A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

1 Raising Student Achievement

Student achievement is improving in America. While much remains to be done, reading and math scores are going up not only among all students, but also among the lowest-performing students as well as students in the highest-poverty schools:^[1]

• Reading scores of nine-year-olds in the highest-poverty schools, where over 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, rose by nearly one grade level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) between 1992 and 1996, reversing a downward trend.

• Between 1994 and 1998, the lowest-achieving fourth-graders showed substantial improvements in reading, largely accounting for the rise in the average reading score among all fourth-graders nationally.

• Reading achievement among eighth- and twelfth-graders has also improved. The percentage of students scoring at or above the basic achievement level on the main NAEP assessment increased between 1994 and 1998.

• In math, the percentage of students scoring at or above the basic level on the main NAEP assessment increased between 1992 and 1996 for fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-graders. In nine states, achievement of students in the highest-poverty schools met or exceeded the national average for all public school students in 1996.

• Math scores of nine-year-olds in the highest-poverty schools rose by one grade level between 1992 and 1996, and math achievement among the lowest-achieving fourth-graders improved roughly one grade level between 1990 and 1996.

HELPING HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS BECOME HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOLS A 1999 study of nine high-performing, high-poverty urban elementary schools, all of which used Title I funds to create schoolwide programs, concludes that "[t]hese schools are a powerful affirmation of the power of Title I to support comprehensive school improvement efforts." The study emphasizes key principles of reform that underlie the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program: instruction aligned to standards and assessments, professional development for teachers, strong partnerships with parents, and extended learning time. At Chicago's James Ward Elementary School, the oldest school in Illinois, 88 percent of students come from low-income families, over 80 percent are non-white, and many are recent immigrants from China. Between 1991 and 1998, the percentage of students scoring at or above the 50th percentile in reading on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills rose from 19 percent to 51 percent, and the percentage of students scoring at or above the 50th percentile in math rose from 43 percent to 63 percent. Scores on State assessments confirm Ward's rapid achievement gains. One key reason for the gains was the district's Lighthouse Program, which provides extended learning time for Ward students as well as English literacy classes for Chinese-speaking parents. At Boston's Harriet Baldwin Elementary School, 80 percent of students come from low-income families, 78 percent come from families that do not speak English at home, and 93 percent are non-white. In 1996, 66 percent of third-graders had partial, little, or no mastery of math, as measured by the Stanford 9 achievement test; in 1998, 100 percent had scores indicating solid or superior academic performance in math. In reading, 56 percent of fourth-graders scored at high levels of proficiency in 1998, up from 25 percent in 1997. Fifth-graders are showing similar progress. The gains resulted from a new research-based literacy program, teacher training in instructional strategies for limited English proficient students, and tutoring programs involving parents, college students, and other community members. Source: Charles A. Dana Center (1999), Hope for Urban Education: A Study of Nine High-Performing, High-Poverty Urban Elementary Schools, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

It is no accident that test scores have risen under this Administration?s watch. Over the past seven years, in collaboration with State and local leaders, the Administration has pursued a vision of education reform based on the idea that all children can learn to high standards. Through innovative legislative proposals, including the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the 1994 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, this Administration has rallied bipartisan support and funding for State efforts to establish challenging academic standards, high-quality assessments to measure school and district progress, and rigorous accountability systems to hold schools and districts accountable for improving student performance. Currently, almost every State in the Nation is implementing high standards and assessments. State indicators^[2] as well as the national indicators above show that our schools are moving in the right direction.

Especially striking is the evidence that the lowest-performing students as well as students in the highest-poverty schools have made substantial gains. During the 1994 reauthorization of Title I, the largest Federal investment in high-poverty schools, this Administration pushed not only for high standards for all students, rich and poor, but also for better targeting of Federal funds so that students in the highest-poverty schools have the resources they need to meet these standards. As a result, Title I funds now reach 95 percent of the highest-poverty schools, up from 79 percent in 1993-94,^[3] and these funds leverage State and local resources toward improving the academic achievement of students in Title I schools. Moreover, since Title I funds mostly go to elementary schools,^[4] the achievement gains among fourth-graders and nine-year-olds in reading and math are particularly noteworthy. Test scores are going up among the very students who benefit from Title I. These gains also reflect the Administration?s efforts to strengthen accountability under Title I and to help high-poverty schools become high-performing schools.

REDUCING CLASS SIZE Project STAR in Tennessee, the largest and most sustained study to date on class size, compared classes of 13 to 17 students with classes of 22 to 26 students. Students in the small classes outperformed students in the large classes on every achievement measure in every year of the study. This was true for white and minority students as well as for students from inner-city, urban, suburban, and rural schools. Indeed, the academic benefit of small classes was greater (often twice as great) for minority students and students attending inner-city schools. The study also shows that higher achievement levels persist through middle school, even when students go back to regular-size classes in fourth grade.

The Administration has implemented other proven strategies for helping all children learn to high standards. Over the past two years, Congress has invested $2.5 billion toward fulfilling the Administration?s proposal to help local communities hire 100,000 qualified teachers over seven years in order to reduce class size in grades one to three to a national average of 18 students. Research demonstrates that reducing class size in the early grades leads to higher student achievement.^[5] Already, school districts receiving these funds have hired over 29,000 qualified teachers and reduced average class size from about 23 students to 18 students in the schools and grades where teachers have been hired (primarily grades one to three), benefiting some 1.7 million students.

