Joseph Barkoff

Achievement gap not high on legislative radar for attention, funding

By Joseph Barkoff (The original story was published here as a part of my journalism capstone class project.)

Closing the achievement gap does not seem to be high on the list of Kentucky’s education priorities. According to a search of Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission, the last time “achievement gap” was mentioned was more than a year ago — on Feb. 26, 2018, in the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee minutes.

Kentucky House Rep. Tina Bojanowski, who represents District 32 in Louisville, which includes Jefferson County, is a special education teacher at Watterson Elementary School. She sees the achievement gap first hand.

“The achievement gap is a situation where we have students who academically are performing lower than other students on accountability testing,” Bojanowski said.

A simple explanation of the achievement gap breaks down into two basic delinquencies, each with their own intertwining stories. First, the gap describes the number of students who are where they should be on academic achievement versus where they are when tested at their current grade level. The second is the amount of money spent per student.

For example, Kentucky has a high graduation rate of high school students, but the assessment tests given upon completion of high school show a disparity between the grade achieved and the actual grade students perform at upon completion.

According to the Kentucky Department of Education, the average graduation rate is 90%, but only 54% of students on average are ready to transition to college-level work.

Demographically, the stats are depressing. Of the percentage of students who graduate ready to move on to higher levels of education, including college degrees, white students (60.1 %) and Asian students (59.2% ) outpace African Americans (26.5 %), Hispanics (36.7 %), American Indian or Alaska Natives (45.6 %), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders (38.7 %) and those students who are of two or more races (48.4 %).

Black students in Kentucky average the lowest graduation rates with 81.9% completion. Of those who graduate, more than half are not ready to pursue professional career employment, as only 26.5% are deemed ready to move ahead to chase their career goals.

Bojanowski acknowledged there is nowhere near as much funding as there was for education 10 or 20 years ago. She described it as a cloud looming over Kentucky, potentially putting education on the back burner for an increasing number of students.

But other lawmakers say the fight to close the achievement gap has been battled on the frontlines for a long time.

“They’ve been doing it for years in Jefferson County,” asserted Kentucky Rep. Charles Miller, a former high school principal for 25 years who now represents House District 28.

Jefferson County contains Louisville, the largest city in Kentucky. With a population of around 750,000 people, the city includes 150 schools. Among them are some of the state’s lowest performing.

“It has improved some,” Miller said. “We did improve some on the achievement gap, and to my understanding, they are working on that now — Jefferson County is.”

According to the Kentucky Department of Education’s new accountability model, with only one year on the books, numbers for reading have fallen from 39.4% in 2016-17 to 35.8% in 2017-18. Math has improved from 26.8% to 36.1%, and science has improved from 27.2% to 33%.

While minor improvements are hopeful for the district, there are still dismal benchmarks there. According to reports from the KDE’s Division of Accountability, Research and Systems Improvement, less than half (49.9%) of students who graduate high school at JCPS are transition-ready for a professional career or college-level work.

State funding dedicated to closing the achievement gap is stagnant. So is federal funding. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Summary, resources allocated for funding programs in the Every Student Succeeds Act have not changed in at least three years. The budget includes $378 million for both Competitive and State Assessment Grants for 2018, 2019 and 2020. The ESSA says each state must create its own assessment and accountability standard.

Some question the spending formulas, wondering if the achievement gap is partially fueled by spending per student, why are no changes being made there — directing more funds at those students who need it the most.

Federal Title I grants are awarded to Title I schools in each state to provide supplemental funding in high poverty areas. The funding goes to 90% of the school districts in the country. It is used in 60% of all public schools, serving 25 million students — almost half of the total population of students nationwide.

Nationally, the results for closing the achievement gap form a bell curve with just a few states achieving well. Most, however, are in the low to average range with a few listed as poor performers.

According to rankings developed by Education Week, a national publication that reports on K-12 education, Kentucky hangs out on the right side of the bell with a grade of C-minus. It ranks 37th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia. The nation as a whole did not score much better, however, averaging only a C grade, EdWeek reported.
Money distribution is not the only issue facing the achievement gap — teacher distribution is crucial too.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s School Improvement Programs Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request: “While there are inequities in the distribution of effective teachers, the effects on low-income students may be relatively small.”

