STANDARD 3: A School System Demonstrates Internal Connectivity and Rational Equity in Its Program Development and Implementation. A school system meeting this Curriculum Management Audit standard is able to show how its program has been created as the result of a systematic identification of deficiencies in the achievement and growth of its students compared to measurable standards of pupil learning. In addition, a school system meeting this standard is able to demonstrate that it possesses a focused and coherent approach toward defining curriculum and that, as a whole, it is more effective than the sum of its parts, i.e., any arbitrary combinations of programs or schools do not equate to the larger school system entity. The purpose of having a school system is to obtain the educational and economic benefits of a coordinated and focused program for students, both to enhance learning which is complex and multi-year in its dimensions, and to employ economies of scale where applicable. What the Auditors Expected to Find in the Anchorage School District The PDK-CMSi auditors expected to find a highly-developed, articulated, and coordinated curriculum in the school system that was effectively monitored by the administrative and supervisory staffs at the central and site-levels. Common indicators are: • Documents/sources that reveal internal connections at different levels in the system, • Predictable consistency through a coherent rationale for content ...
STANDARD 3: A School System Demonstrates Internal Connectivity and Rational Equity in Its Program Development and Implementation. A school system meeting this Curriculum Management Audit standard is able to show how its program has been created as the result of a systematic identification of deficiencies in the achievement and growth of its students compared to measurable standards of pupil learning. In addition, a school system meeting this standard is able to demonstrate that it possesses a focused and coherent approach toward defining curriculum and that, as a whole, it is more effective than the sum of its parts, i.e., any arbitrary combinations of programs or schools do not equate to the larger school system entity. The purpose of having a school systemis to obtain the educational and economic benefits of a coordinated and focused program for students, both to enhance learning which is complex and multi-year in its dimensions, and to employ economies of scale where applicable. What the Auditors Expected to Find in the Anchorage School District The PDK-CMSi auditors expected to find a highly-developed, articulated, and coordinated curriculum in the school system that was effectively monitored by the administrative and supervisory staffs at the central and site-levels. Common indicators are: ·Documents/sources that reveal internal connections at different levels in the system, ·Predictable consistency through a coherent rationale for content delineation within the curriculum, ·Equity of curriculum/course access and opportunity, ·resource flow to areas of greatest need,Allocation of ·A curriculum that is clearly explained to members of the teaching staff and building-level administrators and other supervisory personnel, ·Specific professional development programs to enhance curricular design and delivery, ·A curriculum that is monitored by central office and site supervisory personnel, and ·Teacher and administrator responsiveness to school board policies, currently and over time. Overview of What the Auditors Found in the Anchorage School District This section is an overview of the findings that follow in the area of Standard Three. The details follow within separate findings. One of the major questions posed by the Anchorage School District’s Request for Proposal (RFP) for the audit pertained to the examination of the success of the district’s programs in improving the achievement of all students, as