A descriptive study of the recruitment of students of color for secondary accelerated programs

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A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF THE RECRUITMENT
OF STUDENTS OF COLOR FOR SECONDARY
ACCELERATED PROGRAMS
by
Adrienne Angela Jackson
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 1998
@ Adrienne Angela Jackson 1998
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UMI Number: 9902815
Copyright 1998 by
Jackson, Adrienne Angela
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
School of Edncarion
Los Angeles, California 90089-0031
This dissertation, written by
ADRIENNE A. JACKSON
under the direction of h ^ — Dissertation Committee, and
approved by all members o f the Committee, has been
presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School
of Education in partialfidfUlment of the requirementsfor
the degree of
D o c t o r o f E d u c a t io n
' B âû
Dissertatioi
Chairperson
^ —
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permission.
Adrienne Angela Jackson Dean Guilbert Hentschke
A Descriptive Study of the Recruitment of
Students o f Color for Secondary Accelerated Programs
For decades research has attempted to broaden educators' knowledge of the impact of
high school tracking on students' post secondary opportunities. Researchers are aware that
students of color are disproportionately placed in low ability classes that are for non-college
bound students. Educators have relied on technical, cultural, political and individualistic theories
to e:q)lam how students have been tracked. To further assist with the research that centers on
school dynamics and student track placement, the findings firom a year-long study of tracking
decisions at four comprehensive high schools are presented.
The high schools studied were part of a southern California high school district. As the
population of students o f color increased programs were developed to recruit students fi-om
disadvantaged backgrounds and students who were members o f historically under-represented
groups in post-secondary institutions. The district office supported recruitment efforts and open
enrollment by institutii^ policies that emphasized those measures. The purpose o f this study was
to acsertain the degree to which gatekeepers who program students in classes supported the
district goals and policies. The research concluded that school culture, differentiated curriculum
structures and actions by individuals within those structures influenced the placement of students
and the distribution of advantage. At schools where educational equity was achieved
differentiated curriculum was minimized so that all students were placed in accelerated core
subjects, whereas schools that bad not achieved equity continued to have numerous levels of
placement where students continued to be tracked.
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permission.
Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to my parents. Clora
and Harold Jackson. They have supported me throughout
my life but especially during my U.S.C. years while
completing my doctoral degree.
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Acknowledgements
This writer would like to acknowledge the guidance and assistance from several
important individuals. First the members of my dissertation committee. Dean Guilbert
Hentschke. Dr. Ed Williams, and special appreciation to Dr. Vernon Broussard. Dr.
Broussard's wisdom forced me to reach beyond the obvious and broaden my vision.
Special credit must be given to Dr. Patrick Rooney for guiding me through the
dissertation proposal and leading me to Dr. Broussard.
Additionally, acknowledgements to Dr. Daniel Kitchen. Dr. William Brock and
Dr. Carl Wong for their guidance and expertise in obtaining the appropriate data and
developing the student survey that led to the findings and recommendations of this
dissertation. Also, credit to Dr. Pauline Forman for editing the disseration and collegial
support. Without these individuals, the completion of this study would not have
occurred.
Finally, Ms. Carmen Sierras must be acknowledged for translating the student
survey and surveying the Spanish-speaking students so that they could be included in
this study.