Education officials cite the Study of the Distribution of Effective Teaching, comprehensive research done by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.

The NCEE says the “average teacher” of a low-income student is almost at the 50th percentile of effectiveness, and an “average teacher” of high-income students is in the 51st percentile of effectiveness. It concludes that moving average teachers from a more well-off school to a less well-off school will not fix the achievement gap.

“I think that the biggest concern in my district is that, like every parent, they want their students in a building with higher-achieving students,” Bojanowski said. “So, as far as scheduling which students go to where, part of the goal is to not have lower-achieving students all concentrated in one or two buildings but to have a balance of high-achieving and struggling students in these buildings.”

Much talk, few solutions as Kentucky officials detail achievement gap

By Nicole Ziege and Joseph Barkoff (The original story appeared here for my journalism capstone class project.)

State and local officials in Kentucky have acknowledged the achievement gap is a problem in the state, but they have sometimes differed on the main causes for the gap and have not found a concrete solution for how to close or narrow it.

State officials in particular have not discussed the achievement gap publicly over the past two years. The last time it was mentioned was Feb. 26, 2018, in the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee minutes.

Although the achievement gap has not been a pressing issue in recent state legislative sessions, state officials have recognized it is a problem.

Kentucky Rep. Tina Bojanowski, a Democrat, represents part of Louisville and Jefferson County in the 32nd District. As a special education teacher at Watterson Elementary School, Bojanowski has seen the achievement gap firsthand.

“The achievement gap is a situation where we have students who academically are performing lower than other students on accountability testing,” Bojanowski said.

One of the ways the achievement gap has persisted in the state is when lower-performing students become concentrated in one school or one district, not receiving the assistance they need.

“I think that the biggest concern in my district is that like every parent, they want their students in a building with higher-achieving students,” Bojanowski said.

State Rep. Nima Kulkarni, a Democrat representing Kentucky’s 40th District, said the state’s achievement gap could likely be tied to the lack of consistent funding, particularly the lack of equity funding, in K-12 schools.

Kulkarni’s district includes the city of Louisville, which contains some of the state’s poorest-ranked schools for test scores. In 2017-18, according to the Kentucky Department of Education, the lowest-ranked elementary schools, middle schools and high schools in the state included Frayser Elementary, Wheatley Elementary, Frederick Law Olmstead Academy North, Stuart Academy and Iroquois High School, all located in Jefferson County.

State schools are ranked based on a proficiency indicator as part of the school accountability system developed by the education department. The indicator took reading and math test scores into account for this rating.

One significant piece of legislation that has affected the allocation of resources for funding school programs is the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in 2015. The law sought to help students achieve at a higher academic standard using annual statewide assessments to measure their progress in an effort to provide accountability for not closing the achievement gap.

In addition, local education agencies receive Title I grants to provide supplemental funding in high poverty areas, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Kulkarni said this lack of consistent funding to Kentucky’s public education has proved education has not been a priority in the state for the past decade.

“It’s been going on for years — direct attacks on Kentucky’s public education and even stronger attacks on teachers and pensions, which discourages new teachers and de-incentivizes teachers from joining the workforce in Kentucky,” Kulkarni said.

Kulkarni said the lack of consistent and sustainable funding could be one reason for the achievement gap along with the need for more programs to support students outside of school with their classwork and more extracurricular activities to keep them engaged. She said the lack of these programs can be traced back to the lack of funding in Kentucky’s K-12 public education system.

“We need to be careful about the direction we’re taking for education in Kentucky,” Kulkarni said. “Educating children should be the first priority for our state.”

Although Kentucky Rep. Steve Riley, a Republican, expressed concern for the current achievement gap in the state, he did not provide a concrete solution to address the issue.