well as specific sub-populations within the larger student body. The RFP called for the specific examination of groups based on race and ethnic identity. This set of findings deals directly with this requirement of the Anchorage School District RFP. The auditors found inequalities among the schools in program participation by ethnic identity and race. Of some 85 schools examined by the auditors, 65 schools exceeded the expected participation percentages of Alaskan Natives in special education. Alaskan Natives, Asians, Hispanics, and African Americans were all under-represented in the gifted education program. With suspension data, the largest inequality reported were that African Americans exceeded the expected number of school suspensions. To a lesser extent so did Asians. Alaskan Natives/American Indians exceeded their expected percentages of retention by 16 percent. In the area of school dropouts, the highest rate is among Alaskan Natives/American Indians, who drop out of school at a rate of 22 percent within the
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Anchorage School District. Alaskan Natives have the largest gap in terms of unequal access and unfair representation in relationship to program placement and administrative practices. School snapshot data are reported in this standard as well. The auditors visited all schools and briefly observed 2,139 cla ssrooms. Of these, 1,498 were categorized according to the dominant type of instructional practice being used at the time. “Direct instruction was the dominant teacher instructional behavior observed at the elementary schools. “Assisting was the dominant teacher behavior at the middle school. At the high school the dominant teacher behavior was “at desk. The dominant student behavior observed at all three levels was “seat work. Generalizations from these data should be very carefully drawn. Caveatsconcerning such generalizations are included in the finding section. Finding 3.1: Inequalities Exist Among Schools in Program Participation and Administrative Practices for Students of Color. School districts should be able to provide a quality educational program for all students. Access to programs should not be dependent upon a student’s ethnicity or other social factors. In school districts where students have equal access to programs, all students are afforded opportunities for success. Equality of student access to the district’s curriculum and educational opportunities are important considerations when planning and administering programs, services, and practices. Efforts in educational programming should reflect high regard for diverse cultural backgrounds, beliefs, attitudes, and abilities of students. The auditors reviewed documents and conducted interviews with board members, administrators, staff members, parents, and community members. Auditorsalso conducted site observations to determine the extent to which educational programs were delivered equally to all students. Board policies and other applicable documents were also reviewed. Policiespertinent to program access are listed below: ·Board Policy 310 Philosophy of the Instructional Program “the Anchorage School states District accepts the responsibility of providing an education for all children of public school age.·Board Policy 321Goals of the Instructional Program “we strive to challenge all states, students, regardless of their levels and abilities, to achieve at the maximum extent possible. As a district, we provide remedial, resource, enrichment, accelerated, and other special services and programs to help increase students’ achievement.