Which school do you want to support?
Most Californians, when asked, express concern about the public school system. The concern isn't limited to California. Gallup, the polling company, reports that public confidence in schools has fallen by half since its peak in 1975.
Beneath this general concern about the quality of public education, however, lies a paradox: parents generally think that their own school is just fine.
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) conducts an annual survey that asks Californians to rate the quality of the schools in their neighborhood. About half award a grade of A or B. These numbers are very stable from year to year. Public school parents are even more sanguine than residents generally: in 2012, 60% gave their neighborhood schools a grade of A or B. In 2017, 61% did so.
In other words: “The system is broken, but I guess my school is fine.”
Less than 30% of African American and Latino students qualify to even apply to a four year college
Unfortunately, this confidence is misplaced. Improving College Pathways in California, a 2017 study by PPIC, collected data on what actually happened to 472,324 California high school students on their journey to and through college. (Not an easy task, as we will discuss in our lesson about California's flimsy education data systems.) Using this data, they predict the future fate of students that entered 9th grade in 2017. According to their estimate, "only 30% of 9th graders will earn a high school diploma and complete the a–g college preparatory courses." (More about these courses later).
The 30% prediction conceals significant variations. Girls are more likely to graduate high school ready for college than than boys are, for example. Students from higher-income families succeed at higher rates. Race and ethnicity have predictive power, too. According to the model, "Only 25 percent of African American 9th graders will complete both high school and the a–g courses, compared to 65 percent of Asian Americans."
Sources: Radford et. al. "Persistence and Attainment of 2003–04 Beginning Postsecondary Students After 6 Years.” ; Shapiro et. al. "Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates." 2012 student clearinghouse data. Click chart for detail.
In other words: “Kids in general aren’t getting the education they need, but I guess mine will be fine.”
It's human nature to hear what you want to hear, and to look at what you want to see. Parents want to believe the best about their kids. It's also human nature (and good manners) to prefer to deliver bad news gently, with an emphasis on the positive. Teachers are no exception. Is it any wonder that parents prefer to draw conclusions about how their kids are doing from report cards and parent-teacher conferences, rather than from their kids' scores on standardized tests?
Sources: NCES; Learning Heroes "Parents 2016: Hearts & Minds of Parents in an Uncertain World" (Click image for full report.)
Standardized tests aren't the only things that matter, but they deserve unflinching attention. These scores deliver straightforward information about your child's learning progress without preamble or excuses. These scores are the clearest way to tell if your student is on track, academically. It can be awfully tempting to look away.
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) commissioned research about how parents get information about their kids' progress. They found that parents overwhelmingly prefer report cards and conferences, and that Latino families rely on test scores even less than parents in general.
The tendency for wishful thinking (perhaps more accurately choice-supportive bias) does not seem to vary much with results. Communities whose schools have been chronically ineffective nevertheless give their schools passing grades. Over half of students who repeatedly failed the high school exit exam (now defunct) still said in surveys that they expected to go to college. In the movie Waiting for Superman, Davis Guggenheim colorfully points out the huge gap between American students' confidence of their success and the reality of their results.
This disconnect is human nature. Virtually everyone behind the wheel sees him or herself as an above-average driver. Teachers and parents rate themselves as above-average, too, and extend their beliefs about themselves to the students in their care, like a nation of Lake Wobegon kids. Unfortunately for kids, in this case human nature doesn't serve them well.
The next lesson explores some good news: there are reasons to believe that California's school results are getting better.
Updated May 2018.
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Jeff Camp - Founder August 2, 2017 at 8:45 am
Carol Kocivar July 19, 2017 at 3:24 pm
One takeaway: Perception changes depending on how success is measured.
"Current data systems, which consist primarily of standardized-test scores, misrepresent school quality. They say more about family income than they do about schools. And they say very little about the many things that good schools do."
Jeff Camp - Founder April 3, 2017 at 4:38 pm
wtgoddess May 31, 2015 at 5:48 am
wtgoddess April 7, 2015 at 5:57 am
jenzteam February 27, 2015 at 6:48 am
Jeff Camp - Founder February 27, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Jeff Camp - Founder January 10, 2015 at 10:29 am
His net advice: differences in expectations make "attitude" questionnaires a poor tool for comparing schools.
celia4pta September 25, 2014 at 9:06 pm
Twenty years ago my sister in another state was complaining about her daughter's "large" class of 19 when my child was in a class of 35. And it has not exactly gotten better since.
We are trying not to blame our local educators or add to the "Schools Suck Industry" that John Mockler likes to refer to.
It seems like we end up with a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. If schools are not doing well, then politicians and a certain segment of the population say, "Why throw money at a failing system." If schools are succeeding, why give more resources? The schools are seen as efficient. (See the Orange County Register for calculations on efficient use of school funds.)
Either way, the answer is the same: no additional resources.
Celia
Sherry Schnell January 22, 2015 at 9:25 am
anamendozasantiago February 5, 2015 at 5:27 pm
This gifted school receives around 400 application of qualified students but they only allow 60 students in. What a waste of wonderful, talented minds.
Jeff Camp - Founder February 5, 2015 at 6:21 pm
Brandi Galasso February 7, 2015 at 8:06 pm
Caprice Young March 7, 2011 at 12:41 am
In some neighborhoods, though, there aren't any good choices. In South Los Angeles, for example, a group of local parents and educators took stock of their local schools and didn't like what they saw. Fifty percent and higher dropout rates for African American students, illiteracy extending into high school, and unsafe school environments, drove them to create the Inner City Education Foundation public schools. ICEF is committed to educating all students to the highest levels, ensure that every one graduates, gets accepted to a top college and is competitive once there. With a 97 percent graduation rate, a 100 percent college going rate, with 90 percent of graduates attending four year colleges and with 90 percent still in school and on track-- ICEF parents are proud of the schools they created.
It may seem extreme to start your own public schools, but if your current choices can't get the job done, parents and educators now have the ability to take matters into their own hands. Getting educated about education as a parent or student is the best way to start holding our schools accountable for ensuring that our kids can compete successfully in the global economy.