St. Cloud schools look to improve adequate yearly progress

St. Cloud schools look to improve adequate yearly progress
By Dave Aeikens • daeikens@stcloudtimes.com • February 18, 2010

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Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A Next Page1| 2Previous PageStudents in St. Cloud schools are showing small gains in reading and math but are falling below district goals after one year of the equity plan, a district report shows.




Overall, students improved in eight of nine categories in reading and math. The students fell short of goals that would allow the district and schools to make adequate yearly progress, a measurement under No Child Left behind, in six of nine categories in reading and seven of nine categories in math.
The report measures student progress in categories that include all students, American Indians, Asians, Hispanic, blacks, white, limited English speaking students, low income and special education.
School board members conducted a forum Wednesday for people to discuss the equity plan that drew mostly staff members and some from the community.
“I think it shows we are moving in the right direction,” said Les Green, a school board member who is chairman of the equity and integration committee. “Anyone can argue about speed, and I would like to have more speed.”
St. Cloud school district is in its second year of receiving state dollars to provide programs for equity and integration. The district receives about $1.1 million a year and has a four-year plan for progress and improvement. About 25 percent of St. Cloud school district students are minorities.
The district receives money because it borders Holdingford, a district with almost no students of color.
Only limited-English-speaking students did not improve in reading and only American Indian students did not show improvement in math. The categories that showed improvement grew of between 1 and 3 percentage points.
White students are passing the reading tests at 80 percent and black students at almost 40 percent. Closing that gap has been a goal for the school district. The district goal is to get black students to 74 percent.
White students are passing math at a 74 percent rate and black students at a 35 percent rate. The goal is to get black students passing math at a 67 percent rate.



“What the goal ought to be, there ought to be no difference in the success and failure based on race,” Green said.




Green said the district needs to study the black children who are succeeding and share strategies with those who are not.
Julia Espe, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said she is pleased with the work that is being done.
“We have a long ways to go. We have work to do. We want that (achievement) gap to be smaller,” Espe said. “We have our work cut out for us.”
The report also shows other potential inequities in staffing and in student discipline.
The district teachers are 98 percent white and the support staff is 96 percent white.
Black students, who make up about 14 percent of the student body, account for 51 percent of the out-of-school suspensions.
Whites, who are 75 percent of the students, account for 40 percent of the suspensions.
The Advanced Placement honor level courses have 13 percent students of color. About 87 percent of white students are taking AP courses. Students of color make up about 15 percent of the students who take part in extracurricular activities, according to the report.