Monday, December 27, 2010
New FTE data from the state
I downloaded the new FTE numbers from the October, 2010 count published by the state online here. There, I found some interesting additional reports showing the numbers of students enrolled in the various compensatory and selected programs by county. I made a couple of comparative charts for us to review. What kinds of inferences can we make from this data? (Click them to view larger and/or print.)
There is clearly something wrong here. Why are our remedial numbers and percentages so much lower than Fulton, Cobb, etc?
ReplyDeleteHelp me with the definition of "compensatory" program. Additional programs that cost money?
ReplyDeleteCan it really be true that ONLY 6,200 students are enrolled in ESOL in DeKalb County?! Seems stunningly low to me...
Not stunning at all. The Hispanic population, for the most part, has moved on into Gwinnett County.
ReplyDeletebtw, Compensatory Programs are for students that need special servics, such as Special Ed, ESOL, etc.
I'm thinking there's room to beef up the remedial offerings... perhaps this could boost student success...
ReplyDeleteUm, is there a glitch in the formula that calculates the vocational program percentage in the second spreadsheet? The numbers look a little off to me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't use a formula - just copied and pasted from the state's website... Maybe it's due to the fact that it's a percentage of 9-12 graders and we don't know that number in total...? We only know the total number for K-12...
ReplyDeleteI am beyond stuck on these remedial figures. There is absolutely no way that DCSS should have either a lower number or percentage of students identified as remedial than Cobb or Fulton.
ReplyDeleteThere may be extra state funds attached to this label, though I think that may have changed a couple of years ago. I am going to try and get some clarification on this today from the state, but I am not sure how many people are working this week.
So using the data at GAOSA.ORG and looking at DeKalb for the last 4 years, the highest remedial percentage for 9-12 was 3 percent at about 900 students in 2006-2007. The same year, Fulton had identified 2000+ high school students as remedial with a percentage of 8.4 percent.
ReplyDeleteIn 2003-2004, DeKalb had identified 6 percent of their high school students being enrolled in remedial programs, Fulton was at 9 percent.
I do not agree that the Hispanics moved to Gwinnett. Gwinnett has a 527g program in which the Sheriff cooperates with ICE to deport illegal aliens who have been arrested. DeKalb has no such program so the illegal aliens moved there.
ReplyDeleteAs to the low number of remedial students in DCSS, maybe CLew fudged the numbers a bit.
Just because someone is Hispanic does not mean they are here illegally. Going by your comment, I think we can deduce that all of the legal immigrants have moved to Gwinnett.
ReplyDelete1) Do we know anything about the available amount of personnel or funding for this personnel for remedial programs in DeKalb County vs. nearby locales?
ReplyDelete2) What kinds of assessments are they using? Are these standardized across districts?
Too many factors present here to make a conclusion as of yet.
Regarding the ESOL numbers, the comments above are off the mark ... ESOL does not equal "latino" or any other ethnicity in DeKalb or any where else. There are many students of Hispanic origins whose first language is English - same for other groups. This category represents the number of students who are actually enrolled in courses to learn English as their second language. As far as where ESOL students and their families choose to live, the decision for them is the same as you and I: location and price plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteWhether you live in Norcross and work in Doraville or live in Doraville and work in Norcross, you are just as likely to have to deal with Gwinnett PD. The comment above to the contrary is folklore. Buford Hwy in both DeKalb and Gwinnett is a major destination for immigrant families due to: a) available, economical housing stock, b) transportation options (MARTA, GBL, and other mass transit), c) existing communities of immigrants.
Immigrants that move to Gwinnett are doing so for the same reasons as you or I - housing costs, employment, public schools.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your setting the record straight as far as ESOL students/families go. This group is much maligned, usually unfairly so. I appreciate your defense of them.
Just as add'l info on ESOL - take Cross Keys HS, for example. While the enrollment may be 65% "latino," there are fewer than half that percentage in ESOL. Many of these kids were born and raised here with English as their first language. Again, ESOL <> "latino" or other ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteThere are something like 6,000 students in the seven schools of the Cross Keys attendance area. Of these, a reasonable swag at ESOL might be 30%-40%. So there's perhaps 1,800 - 2,400 ESOL in K-12. No, I don't think the figure for DeKalb seems out of scale at all. If anything, I'm surprised there that many.