Riley was elected in 2016 to represent District 23, including Barren County and part of Warren County, and he has served as the vice chair of the Kentucky House Education Standing Committee for three years. Riley said it is difficult to pinpoint the main factors that play the biggest roles in the achievement gap.

However, he acknowledged that socioeconomic factors were important in creating an achievement gap between minority students and their white peers. One of the socioeconomic factors he mentioned included students living in stable homes with parents who have economic advantages.

“If they don’t live in a stable home environment, that doesn’t mean that they can’t be successful,” Riley said. “It could just mean that it’s harder for them.”

Riley, originally from Glasgow, Kentucky, is a retired high school principal for the Barren County School District. Before retiring in 2015, Riley worked at Barren County High School for 31 years, 12 years as a teacher, 15 years as assistant principal and four years as principal.

In the 2017 State Assessment, Barren County High School ranked No. 1 in Barren County out of 16 schools across three school districts and 43rd out of 1,262 schools statewide. Barren County Middle School ranked 15 out of 16 county schools and 914 out of 1,262 statewide. Hiseville Elementary School was ranked second in the county. The results came from the Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) tests in grades 3-8, end-of-course (EOC) assessments at the high school level and various college and career readiness measures across the middle and high school grade levels.

Graduation rates in Barren County — 89% — paralleled those for the state as a whole, according to Kentucky Department of Education’s School Report Card. Riley said he thought the quality of schools students attended contributed heavily to the achievement gap.

“The school you go to has some impact,” Riley said. “The quality of the teachers and the quality in their teaching patterns can make the situation better or worse in that environment.”

However, data from the U.S. Department of Education has shown that moving “average” teachers from a higher-performing school to a lower-performing school will not fix the achievement gap. The average teacher of a low-income student is nearly 50% effective, while an average teacher of a high-income student is nearly 51% effective, according to the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.

Although Riley said it was difficult to determine exactly what creates the gap, he said Kentucky needed to continue closing it.

“I think education is the great equalizer,” Riley said.

Like Riley, Kentucky Rep. Charles Miller, a Democrat who represents the 28th District, was also a high school principal. Miller worked for 25 years in Louisville and said he has watched as the state has tried to improve the gap in Jefferson County for many years.

“It has improved some,” Miller observed. “We did improve some on the achievement gap, and to my understanding, they are working on that now — Jefferson County is.”

Wayne Lewis, Kentucky’s education commissioner, said in an interview there needs to be work done in addressing the achievement gap from within Kentucky’s schools and the school districts. More attention must be paid in how funding is allocated at a district level and at a state level. While funding is not the only factor contributing to the achievement gap, Lewis said he believes it can play a part in funding programs to help students better learn outside of school.

Lewis points to a new statewide accountability system in Kentucky where the schools will be ranked and receive stars based on their performance and on the percentage of their students who are at a proficient level in core-curriculum subjects, including social studies, writing, reading and mathematics. The schools will be incentivized to perform better in these areas. This kind of accountability system is a more targeted approach for Kentucky’s schools to work on narrowing the achievement gap since Kentucky’s Department of Education has no legal jurisdiction over the programs that schools must provide to students.

“Incentivizing schools is a significant movement toward closing the achievement gap,” Lewis said.

For local officials who interact with children affected by Kentucky’s achievement gap, the stakes are very real.

Dustin Bishop is the executive director of Adelante: Hispanic Achievers, a nonprofit organization that provides after-school services to Hispanic middle school and high school students in Louisville, Kentucky.

Adelante opened in 2004 and began offering services in 2005. Today, it serves about 135 students every week and offers after-school tutoring, ambassador programs and courses for ACT and college preparation.

Bishop said the organization was created in order to address a large influx of Hispanic people who immigrated to Louisville around 2005. He said Kentucky was not prepared for that large increase in the Hispanic population.

“Unlike with other populations, there was no additional support system outside or inside the school system for these kids,” Bishop said.

The population of Spanish-speaking people in the city has continued to grow, with the fastest-growing immigrant population being Cuban Americans in 2016. However, while the population of Hispanic students has grown in Kentucky, the achievement gap has widened between them and white students.