·Board Policy 343.22 Promotionstates that “the promotion of elementary and middle school students shall be based upon the student’s satisfactorily completing the required work according to his/her ability and the teacher’s evaluation as to his/her preparedness for the next higher grade. Consideration shall be given to the academic, physical, mental, and emotional development of the student. ·Board Policy 343.23 Retention states that “recommendations for retention will be based upon the student’s age, achievement, social, physical, and mental development. ·Board Policy 343.25 High School Graduationstates, “high school students must complete the district’s required coursework and pass state-required examinations to graduate and receive a diploma. Students who complete the district’s graduation requirements but do not pass the state-required High School Graduation Qualifying Examination or special education students who exit the public school system at or before their twenty-second birthday without successfully completing the above, will receive a Certificate of Attendance. ·The School District Native Advisory Committee By-laws Anchorage state an objective to “substantially increase educational opportunities of Native children, utilizing the best available talents and resources including persons from the Native community. Anchorage School District Audit Report Page 109
·The Minority Education Concern Committee’s(MECC) mission statement states “the mission of the MECC is to serve as the voice for families in the Anchorage School District and to promote educational success for minority students. TheMECC works to ensure equity for all students. The auditors found that inequalities exist in accessibility to programs and services, particularly for Alaskan Native and African American students. There are no policies that effectively and adequately address equity and program accessibility in the district. The auditors found disparity among ethnic student population groups when comparing student participation in gifted education and special education with the total population of students in the ethnic categories. While we expect differences to exist, no student group should be disproportionately represented in program participation rates. Similarly, ethnic groups should not be disproportionately represented in retention, suspension, and dropout rates. The auditors found that board policies and committee by-laws or mission statements stipulate that efforts are in place to challenge all students by requiring that all students be successful. To assess participation rates by ethnicity, auditors reviewed total enrollment data for the Anchorage School System. Exhibit 3.1.1 presents these data. Exhibit 3.1.1 Total Enrollment and Percentages Disaggregated by Ethnicity Anchorage School District 2000-2001School AK Native Afr. Total Total Am Indian Asian Hispanic Am. White Other Minority 49,499 6,177 4,760 2,754 4,227 30,886 695 18,613 12% 10% 6% 9% 62% 1% 38% 455 68 33 31 50 261 12 194 15% 7% 7% 11% 57% 3% 43% 286 61 19 26 31 145 4 141 21% 7% 9% 11% 51% 1% 49% 569 22 13 20 21 485 8 84 4% 2% 4% 4% 85% 1% 15% 413 0 22 13 72 291 15 122 0% 5% 3% 17% 71% 4% 30% 441 66 25 24 61 258 7 183 15% 6% 5% 14% 58% 2% 41% 535 37 65 26 13 389 5 146 6% 11% 4% 2% 72% 0% 27% 468 25 8 15 5 415 0 53 5% 2% 3% 1% 89% 0% 11% 590 56 75 15 24 416 4 174 9% 13% 3% 4% 71% 0% 29% 459 73 47 28 32 276 3 183 15% 9% 6% 6% 60% 0% 39% 316 67 17 12 34 166 20 150 21% 5% 3% 10% 52% 6% 47% 545 83 94 26 40 297 5 248 14% 16% 4% 7% 54% 0% 45% 254 28 19 2 7 198 0 56 11% 7% 0% 3% 79% 0% 22%
School District Total Abbott Airport Heights Alpenglow Aurora Baxter Bayshore Bear Va lley Willard Bowman Campbell Chester Valley Chinook Chugach
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School Chugiak College Gate Creekside Denali Eagle River Fairview Fire Lake Govt. Hill Homestead Huffman Inlet View Kasuun Kincaid Klatt Lake Hood Lake Otis Mt. Spurr Mt. View Muldoon North Star Northwood Nunaka Ocean View
School O’Malley Orion Ptarmigan Rabbit Creek Ravenwood Rogers Park Russian Jack Sand Lake Scenic Park Spring Hill Susitna Taku Trailside Tudor Turnagain William Tyson Ursa Major Ursa Minor Williwaw Willow Crest Wonder Park Gladys Wood Central
