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Following is some information you might be interested in knowing (from Center on Educational Policy, January 2012).
1. In 2008 more than 55 million children were in preK-12 schools with 90% enrolled in public schools. The total by 2020 is predicted to be 57.9 million with 91% in public school. Texas is among the top four schools in projected increase in public school enrollment by 2020—Texas = 23%, Alaska = 25%, Arizona = 26%, and Nevada = 28%.
2. In 2008 about 45% of the public school children were children of color; in Texas children of color were 66%. Children of color now make up more than 70% of Texas public school children. Of the 14 districts in the U.S. with more than 90% enrollment of children of color, 4 of the top 6 are in Texas.
3. As of 2008-09, poverty concentrations in the public schools is higher than we would like with 17% when considering all students. However, if considered by ethnicity, the poverty rate was 35% for African Americans and 37% in Latino. About 75% of African American and Latino children attend schools in which children of color are in the majority while most white children attend schools in which children of color are in the minority. Forty-five percent of public school children are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
4. Sixty-five percent of children change schools twice or more before grade 8 with thirteen percent changing school four or more times.
5. One in 10 public school children are English language learners with 80% of those native Spanish speakers. Both of those percentages are considerably higher in Texas public schools.
6. Fundamental aspects of education vary considerably across U.S. states, for example:
a. Minimum number of years children must attend school—9 to 13 years
b. Minimum age for compulsory education—ages 5 to 8
c. Maximum age for compulsory education—ages 16-18
d. Minimum number of instructional days per school year—160-182
e. Number of credits (in Carnegie units) required for a high school diploma—13-24
f. 25 states require students to pass a high school exit exam to receive a diploma; 5 more require an exam but students do not have to pass
g. Texas is one of only 5 states not to adopt common core state standards
7. Per pupil spending varies considerably between states ($18,126 NY to $6,356 Utah) and within states. For example, Texas has the 4th largest within state discrepancy—Deer Park at $15,126 to Pearland at $7018, a difference to $8,108.
8. Between 1971 and 2008, some academic performances in schools have improved. For example, reading scores have improved by nearly 6% for 9 year olds, and 2% for 13 year olds, but not at all for 17 year olds. African Americans have made similar gains in reading (6% for 4th grade, 5% for 8th grade, but none for 12th grade) as have Latinos (4.6% for 4th grade, 4.6% for 8th grade, but none for 12 grade). Math scores are similar with an 11% increase in math at 9 years, 5.6% increase at age 13, but not at all for age 17. African Americans have made 19% for 4th grade, 10.5% for 8th grade, but little for 12th grade. Poverty data also shows a discrepancy between low and high poverty 12th grade students of 12.4% on reading and 27.7% on math.
9. What does the public school teaching force look like? Forty-seven percent have a bachelor’s degree, 45% a master’s degree, 6% an education specialist and over 1% with a doctorate. Over 50% have been teaching for 10 years or longer. However, these teachers are far less diverse than the students they teach with 83% white, 7% African American, and 7% Latino. These teachers spend an average of 52 hours per week on teaching work—37 hours of required school work, 5 hours on compensated non-instructional work, and 10 hours of non-compensated school work. U.S. teachers spend over 1000 hours per year teaching (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 34 nations). This is second in most teaching hours only exceeded by Chile. The compensation in the U.S. ranks 22nd (elementary) and 24th (secondary) in compensation among 28 OECD nations. This is between 61 and 65% of what average U.S. employees make in other jobs with similar education and experience.
Additional regional data:
· Data from the Texas Comptroller show Denton, Collin, Tarrant, Wise counties were some of the fastest growing in Texas (over 10% from 2000-2005)
· Denton County is projected to have 2.6 million people by 2040 (currently we are about 650,000)
· The North Texas region as a whole is expected to grow by over 100% by 2040 with the exception of Dallas county which will remain about the same size.
· Projections show North Texas region with significantly decreasing Anglo populations and significantly increasing Hispanic populations; African American populations are projected to decrease slightly, all other ethnic groups increase slightly.
As you look over this data, there are some points to consider:
· Even with the current reduction in the public school teaching force, there will be jobs in Texas with enrollment growth and retirements. The national data indicate the same with teaching having more jobs than any other field in the next 10 years.
· We will need many additional teachers with bilingual/ESL credentials. In fact we should probably consider additional increases in the amount of bilingual/ESL coursework in our EC-6, 4-8, Secondary, and PreK-12 teaching credentials.
· We know children from homes in poverty do not come as well prepared as other children. There is also a disproportionate overrepresentation of African American and Latino children in homes with poverty level incomes. We must do more and better in early childhood education and in our work with parents to make up for lesser preparation.
· In the long run, we must advocate for better salaries for public school teachers. If we want to attract and keep the best teachers, we must pay them more. Better salaries would also attract better teachers into low income and urban schools, the places where we need the VERY best teaching.
· How can we ever expect to solve our problems when schools in poverty areas get less funding per student? In Texas we give more funding to better schools. How can that make sense; shouldn’t we give more funding to underperforming schools?
· Math and reading performance are improving in elementary and middle school but not high school. This is likely related to a lack of well-prepared high school teachers in math. In reading it is difficult to say but my guess is we spend so much time preparing for standardized tests, that we do not get in the time on reading and writing assignments.