SCHOOL SUCCESS THROUGH AFTER-SCHOOL ENRICHMENT At the Oahu Leeward and Wainae Coast Community Learning Centers in Kapolei, Hawaii, elementary and secondary students, many of whom are Native Hawaiian and come from poor families, receive after-school tutoring and homework assistance, intensive literacy education, and enrichment activities in technology and Hawaiian dance. Last year, 46 percent of participants improved their grades in English, 29 percent improved their grades in math, 46 percent improved their grades in social studies, and 42 percent improved their grades in science. The after-school program in Haysville, Kansas has also shown impressive results. Last year, 65 percent of participants improved their reading grades, 65 percent improved their math grades, and 70 percent improved in language arts.

Another key initiative is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which by next year will support over 7,700 after-school and summer programs providing academic support and enrichment activities for 2.5 million students and 750,000 adults in high-need rural and urban communities. Research shows that extended learning time is a key strategy widely used by schools that have boosted student achievement in reading and math.^[6] The number of Title I schools providing extended learning time has increased since the 1994 reauthorization of Title I,^[7] and over the past three years, literally thousands of districts have applied for limited funds.

Moreover, the Administration has made great strides toward enabling children to read well and independently by the end of third grade—the principal goal of the America Reads Challenge. With over 1,400 colleges, universities, and their students participating, America Reads focuses on five strategies for improving reading in the early grades: engaging parents in building children?s pre-literacy skills in early childhood, training teachers through research-based professional development, engaging college students as reading tutors, supporting research and evaluation, and fostering community partnerships. To further support the five strategies of America Reads, the Administration in 1998 won passage of the Reading Excellence Act, the most significant child literacy law in 30 years. The first $232 million in grants are at work in 17 States, and $240 million more will go to additional States this year. Over the past seven years, the Administration has also won increased funding for the family literacy initiative, Even Start, which now supports 800 projects serving 48,000 families.

AMERICA READS New York University was one of the first universities to take advantage of Federal Work-Study funds to support America Reads. NYU now has the Nation's largest America Reads work-study program. More than 700 work-study tutors serve in 61 New York City public elementary schools, reaching thousands of schoolchildren through 6,500 hours of service each week. Energy Express in Morgantown, West Virginia is a six-week summer reading program that prevents both the erosion of skills that makes summertime costly for new readers and the nutritional decline faced by students accustomed to receiving free meals at school. With support from AmeriCorps, college students serve as mentors for children in low-income, rural communities and provide free books and exciting learning experiences to keep children reading. The mentors also provide two nutritious meals each day, making it possible for children to focus on feeding their minds. Source: America Reads Challenge (1999), Ideas at Work: How to Help Every Child Become a Reader, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education

The Administration has further supported reading and math achievement by easing regulations under the Federal Work-Study program to enable college students to serve as reading and math tutors. In 1998-99, over 26,700 work-study students served as reading tutors, up from 22,000 one year earlier, and this year, over $65 million in work-study funds will support community service activities that include reading and math tutoring. Through the Administration?s national service initiative, AmeriCorps, thousands more tutors have helped over four million students learn to read. Moreover, the Administration has worked to ensure that tutors are well-trained: In 1998, America Reads provided $5 million to 40 States to train over 10,000 reading tutors.

The Administration has extended its vision of high standards for all children to minority students, migrant students, homeless students, students with limited English proficiency, and students with disabilities. Schools and districts must account for the educational progress of these students under Title I, and the Administration has worked hard to ensure that ample supports are available, including access to research and promising practices, resources for teacher training and technology, and innovative approaches to increasing parental involvement. With the Administration?s leadership, the reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act focused attention not only on ensuring access to public schools for students with special needs, but also on ensuring that these students get a high-quality education aligned to high standards. Resources to help schools and districts educate increasing populations of immigrant students are more than five times greater now than in 1993, and State grants to support IDEA implementation have increased by 143 percent.

The great promise of higher standards is that they will allow us to move the children in the back row to the front row. And I mean all of our children—children with disabilities or the most recent immigrant child from Central America who is struggling to learn English. Secretary Richard W. Riley State of American Education Address February 2000

Building on its Title I reforms, the Administration set out a new vision of vocational and technical education in the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, emphasizing higher academic achievement and preparation for postsecondary education and careers, not entry-level jobs. Vocational education students must meet the same academic standards as other students, and the Department holds States accountable for meeting agreed-upon student performance goals each year. States that exceed their performance goals are eligible for incentive grants. The Act promises to make vocational and technical education an integral part of State and local efforts to reform secondary schools and improve postsecondary education.

Finally, the Administration in 1997 won a major legal victory when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the First Amendment did not bar public schools from sending Title I-funded teachers into parochial schools to provide supplementary instruction to disadvantaged children.^[8] As a result of the ruling, school districts have saved millions of dollars that previously had to be used for separately educating disadvantaged parochial school students in mobile trailers. School districts may now devote those funds to improving teaching and learning.

⁸ See Agostini v. Felton, 117 S. Ct. 1997 (1997).

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[Introduction]

[2 Strengthening Teacher Quality]