Marketplace
![[SeMissourian.com]](http://www.semissourian.com/images/nameplate.gif)
|
|
Fair ~ River stage: 33.45 Rising Saturday, November 21, 2009 |
RSS
 Print
 Email link
 Respond to editor
 Read comments (17)
 Share link
Poverty has bigger effect than school spending on test scoresWednesday, January 9, 2008Student performance has much more to do with whether the students live in poverty than how much the district spends on them, recent data from the state shows. Cape Girardeau schools spent nearly $2,000 more per pupil than Jackson did, $8,242 versus $6,264, while Jackson students scored about 15 percentage points higher on state tests, on average, during the 2006-2007 school year. Likewise, the Leopold School District ranked as one of the lowest-spending districts in 13 Southeast Missouri districts at $6,247, yet academically scored the highest. This is because students' poverty and a school's programming must be taken into account, said Dr. Julie Ray, an assistant professor of elementary, early and special education at Southeast Missouri State University. While Cape Girardeau spends the most out of 13 Southeastern Missouri districts, is also has one of the highest percentages of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, 50.9 percent. Only 28.6 percent of Jackson students and 20.8 percent of Leopold students qualify, the two lowest percentages among the 13 districts. Per-pupil spending is primarily based on operating costs, while excluding debt payments. Ray said research has shown that there is a direct correlation between poverty level and a student's preparedness for school. While low-income families have to focus on survival needs, wealthier families have an easier time providing resources and experiences for their children. "It is misleading to say everybody can spend the same amount of money and get the same results. Wealthier districts tend to be able to do a better job because kids are coming with the experience of having books read to them or being taken places. Districts that serve lower-income families have to spend more to make up for those differences," Ray said. In Cape Girardeau, that includes funding an Alternative Education Center, a Career and Technology Center and a preschool program, all services that drive up costs but help students, administrators said. Another reason Cape Girardeau's cost may be higher is because of its size, said Deena Ring, director of special services for Cape Girardeau. "When you have 4,000 children, you are going to see a broader range of needs," she said. Superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson said Jackson keeps its costs low by keeping staff costs down. "We are probably lighter staffed than a lot of districts, and we might have larger class sizes. ... Sometimes you don't have a choice. You have the money available, and you have to work within those parameters," he said. Jackson has an average teacher-student ratio of 1-to-21, while Cape Girardeau's is 1-to-18 and Leopold's is 1-to-13. Jackson, however, does have the highest average teacher salary. The state determines its funding to districts based on how much high-performing districts spend per pupil. In 2005, when the funding formula was last reworked, legislators decided it takes just over $6,000 a year to adequately educate a child. State Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said districts of all sizes were considered in calculating the figure. Federal money to schools is based on poverty levels. The average per-pupil expenditure cost is $8,687 in Missouri. All 13 Southeast Missouri districts spend under the state average. 335-6611, extension 123 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
|
Enter your email address to subscribe to our mailing lists:
|
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Furl
Reddit
Google
I agree that amount of money spent is not the whole story in test scores. Part of it is how well the money is spent not how much is spent. BUT there are some very important elements in this report that have been omitted. A lot more is involved than just poverty or how much money is spent evaluating the results of the school district test scores. Just think about the environmental levels not related to poverty. Think about the family values of the families in each of these areas. Leopold does not compare to Cape or Jackson. There is very little depth in this report. It does not appear to address the whole picture at all.
If a child really wants to learn , they will . It doesn't matter if they come from Timbuctoo or Harvard .
The dollars are a money game at best ....
A key point this article was remise in mentioning, No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 was enacted to address the poverity/acedemic success correlation.
OK. This is simple. If you attach significance to the lower performance of those students eligible for "free or reduced lunch programs," then compare the performance of only those students across the several districts vs. the money spent by those districts on those students. Make it apples to apples.
Frankly, Jackson maverick Superintendent Anderson's way may be on to something -- something really good -- something worth applying at more schools: higher performance teachers recruited at higher starting salaries teaching larger class sizes produce higher performance students (increased RESULTS!). WOW. Funny how that works. DUH!
Researchers are commonly unable to demonstrate larger class sizes produce lower performance students, whenever larger class sizes are kept at or below 1-50 teacher-student ratios. In Jackson (as a single data point), larger class sizes with higher performance teachers produce high performance students for tax efficiency and tax effectiveness. No question, larger class sizes do require greater teacher workloads and less individuation. You can see the RESULTS. One consequence would be significantly greater workloads for the 186 school days teachers teach. OK. Move on. Teachers can rest for the other 64 work days while the rest of us work at our jobs that pay the taxes. That may be fair.
SO, ask What really works? Get out of our hide-bound thinking of trying to make what we keep doing work differently. OBSERVE: What produces cost effective RESULTS? I know, I know, That's real heavy lifiting, but it's worth it.