(copied/pasted from message board of my grad school)
1. In 2008 more than 55 million children were in preK-12 schools with 90% enrolled in public schools. The total by 2020 is predicted to be 57.9 million with 91% in public school. Texas is among the top four schools in projected increase in public school enrollment by 2020—Texas = 23%, Alaska = 25%, Arizona = 26%, and Nevada = 28%.
2. In 2008 about 45% of the public school children were children of color; in Texas children of color were 66%. Children of color now make up more than 70% of Texas public school children. Of the 14 districts in the U.S. with more than 90% enrollment of children of color, 4 of the top 6 are in Texas.
3. As of 2008-09, poverty concentrations in the public schools is higher than we would like with 17% when considering all students. However, if considered by ethnicity, the poverty rate was 35% for African Americans and 37% in Latino. About 75% of African American and Latino children attend schools in which children of color are in the majority while most white children attend schools in which children of color are in the minority. Forty-five percent of public school children are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
4. Sixty-five percent of children change schools twice or more before grade 8 with thirteen percent changing school four or more times.
5. One in 10 public school children are English language learners with 80% of those native Spanish speakers. Both of those percentages are considerably higher in Texas public schools.
6. Fundamental aspects of education vary considerably across U.S. states, for example:
a. Minimum number of years children must attend school—9 to 13 years
b. Minimum age for compulsory education—ages 5 to 8
c. Maximum age for compulsory education—ages 16-18
d. Minimum number of instructional days per school year—160-182
e. Number of credits (in Carnegie units) required for a high school diploma—13-24
f. 25 states require students to pass a high school exit exam to receive a diploma; 5 more require an exam but students do not have to pass
g. Texas is one of only 5 states not to adopt common core state standards
7. Per pupil spending varies considerably between states ($18,126 NY to $6,356 Utah) and within states. For example, Texas has the 4th largest within state discrepancy—Deer Park at $15,126 to Pearland at $7018, a difference to $8,108.
8. Between 1971 and 2008, some academic performances in schools have improved. For example, reading scores have improved by nearly 6% for 9 year olds, and 2% for 13 year olds, but not at all for 17 year olds. African Americans have made similar gains in reading (6% for 4th grade, 5% for 8th grade, but none for 12th grade) as have Latinos (4.6% for 4th grade, 4.6% for 8th grade, but none for 12 grade). Math scores are similar with an 11% increase in math at 9 years, 5.6% increase at age 13, but not at all for age 17. African Americans have made 19% for 4th grade, 10.5% for 8th grade, but little for 12th grade. Poverty data also shows a discrepancy between low and high poverty 12th grade students of 12.4% on reading and 27.7% on math.
9. What does the public school teaching force look like? Forty-seven percent have a bachelor’s degree, 45% a master’s degree, 6% an education specialist and over 1% with a doctorate. Over 50% have been teaching for 10 years or longer. However, these teachers are far less diverse than the students they teach with 83% white, 7% African American, and 7% Latino. These teachers spend an average of 52 hours per week on teaching work—37 hours of required school work, 5 hours on compensated non-instructional work, and 10 hours of non-compensated school work. U.S. teachers spend over 1000 hours per year teaching (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 34 nations). This is second in most teaching hours only exceeded by Chile. The compensation in the U.S. ranks 22nd (elementary) and 24th (secondary) in compensation among 28 OECD nations. This is between 61 and 65% of what average U.S. employees make in other jobs with similar education and experience.
Additional regional data:
· Data from the Texas Comptroller show Denton, Collin, Tarrant, Wise counties were some of the fastest growing in Texas (over 10% from 2000-2005)
· Denton County is projected to have 2.6 million people by 2040 (currently we are about 650,000)
· The North Texas region as a whole is expected to grow by over 100% by 2040 with the exception of Dallas county which will remain about the same size.
· Projections show North Texas region with significantly decreasing Anglo populations and significantly increasing Hispanic populations; African American populations are projected to decrease slightly, all other ethnic groups increase slightly.
As you look over this data, there are some points to consider:
· Even with the current reduction in the public school teaching force, there will be jobs in Texas with enrollment growth and retirements. The national data indicate the same with teaching having more jobs than any other field in the next 10 years.
· We will need many additional teachers with bilingual/ESL credentials. In fact we should probably consider additional increases in the amount of bilingual/ESL coursework in our EC-6, 4-8, Secondary, and PreK-12 teaching credentials.
· We know children from homes in poverty do not come as well prepared as other children. There is also a disproportionate overrepresentation of African American and Latino children in homes with poverty level incomes. We must do more and better in early childhood education and in our work with parents to make up for lesser preparation.
· In the long run, we must advocate for better salaries for public school teachers. If we want to attract and keep the best teachers, we must pay them more. Better salaries would also attract better teachers into low income and urban schools, the places where we need the VERY best teaching.
· How can we ever expect to solve our problems when schools in poverty areas get less funding per student? In Texas we give more funding to better schools. How can that make sense; shouldn’t we give more funding to underperforming schools?
· Math and reading performance are improving in elementary and middle school but not high school. This is likely related to a lack of well-prepared high school teachers in math. In reading it is difficult to say but my guess is we spend so much time preparing for standardized tests, that we do not get in the time on reading and writing assignments.
(copied/pasted from message board of my grad school)
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