School Clark Goldenview Gruening Hanskew Mears Romig Wendler Bartlett Chugiak HS Dimond HS East HS Service West Aquarian Search Benson Birchwood Family Partner, Elem Family Partner, Sec. Girdwood McLaughlin Mirror Lake Northern Lights
Exhibit 3.1.1 (continued) Total Enrollment and Percentages Disaggregated by Ethnicity Anchorage School District 2000-2001School AK Native Afr. Total School Total Am Indian Asian Hispanic Am. White Other Minority Polaris Elementary 226 20 10 4 8 184 0 42 9% 4% 2% 4% 81% 0% 19% Polaris Secondary 223 13 1 7 14 188 0 35 6% 0% 3% 6% 85% 0% 16% SAVE 274 42 31 12 18 171 0 103 15% 11% 4% 7% 63% 0% 38% Steller 289 25 17 9 18 218 2 71 8% 5% 3% 6% 75% 0% 24% Village 113 19 1 10 10 73 0 40 17% 1% 9% 9% 64% 0% 35% Whaley Elementary 79 18 0 1 16 44 0 35 23% 0% 1% 20% 56% 0% 44% Whaley Secondary 120 46 1 1 16 56 0 64 38% 1% 1% 13% 47% 0% 53% Disaggregated ethnicity data were extracted from the School Report Card for 2000-2001. In many cases, disaggregated numbers did not add up to the total number of students indicated in the public report. Forthis reason, the school totals above have been changed to reflect the total of the disaggregated numbers reported. Special Education Participation To determine if specific student groups are unfairly represented in program participation rates, auditors established an “expected percentage of special education students by ethnicity. It is important to note that the expected percentage reflects the disaggregated student enrollment percentage for the district as well as for each school. Auditors utilized this percentage to determine disparity in program participation among student groups when comparing the expected percentage of participation with the actual percentage of participation. Exhibit 3.1.2 contains total enrollment, the total number and percentage of students participating in special education, and disaggregated data by ethnicity. Exhibit 3.1.2 Number of Special Education Students by School and Percent Ethnicity Anchorage School District 2000-2001Row 1: Number of special education students at the school by ethnicity Row 2: Expected percentage of special education students by ethnicity Row 3: Actual percentage of special education students by ethnicity NOTE: Rows are in italics % AK Afr. School Students # SPED SPED AI Asian Hispanic Am. White District Total 49,499 4425 9870 176 227 507 2645 12 10 6 9 62 520 4 60 11 Abbott, PK-6 455 36 8 215 1 3 6 57 7 1115 7 58 17 814 3
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Exhibit 3.1.2 (continued) Number of Special Education Students by School and Percent Ethnicity Anchorage School District 2000-2001Row 1: Number of special education students at the school by ethnicity Row 2: Expected percentage of special education students by ethnicity Row 3: Actual percentage of special education students by ethnicity NOTE: Rows are in italics % AK Afr. School Students # SPED SPED AI Asian Hispanic Am. White Airport Hts., PK-6 286 30 11 1 68 0 15 21 7 11 9 51 50 3 2027 0 Alpenglow, PK-6 569 34 6 3 2 261 2 85 4 44 2 76 9 63 6 Aurora, PK-6 413 8 20 0 0 0 8 710 5 3 17 0 0 100 0 0 Baxter, PK-6 441 41 9 2 47 0 28 15 6 14 5 58 20 7 4 0 69 Bayshore, PK-6 535 46 99 3 2 0 32 72 2 46 11 20 7 4 0 69 Bear Valley, PK-6 464 29 6 263 0 0 0 5 2 3 1 89 10 0 0 0 90 W. Bowman, PK-6 590 59 10 3 214 0 40 719 13 4 3 24 0 5 3 68 Campbell, PK-6 459 54 1211 3 5 2 31 60 6 615 9 20 6 9 4 61 Chester Valley, PK-6 316 42 1320 1 1 5 15 3 1021 5 52 48 2 2 12 36 Chinook, PK-6 545 37 7 0 3 275 2 54 7 414 16 14 5 0 8 77 Chugach, PK-6 254 8 3 0 0 62 0 7911 7 0 3 25 0 0 0 75 Chugiak, PK-6 505 33 7 23 1 26 1 10 2 5 2 78 18 3 3 6 70 College Gate, PK-6 451 47 10 1 516 1 24 12 3 5815 6 34 2 2 11 51 Creekside, PK-6 420 27 6 1 2 1310 1 52 13 719 3 37 4 4 8 46 Anchorage School District Audit Report Page 115
