News Item
Monticello Central School District Attacking the Achievement Gap
July 2010
The New York University (NYU)
Metropolitan Center for Urban Education conducted an examination of
Monticello High School to assess and identify factors that may be
contributing to differences in student achievement based on race and
ethnicity.
The “Achievement Gap Exploratory Assessment” report was released on
July 21, 2010. Findings included that there exists different
expectations for different races in regard to student achievement
and academic rigor. The report also notes that those students who
took more challenging courses received higher grades than their
peers.
In addition to the differences in academic achievement, the report
states that black males and Hispanic males and females were less
likely to graduate. And minority males received more
discipline-based referrals than their white male counterparts.
Overall, students did report that the school environment was safer
than in previous years.
“I am proud of our Board of Education and our educational community
for having the courage to deal with such a sensitive issue,” said
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Michel. “We will be working
with experts from NYU during the next school year to create a
districtwide strategy and develop culturally responsive policies and
practices that address these issues head-on.”
Since the report links inequities at the high school level with
issues that begin in elementary school, one focus will be to develop an early detection system that
identifies and helps students at academic risk before the state
testing begins in grade 3. School staff and teachers will also
participate in additional professional development aimed at
identifying and addressing issues that may be affected by race and
ethnicity.
Photo: NYU's Metropolitan Center for Urban Education representative Dr. Edward Fergus.
CLICK HERE to read the full report.
CLICK HERE for the Joint Intervention Team (JIT) Report (a Joint Intervention Team was appointed by the Commissioner of Education to assist Monticello High School during its restructuring. It contains key observations and recommendations.) CLICK HERE for the JIT PowerPoint presentation.
CLICK HERE for the Times Herald-Record story, "Monticello minority students lag behind, study finds."
CLICK HERE for the NY Times story about the achievement gap in New York City schools titled, "Triumph Fades on Racial Gap in City Schools."