21 Dec Student Growth Impressive at Phoenix #1
A New York Times article recently published a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University. The study questions the reliability of performance scores to measure the success of school districts. It takes a look at growth versus performance and notes this helps to eliminate socioeconomic factors that students in urban districts face compared to their suburban counterparts who tend to perform better on state assessments across the United States.
When comparing Phoenix Elementary School District #1’s (Phoenix #1) growth to nearby urban and suburban districts, Phoenix #1’s student growth is impressive. “It is true that children in prosperous districts tend to test well, while children in poorer districts on average score lower,” states the article. The researcher questions if this a good measure for measuring school district performance when the students in urban districts are typically facing poverty and arrive at preschool or kindergarten with significantly smaller vocabularies and are less school-ready?
| DISTRICT | GROWTH AFTER 5 YEARS | NAT. PCT. | MEDIAN INC. |
| Phoenix Elementary DistrictARIZ. | 6.2 yrs. | 99th | $22k |
| Riverside Elementary DistrictARIZ. | 6.1 yrs. | 99th | $43k |
| Round Valley Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.9 yrs. | 96th | $67k |
| Chandler Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.8 yrs. | 95th | $83k |
| Whiteriver Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.8 yrs. | 94th | $34k |
| St David Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.7 yrs. | 92nd | $67k |
| Mohave Valley Elementary DistrictARIZ. | 5.6 yrs. | 91st | $57k |
| Red Mesa Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.6 yrs. | 91st | $32k |
| Peoria Unified School DistrictARIZ. | 5.6 yrs. | 91st | $70k |
| Nogales Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.6 yrs. | 88th | $28k |
| Joseph City Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.5 yrs. | 86th | $59k |
| Glendale Elementary DistrictARIZ. | 5.4 yrs. | 83rd | $37k |
| Sierra Vista Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.3 yrs. | 80th | $61k |
| Douglas Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.3 yrs. | 79th | $29k |
| Beaver Creek Elementary DistrictARIZ. | 5.3 yrs. | 78th | – |
| Paradise Valley Unified DistrictARIZ. | 5.3 yrs. | 76th | $78k |
| Clarkdale-Jerome Elementary DistrictARIZ. | 5.2 yrs. | 72nd | $61k |
| Duncan Unified DistrictARIZ. | 4.9 yrs. | 53rd | $49k |
| Wickenburg Unified DistrictARIZ. | 4.8 yrs. | 51st | $30k |
| Payson Unified DistrictARIZ. | 4.4 yrs. | 27th | $43k |
National percentiles are based on school districts with reliable data.
“The study included some 300 million elementary-school test scores across more than 11, 000 school districts in the United States. The researcher Sean Reardon argues that it’s possible to separate some of the advantages of socioeconomics from what’s actually happening in schools.”
At Phoenix #1, we believe that growth represents a school’s impact on student learning, whereas performance reflects differences in inputs such as socioeconomic status. We believe every child can achieve and are working diligently to impact student growth to level the playing field for our students. Such gains require high quality educators and resources. Both are becoming harder and harder to acquire with the teacher shortage and a declining financial commitment to public schools.
At Phoenix #1, we are focused on Inspiring EVERY child to achieve. We are public education!
The New York Times article is available online at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/05/upshot/a-better-way-to-compare-public-schools.html