Exhibit 3.1.2 (continued) Number of Special Education Students by School and Percent Ethnicity Anchorage School District 2000-2001Row 1: Numberof special education students at the school by ethnic ity Row 2: Expected percentage of special education students by ethnicity Row 3: Actual percentage of special education students by ethnicity NOTE: Rows are in italics % AK Afr. School Students # SPED SPED AI Asian Hispanic Am. White Denali, PK-6 450 23 57 0 2 4 10 22 6 5 16 50 30 0 9 17 44 Eagle River, PK-6 421 50 127 1 38 2 2 748 5 4 5 14 2 4 2 78 Fairview, PK-6 467 36 8 2 11 128 3 12 19 2221 17 22 8 33 31 6 Fire Lake, PK-5 308 36 12 28 1 25 0 9 2 2 3 82 14 0 3 6 77 Gov. Hill, PK-6 459 8 21 0 2 4 1 34 88 7 37 13 0 50 13 24 Homestead, PK-6 429 24 63 0 1 0 20 89 0 28 1 13 0 4 0 83 Huffman, PK-6 494 47 10 2 4 373 1 874 4 2 3 9 9 4 6 72 Inlet View, PK-6 260 27 10 20 2 04 1 812 10 2 67 15 4 30 7 44 Kasuun, PK-6 524 37 18 207 4 1 5 7 815 10 60 18 11 3 14 54 Kincaid, PK-6 505 27 5 1 13 0 22 79 2 39 6 11 0 4 4 81 Klatt, PK-6 391 31 88 2 0 1 20 815 13 60 4 26 6 0 3 65 Lake Hood, PK-6 481 31 6 2 5 175 2 6 4714 23 6 16 6 6 16 58 Lake Otis, PK-6 487 56 11 30 5 513 3 15 8 9 9 54 23 5 9 9 54 Mt. Spurr, PK-6 252 6 2 1 00 0 5 13 5 781 2 0 0 17 0 83 Anchorage School District Audit Report Page 116
Exhibit 3.1.2 (continued) Number of Special Education Students by School and Percent Ethnicity Anchorage School District 2000-2001Row 1: Number of special education students at the school by ethnicity Row 2: Expected percentage of special education students by ethnicity Row 3: Actual percentage of special education students by ethnicity NOTE: Rows are in italics % AK Afr. School Students # SPED SPED AI Asian Hispanic Am. White Mt. View, PK-6 421 49 12 9 10 914 7 12 18 1226 29 29 14 24 20 13 Muldoon, PK-6 509 45 9 1 6 2013 5 3520 18 4 19 29 11 2 13 44 North Star, PK-6 541 45 8 13 2 820 2 27 12 14 11 36 44 4 4 18 30 Northwood, PK-6 356 44 1211 1 22 2 8 522 10 54 7 25 2 5 18 30 Nunaka, PK-6 366 36 10 1 8 1610 1 49 11 627 5 28 3 3 22 44 Ocean View, PK-6 532 40 82 0 2 1 35 4 3 7810 5 5 0 5 3 87 O’Malley, PK-6 383 45 12 40 1 13 0 88 1 24 2 7 0 2 2 89 Orion, PK-6 393 20 5 3 5 111 0 15 751 3 6 5 0 5 3 87 Ptarmigan, PK-6 461 41 911 1 20 2 7 24 7 8 20 41 27 2 5 17 49 Rabbit Creek, PK-6 385 29 8 22 0 07 0 83 4 19 3 24 0 0 0 76 Ravenwood, PK-6 387 28 7 1 0 223 2 1 14 1 91 11 7 4 0 78 Rogers Park, PK-6 511 52 10 3 6 366 1 7 13 5 5 69 12 2 6 10 70 Russian Jack, PK-6 374 32 94 5 0 8 15 39 6 2023 10 13 16 0 25 46 Sand Lake, PK-6 613 29 55 1 1 2 20 5 6810 16 1 17 3 3 7 69 Anchorage School District Audit Report Page 117
Exhibit 3.1.2 (continued) Number of Special Education Students by School and Percent Ethnicity Anchorage School District 2000-2001Row 1: Number of special education students at the school by ethnicity Row 2: Expected percentage o f special education students by ethnicity Row 3: Actual percentage of special education students by ethnicity NOTE: Rows are in italics % AK Afr. School Students # SPED SPED AI Asian Hispanic Am. White Scenic Park, PK-6 527 33 67 1 21 1 3 60 13 514 8 21 3 3 9 64 Spring Hill, PK-6 371 47 13 2610 1 2 8 23 12 8 8 48 21 2 4 17 46 Susitna, PK-6 563 47 818 0 2 6 21 11 5523 4 4 38 0 4 13 55 Taku, PK-6 402 29 1 16 3 46 0 12 9 5811 8 21 0 10 14 65 Trailside 436 35 86 1 0 1 27 12 9 4 4 65 17 3 0 3 77 Tudor, PK-6 534 67 13 511 4 36 11 11 1413 10 50 16 6 7 16 55 Turnagain, PK-6 385 26 7 15 0 44 3 514 18 55 6 15 12 0 15 58 William Tyson, PK-6 462 34 710 2 3 8 11 1922 36 7 13 29 6 9 24 32 Ursa Major, PK-6 420 25 6 1 3 120 0 0 2 5 27 51 0 16 4 12 48 Ursa Minor, PK-6 252 16 6 1 3 120 0 1 4 8 68 17 0 0 6 19 75 Williwaw, PK-6 522 58 1124 2 4 10 18 7 14 2633 20 41 3 7 17 30 Willow Crest, PK-6 494 36 7 1 25 4 24 22 24 39 9 5 14 11 3 6 66 Wonder Park, PK-6 444 57 13 18 6 921 3 38 10 1723 12 37 5 11 16 31 Gladys Wood, PK-6 513 45 910 1 3 1 30 13 8 64 4 5 22 2 9 11 56 Anchorage School District Audit Report Page 118