The Gap in Beachwood
Although a wealthy school district, Beachwood has been addressing the problem of its own ethnic achievement gap. However, according to scores from OGT and OAT tests, Beachwood’s achievement gap is smaller than others across the state. According to the Ohio Department of Education, in the 2006-07 school year, the state average for black students at or above the proficient level in OGT reading was 73%. At BHS, 88.8% of the black students were at or above the proficient level. In OGT math, the state average was 56.4% of black students were at or above the proficiency level, at BHS, 80% of the black students scored at or above the proficient level.
Difference in racial disparities can be seen as early as kindergarten, and are present all the way through high school. In 2009, 82% of the total white students passed the 3rd grade reading OAA, while 58% of the total black students passed. 88% of Asian students passed as well.
The disparities in achievement would appear to be greatest at the high school level, “because there are more visible indicators” explained Superintendent Richard Markwardt. Because of the AP and honors classes in high school, as well as more of a variety of classes, the level of tracking makes the achievement gap seem more pronounced.
Differences in racial disparities can also be seen on the scores of criterion-referenced tests. The difference in the number of minority students enrolled in AP and honors classes is another marker used to study ethnic achievement. For example, in the 2009-10 school year, there were 32 Caucasian students in AP American Gov, and there were 0 African American students. In AP American History, there are 36 Caucasian students, with only 4 African Americans. In AP Statistics, there were 30 Caucasian students, and 2 African Americans. It is from looking at numbers like these that the district knows that it has a problem.
What is Beachwood Doing?
Social Studies teacher Greg Deegan helped found the Differential Achievement Committee, which has been working since 2003 to close the gap. Since the formation of this committee, improvements have been seen. “Some are anecdotal, and some are data driven, OGT passing rates have improved, and GPA’s are going up,” said Deegan.
According to Deegan, an “atmosphere of mutual respect and openness” is the first step necessary to close the gap. Students will be more likely to approach a teacher for help when there is respect between them, which is a big leap to closing the gap. In this case, it’s not always determined by how the student engages the class, but how the teacher engages the student.
“We take into consideration all the different variables that effect a student’s achievement, such as level of instruction previously given (from previous years or districts), the quality of the educational program and the type of teaching the student receives” said Lauren Broderick, Director or Pupil Services in Beachwood.
The district also has a contract with the Pacific Educational Group, or PEG, a company whose mission is to address issues of educational inequality by providing individualized guidance to school districts to meet the needs of students with minority backgrounds. The group gives individualized and comprehensive support. PEG helps educators develop effective strategies for closing the achievement gaps in their districts. But PEG isn’t enough. “There’s no magic bullet solution,” said Broderick, “if the perfect solution was out there, we’d be using it.”
A reason is because so many places disparities can be seen. “they take on all different shapes” said Markwardt, explaining that there are important questions to ask, such as, “are they involved [in school activities]? Why/why not? What’s their GPA? Are they urged to take honors and AP classes?”
Although there may be no golden solution, test results show the gap in Beachwood has been closing over the past few years. In the 2006-07 school year, 79.6% of black students were proficient in OGT reading, in 2007-08 that percent increased to 83.6%, and in 2008-09 the percent rose to 