ASK: How can our schools become # 1 between St. Louis and Memphis? Support our teachers, administrators, students, and schools by not oversimplifying. FOCUS ON: What does it take for our schools and our community to be # 1? That's a worthwhile, fair-minded question. Spend efficiently. Spend effectively. Good for the students. Good for the parents. Good for the teachers. Good for the community. SIGNED: T. ROBIN COLE III
No.......No Child Left Behind does not do anything to address kids poverty. There are a certain number of needs children need. NCLB skips most of them like food, healthcare, and all that and goes straight to blaming teachers because they aren't passing a test. Heaven forbid we look at society as a whole to blame.......
Bloodyhand,
A child is only going to learn if they are instilled with that value. You are right it does not matter where they come from. However families in poverty, having their focus on things other than education, will not place as high a value on it. In addition families in poverty generally are headed by mothers/fathers with less education as well.
trcole3,
Generally agree with your statement however you must also take into account the type of student you are teaching. Gape schools are going to see a much wider spectrum of students within the classroom therefore making it even more difficult to have a larger class size.
I wonder what political office Robin Cole will be running for!He needs to get control of the Habitat
for Humanity before he even attempts to solve the School districts problems!The fact remains that as long as the Federal Government has control of our School system it will remain screwed up!Its time we give the system back to the local Government and Municipalities and get the Feds out of it completely.Its obvious how well Bush's program has worked!Melange is right.
I just now read this article and the comments following, so I am a little late with this comment.
I'm not sure if trcole3 meant it as an affront, but I was offended by the statement "Teachers can rest for the other 64 work days while the rest of us work at our jobs that pay the taxes. That may be fair."
I have been a teacher and/or curriculum coordinator for the past 11 years. I see daily how hard and stressful the teachers' jobs are. And they CARE about their work and the students they teach. I don't know of any teacher who does not work hours and hours of "(unpaid)overtime" through the school year on nights, weekends, and holidays. Teachers aren't just teaching lessons from textbooks and resting on their prep periods. They are writing and rewriting curriculum, they are having meetings to address state and federal mandates while still trying to meet the individual educational, social, and behavioral needs of the students.
So, yes, we (most of us) do get a "summer break" and it's a great time to recharge, but I don't know of any teachers who completely leave their job behind. Many of us are attending workshops, conferences, preparing materials, and writing curriculum, and assessments during those times. Granted, our summer days are not nearly as strenuous as our normal school hours, but if you could witness the devotion teachers give to their profession, no one would begrudge us those "64 work {summer break} days".
GREYWOLF, You have a common misconception about NCLBA. The feds really don't control our schools, DESE doesn't really control our schools. Feds and DESE have established guidelines for funding. Feds relinquish control of assessments to each state, so DESE controls them. Still MOST governing power is in that hands of each local School Board.
NCLBA was a roll out plan, and it is FAR too early to blame NCLBA for school districts current failures. In my opinion, the failures explain WHY we needed more accountability.
NCLBA has issues that should be changed, but I support its fundamental principles 110%. Those being setting goals, assessing, accountability and transparency. Schools are NOT that different from businesses, these define the core steps to strategic management planning. Much like business plans, evaluations should be done annually and changes made. No plan should be set forth and not reassessed for successes and failures.
ithica, http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml
Melange,
although the State and local Government supply the majority of the funding for Public education,the Federal Government
exerts an incredible amount of control.
Financing of Public education is currently
not fair.
Much of this of course can be traced to
Colonial times when school funds were based upon how big your farm was.At that time it
measured wealth!Today we finance schools through
property taxes although only 2 percent or so
work the land these days.School conditions vary,based on wealth of the Community.I suppose the variables involved that have not been completely mentioned in this article play a huge roll in our debate.
I wonder what the income levels are for the districts compared? My perception is that Leopold has many more students who qualify for the Free or reduced lunch but choose not to partake.
Checking Cape & Jackson school websites, can anyone explain why the free or reduced lunch participants are higher in elementary school and decrease dramatically in some cases in high school? The change appears to be way to high to be explained by transfers out of district.
Many kids in high school attach a stigma to Free & Reduced Lunch, so many don't return the paperwork.
High school students may have part time jobs as well, not to mention that some schools, Jackson for example, have open lunches. Poor kids may be dropping out by highschool too. Cape has a high rate of students (probably poor ones)dropping.
Take NO offense where none was intended. Repeating, it may be fair for teachers to take 64 work days off -- one for every three days they work. I am not, did not, judge. You have the right to rise in defense, and I'm honestly OK with that.
I am questioning the Results produced by some schools. It is plain as day. Some schools produce better results than others do. I am questioning adherence to the old educational processes, teachers who do things the way they do, that cost a lot and produce too little. Anyone who wishes to defend the ineffective, be my guest.