Susan: Don't think I know you but thank you for being a teacher and thank you for the kinds words! It is my personal mission to challenge the legends about our immigrant neighbors be they legally or illegally in these United States. Words have power and meaning that we don't always intend. I know there rarely is anyone here truly trying to malign "latinos" ... we do it inadvertently and often. So, I try to tread gently on the topic.
ReplyDeleteESOL is there for students of any heritage where English is not their first language. Ever notice that our DCSS website was translated in Spanish and Swahili? (Now there's a pulldown menu for a long list of languages). In fact, at Lakeside alone, something like 58 different languages are spoken in the home. Many of these are African or Baltic. Most ESOL teachers deal with students from all over the globe.
ReplyDeleteAnd the ultimate goal of ESOL is for the students to graduate out of the classes so to speak. So, even if English isn't their first language many students progress enough not to need the extra support.
ReplyDeleteHowever, most ESOL students get there services through regular education teachers classes who are endorsed as ESOL teachers. The ESOL students are pushed into the regular curriculum as soon as possible. Students qualify as ESOL I, II, and III, and then then they are moved into regular education classes with no support at all.
ReplyDeleteStudents in high school do get served in the regular education and get services through ESOL.
ESOL students get released farly fast from full time services.
Can anyone answer my questions above?
ReplyDeleteDr. Brown
ReplyDeleteI intend to try and track down more information about this issue next week when work schedules are back to normal.
I will tell you that the assessments/requirements are standard. You can read about it here.
http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/REMEDIAL%20EDUCATION%20PROGRAM%20GUIDELINES%202009-2010.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F6FC56F390BD132676CAEB98D25041FCB6A1ABEC87C3E37E32&Type=D
I am unclear if additional state funding still exists for this program. I am concerned that DCSS is not serving students as remedial because of cost. (Keep in mind that there is a clear pattern of not identifying students for this program, even before the current budget crisis.)
For example, a school has 96 freshman. Using the current class size requirements, these freshmen could all be served by one Math I teacher on the block schedule. (Most DCSS high schools are on teh block.) However, if 15 are pulled for a remedial class, then there is the need for one additional teacher for one period.
As you can see from the requirements and if you look at DCSS test scors, DCSS could have far more students identified for the remedial program.
As I work to get to the bottom of this, I will share with you any findings I have.
@dr. Brown
ReplyDeleteYou are so correct. Many, many students are now being served under 504 plans. This is what parents are steered towards. With a 504, no special ed services are required. The classroom teachers make the modifications. This administration is not about putting money into the classroom so his is amgood shortcut for them. Not so good for students though.
12/28 11:31 PM
ReplyDeleteAll of those languages really does a lot for assimilation.
There should be a time limit on this.
Is there a place to get the information on the increase in 504 Plans in DCSS?
ReplyDelete"All of those languages really does a lot for assimilation."
ReplyDeleteSo, removing a focus on English-language acquisition among immigrant children will help assimilation? You lost me on that curve ...
I don't really know what to think about this data. I"m not an educator, but I am in corporate communications and when I made a colorful chart from the data I found, it just looked like perhaps our middle-schoolers could use some support. If these figures are correct, less than 1% of our middle schoolers are not in remedial studies compared to 7.4% in Cobb, 13.4% in Fulton and 13.8% in Atlanta. Maybe this is why we are falling down so hard in middle and high school...?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that jumped out at me were the percentages of students in K-5 early intervention in Cobb and Clayton.
I think DCSS has a history of pushing things under the rug and playing "hide the 8 ball" and that may be what the stats are revealing -- you shift and shuffle kids around until you lose them at age 16 and because the system is so big, no one is focused, really focused on the numbers so it just goes un-noticed. Maybe now central office will have to pay attention and the carpet will have to be overturned? This is one of my big arguments for splitting the system into 4 or 6 parts.
ReplyDelete