In 2015, 60% of white elementary students scored at either the proficient or distinguished level in reading compared to only 43% of Hispanic students, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

In 2017-18, the four-year graduation rate for Hispanic students in the state was 83% compared to 91.9% of white students, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Key factors that have affected and contributed to this achievement gap include poverty and language barriers, which have a significant impact on the success of Hispanic students in the state.

One measure of poverty is through the number of students on free or reduced lunches through the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted meal program in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions established through the National School Lunch Act of 1964.

Bishop said 91% of the students served at Adelante are on free or reduced-price lunch.

In 2016-17, in the Jefferson County school district, about 58,000 students received free lunches, or nearly 60% of the county’s student population. Nearly 5,000 students received reduced lunches, or 5%, according to the Kentucky Department of Education’s School Report Card.

Bishop said Hispanic students who were brought here to America as children or were born in America with parents who were immigrants might find themselves at a disadvantage because of the language barriers.

“Most often, they’ve grown up in households where their parents are still learning English,” Bishop said. “They don’t know the system, and they’re held back by those language barriers.”

Bishop pointed to language barriers as one of the most significant reasons for Hispanic students receiving a lower ACT average composite score than white students.

The ACT, or American College Test, is a standardized test taken by high school students in Kentucky to test their preparedness for college-level work.

In 2017, the average ACT composite score for Hispanic students who were in schools that focused on core curriculum, including English, math, reading and science, was 19.8. This score was less than white students who attended core-curriculum schools, which was 21.7, according to the ACT Profile Report for Kentucky.

“It’s clear that the ACT was not designed for students whose first language is not English,” Bishop said. “Because of the poverty that many of these families face, they often can’t afford the ACT tutoring that wealthier families can afford.”

Bishop said stereotypes of Hispanic people can also play a role in the achievement gap on a case-by-case basis. He gave an example of an Hispanic student who spoke with her school counselor about wanting to go into nursing for her career. The counselor said she may not want to take that path because of the necessary schooling she would need to take after high school.

Bishop said examples like that can discourage Hispanic students from seeking a better future, since they are unsure about how to navigate the public school system. Stereotypes about Hispanic people such as them only working construction jobs can be “incredibly harmful” to the students and their parents, he said.

“The parents we meet at Adelante are some of the most dedicated parents,” Bishop said. “They want to make sure their students have the best opportunities. When parents hear that and are told no, they can be discouraged.”

Bishop suggested more English as a Second Language teachers be provided in schools with Hispanic populations and suggested that at least one faculty member at every school with Hispanic students be bilingual in case a Hispanic student or a student’s parents need help translating.

However, Bishop said the solution for closing or narrowing the achievement gap for Hispanic students in Kentucky is not that simple.

“This is a much broader issue than just offering services to students,” Bishop said. “There are so many societal factors and institutional factors at play, and I don’t think a few small issues can solve it.”

RussianRiver Rodeo rides again

• by Joseph Barkoff Special to Sonoma West news@sonomawest.com
• Jun 25, 2014

DUNCANS MILLS — What does one do when she or he gets thrown from a horse? They get back up on that horse, expeditiously.

It was that time of year again in Sonoma County last weekend, and the Russian River Rodeo took, for the 48th time, the community’s and surrounding area’s attention for two days on June 21 and 22 at Bill Parmeter Field in Duncans Mills.

With packed-full stands on a beautiful, bright sunny day, with Sonoma County’s air conditioner in effect, as the air was a confusingly crisp 73 degrees. It was a perfect day for a rodeo. People from all over California came to watch and participate in this year’s California Pro Rodeo event.

Without a thought for his own safety, Kris Matthews of Redwood Valley, though he hasn’t ridden broncos since high school — “around six years” —decided to give the crowd a good show and use an extra saddle borrowed from his friend and fellow pro circuit comrade Ad Bugenig of Ferndale. Because there was an extra saddle, he signed up to ride broncos along with his regular event.

