think of it for the district as a whole.
1. what percentage live in public housing? (this means no property tax revenue)
2. what percentage of kids depend on free lunch?
3. what percentage miss class because they stay home to babysit siblings?
4. what percentage live in a neighborhood with gang activity?
5. how much must teachers spend to buy the supplies the district bureaucracy failed to deliver?

each of these factors makes it harder for teachers and students in urban districts to get perfect scores on TAKS. my point is we must stop adding burdens of unequal funding. Fort Bend ISD has smaller classes and higher per-student-spending than Edgewood ISD. if it is harder to find good teachers for urban districts, we need to encourage this.

how? well, equalize class sizes and funding. support "Teach For America," a loan forgiveness program which places recent graduates in low-income districts - the Bush administration cut the funding for this successful program in 2006.

finally, people need to realize that success on TAKS does not indicate good teaching. it indicates high income and time spent on TAKS strategies. strategies which do not translate to college achievement, and only take away from the time spent on real teaching. allow teachers to teach reading, writing, math, science, and history instead of rote memorization.

a verifiable, normed test has its place in public schools, but the TAKS is neither verifiable nor properly normed. even the company that makes this test says Texas is using it improperly, because standardized tests do not work as standalone instruments. once we fix the test, it should be part of a Multiple Criteria Assessment, which gives a comprehensive view of what students have learned, by combining
1. objective measurement (grades and tests)
2. qualitative evaluation by teachers
3. a long-term student portfolio

- kip