I did not say that any teacher works at less than their absolute, hardest and best. I do think we are getting what we pay for, and certainly, in Missouri, on average across this great state, we pay teachers 42nd out of 51. Fact. Not in dispute.
In some districts, teachers are paid more and in some of those, the teachers teach larger class sizes. Those teachers may work hard and smart. They may be more skilled, more capable, I don't know. Producing more Results is efficient, and in some districts, also more effective when compared and contrasted with the measured Results and the Costs of lower-performing districts.
Unlike some, I'm not getting my socks in a wad bending every which-a-way trying to defend the indefensible. In our community, WE leave 20% of our eighth graders behind EVERY YEAR, and too many of them go on to poverty or prison, or both. Indefensible. Morally reprehensible -- and WRITE IT DOWN: I'm ag'in it.
Stop. Blaming is a fool's mission. Local control by a local school board is determinant. WE, through our elected representatives, control the education of our children.
I don't need an elective office, thank you--I'm honored by the presumption--been there, done that. I do serve in an appointed role, one demanding more than enough for me. I don't need another job either--absolutely Love the team I'm on. If that's OK.
I AM FOREVER in the deepest debt to those standing watch protecting my freedom, and to my teachers. After my mother's selfless contribution--God rest her soul, they've given me the life I enjoy. May God Bless And Keep Every Single One.
Like Hancock,I don't hide gutless behind a pseudonym.
I STAND for fixing something that's broken and worth fixing. I STAND for making the institutions in our community # 1 between St. Louis and Memphis. For making our community # 1.
I believe in every one of our children and their future. They live in this wonderful country, and we only borrow this land from them.
I STAND with those who are in the trenches taking the chances of breaking with the tired old ways in the 100-yr-old institution we call Public Schools--those who are trying to fix them, and make them produce. With all due respect, Where do you stand? SIGNED: T. Robin Cole, III
NEWS FLASH:
Studies show that people tend to stay within the economic demographic they are born into. It may be easy to fall out of the higher-income bracket you are born into, but it is extremely difficult to fight your way out of a poverty/lower-income situation.
We all know that most of these children are just products of their environment. Many of them don't have parents showing them the way. Fortunately some of us did.
Just ask teachers to grade the parents on their involvement in the children's education. As a parent, I am continually amazed at the (lack of) parenting skills by some of my peers.
As incentive maybe parents should be given a annual tax bonus for how well their kids do in school. Imagine how grades and behavior would improve...
Take NO offense where none was intended. Repeating, it may be fair for teachers to take 64 work days off -- one for every three days they work. I am not, did not, judge. You have the right to rise in defense, and I'm honestly OK with that.
I am questioning the Results produced by some schools. It is plain as day. Some schools produce better results than others do. I am questioning adherence to the old educational processes, teachers who do things the way they do, that cost a lot and produce too little. Anyone who wishes to defend the ineffective, be my guest.
I did not say that any teacher works at less than their absolute, hardest and best. I do think we are getting what we pay for, and certainly, in Missouri, on average across this great state, we pay teachers 42nd out of 51. Fact. Not in dispute.
In some districts, teachers are paid more and in some of those, the teachers teach larger class sizes. Those teachers may work hard and smart. They may be more skilled, more capable, I don't know. Producing more Results is efficient, and in some districts, also more effective when compared and contrasted with the measured Results and the Costs of lower-performing districts.
Unlike some, I'm not getting my socks in a wad bending every which-a-way trying to defend the indefensible. In our community, WE leave 20% of our eighth graders behind EVERY YEAR, and too many of them go on to poverty or prison, or both. Indefensible. Morally reprehensible -- and WRITE IT DOWN: I'm ag'in it.
Stop. Blaming is a fool's mission. Local control by a local school board is determinant. WE, through our elected representatives, control the education of our children.
I don't need an elective office, thank you--I'm honored by the presumption--been there, done that. I do serve in an appointed role, one demanding more than enough for me. I don't need another job either--absolutely Love the team I'm on. If that's OK.
I AM FOREVER in the deepest debt to those standing watch protecting my freedom, and to my teachers. After my mother's selfless contribution--God rest her soul, they've given me the life I enjoy. May God Bless And Keep Every Single One.
Like Hancock,I don't hide gutless behind a pseudonym.
I STAND for fixing something that's broken and worth fixing. I STAND for making the institutions in our community # 1 between St. Louis and Memphis. For making our community # 1.
I believe in every one of our children and their future. They live in this wonderful country, and we only borrow this land from them.
I STAND with those who are in the trenches taking the chances of breaking with the tired old ways in the 100-yr-old institution we call Public Schools--those who are trying to fix them, and make them produce. With all due respect, Where do you stand? SIGNED: T. Robin Cole, III