As Bugenig set up the saddle for his friend using spare parts from his tackbox, he explained, “[To] be set up is 90 percent of the battle. If you aren’tset up you shouldn’t even go out.”

Matthews rode in both bull and bronco, and though his horse was non-cooperative, dragging Matthews underneath and giving him a minor limp after the event, he got back up smiled and waved to the crowd acknowledging their appreciation in cheers of his valiant efforts. Later, he rode his draw in bull riding like a pro.

Casey Meroshnekoff of Red Bluff suffered a head trauma July 6, 2013 in Folsom, and after two brain bleeds, swelling and being in a coma for five days,he thought of nothing but wanting to get back on that horse.

“The toughest thing was not being able to ride,” said Meroshnekoff, noting the first thing he thought when he came to was that he “wanted on.”

After rehab at his first pro rodeo in his first draw back, he drew (who else?) Bar 8 Bar-tap, the horse responsible for injuring him just 10 months earlier. Meroshnekoff rode him to a money-placing win, and since has ridden 30 rodeos and been on “50 or 60 head since I got back.”

For the fans lucky enough to see him rodeo in Duncans Mills, Meroshnekoff rode his eight seconds scoring the highest of the day, 74, for the win in bare back.

“Our job is let everyone watch and have fun,” Meroshnekoff says of having the best job in the world.

Sonoma County Pride

SonomaCounty Pride in Guerneville

• by Joe Barkoff Special to Sonoma West news@sonomawest.com
• Jun 4, 2014

Sonoma County’s Pride Parade opened fabulous and fashionably late with thegrowl of Harleys and ended with an impromptu dance party in the middle of MainStreet on Sunday, June 1 in Guerneville.

The family-friendly parade revelers cheered the rumble and roar of Dykes onBikes as they snaked their way through the middle of the Russian River town,heading the procession of this year’s Pride Parade, this year themed “Free ToBe.”

With exclamations of “Happy Pride” exchanged between all comers throughoutthe streets of Guerneville, it was a day of community and unity regardless ofones orientation.

This year featured three honorary grand marshals from Sebastopol toCloverdale. Mayor Robert Jacob, of Sebastopol, Carol Russell, of Cloverdale andRodger Jensen, the unofficial “mayor” of Guerneville, all proceeded atop honorfloats with smiles, waves and cheers for parade onlookers.

Russell’s honor float made its way through the parade course once, andnearing its end, made a U-turn for an encore pass, and then made an unscheduledexit turning right on Church Street.

Jacob cast an ear-to-ear smile as he waved to friends from atop the handmadehull of a ship built on a re-purposed Loadstar 1700 school bus with “celebratelove” written in giant white letters across its bumper.

Jensen, the unofficial mayor and official community organizer, atop a SUVdecked in black lamé and glitter, pumping his arm cheering. Pausing briefly toconceal and then extending his silver sparkled cape like a silvery vampireabout to initiate the world into unity and understanding.

No Pride Parade in the West County would be complete without a procession ofthe Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who seemed to have someone attached toevery group that made its way down Main Street. As they came to the end of theparade route, making the left onto Armstrong Woods Road, they would sashay weston Fourth Street to rejoin another group heading into the parade.

Sister Ida Claire, after eight years indulging the community and a briefretirement of three years, was elevated to emeritus status and now can attendany event the Sisters enter. Sister Claire said the biggest thing she gainsfrom the experience with the Sisters is “Helping the community.”

Brent Rivera, a son wearing a hand-written shirt proclaiming to the worldthat “I love my lesbian mom,” embraced his mother Christina, as a crowd rangingfrom first-timers to “Oh my gosh I can’t remember it’s been so many” watchedthe celebration.

After the parade, the crowd was invited into the street for a dance party tocement the unity between onlookers and parade participants, allowing everyonepresent to become an official participant in Sonoma County’s Pride.

“It was an honor to be selected as a Sonoma County Grand Marshal and to beafforded the opportunity to represent the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendercommunity,” Jacob said. “Sonoma County’s Pride festival created a space whereall could feel welcome, safe, and respected and there is nowhere else I wouldhave rather been.”