m
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Table Of Contents
List of T a b le s ................................................................................................vi
List of Figures...............................................................................................vii
Chapter 1 - Introduction.............................................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem....................................................................... 5
Significance of the Study....................................................................... 8
Research Q uestions..............................................................................9
Methodology.........................................................................................10
Limitations............................................................................................ 12
Assumptions.........................................................................................13
Definitions............................................................................................ 14
Chapter 2 - Review of the L iterature.........................................................18
Equity in Public Schools......................................................................19
The M yth ...................................................................................19
Separate But E q u a l.................................................................. 21
Separate is Unequal..................................................................23
Segregation within S ta te s........................................................ 25
De Facto Segregation...............................................................26
Political Struggle over Schooling........................................... 30
Ability Grouping in the United S ta te s ...............................................33
The Need for Recruitment........................................................ 38
Giftedness.................................................................................. 39
Programs and Advisement........................................................ 44
Chapter 3 - Methodology............................................................................51
Research P ro c e ss...............................................................................52
Questions to be Answered.................................................................. 54
IV
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Student Survey Q uestions.................................................................. 54
Descriptive Statistics............................................................................55
Student Background Characteristics..................................................57
Data A nalysis..................................................................................... 59
Chapter 4 - F in d in gs.................................................................................. 61
District Findings from docum ents..................................................... 61
Findings at Individual Sites
Site A .........................................................................................71
Site B .........................................................................................74
Site C ........................................................................................ 79
Site D ........................................................................................ 84
Chapter 5 - Summary, Implications and Recommendations..................89
Summary...............................................................................................89
Implications........................................................................................ 92
Recommendations...............................................................................93
Bibliography.................................................................................................100
Appendix A .................................................................................................109
Appendix B .................................................................................................110
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List of Tables
Table A: Class Key 94 Survey Statistics.............................................. 56
Table B: Surveyed Students Ethnic and Gender
S tatistics.................................................................................57
Table C: Freshman English Placement for Fall, 1994...........................62
Table D: Freshman Geography Placement for
Fall, 1994.................................................................................64
Table E: Ethnic Breakdown of Graduates
Completing A-F Requirements............................................. 68
Table F: Percent AVID Enrollment by
Ethnicity and Y e a r.................................................................70
Table G: Racial and Ethnic Diversity: Recent
H istory.................................................................................. 109
VI
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Schoolwide English Levels 1994-95 .....................................66
Figure 2: Schoolwide Mathematics Levels
Surveyed Schools....................................................................67
Figure 3: District Levels Offered 1994-95 ...........................................67
Figure 4: AVID Enrollment.................................................................... 69
Figure 5: Racial/Ethnic Distribution 1994-95 ........................................71
Figure 6: District Diversity by Year......................................................109
Vll
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
As American educators realize the need to improve the public
educational system to meet the needs of its students for the twenty-first century,
they continue to struggle with the notion of educational equity; equity being all
students receiving equal access into rigorous programs of study. The rigorous
studies will equip the students with the skills and knowledge necessary to
compete for admission in the workplace as well as in post-secondaiy
institutions. "During the past 2 decades, the state had enacted new frameworks,
graduation requirements, proficiency examinations, university admission
requirements, and accountability systems that embodied assumptions that all
students needed considerable academic preparation and that schools should
press as many students as possible towards rigorous academic courses" (Oakes
and Guiton, 1995, p. 23). Currently, guidance providers and teachers are
usually the gatekeepers who either allow entry or block access into rigorous
studies such as college preparatory classes, gifted and talented programs, honors
courses and advanced placement classes.
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With the court-ordered desegregation of public schools in the mid-l950's,
many believed that equal access into educational programs and resources would
become the norm and that all American youth would achieve their maximum
potential. Unfortunately, as history has shown, students continued to be
segregated along racial lines not only within cities, but within schools (Yudof,
1992, p.562). Segregation continued because some educators believed that only
certain students were naturally equipped with the mental capabilities to compete
in higher educational institutions (Jensen, 1969; Brody, 1992; Hermstein and
Murray, 1994). Past practices of allowing only certain types of students into
rigorous programs had been due in part to federal and state laws, county and
district policies, and individual beliefs and prejudices. Even as the laws and
policies began to provide relief for past discriminatory practices, policy makers
like site and district level educators and school boards, continued to develop
prerequisites that segregated students by adults' preconceived notions. With
these continued efforts to deny all students equal access into advanced studies,
equity remained an unattainable goal for most districts. "The value for a
comprehensive, differentiated curriculum (and the limits that structure places on
the number of high-status slots schools make available) may reflect the long-
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standing and widely held belief that few American students — particularly low-
income, minority, and immigrant students — are really capable of or interested
in rigorous academic work" (Oakes and Guiton, 1995, p. 7).
Fortunately, other educators believed that all students were able to gain
the knowledge and skills to successfully compete for university admissions
(Gardner, 1983; Oakes, 1985; Kuykendall, 1992; Howard, 1993; Broussard,
1996). Some educational policy makers agreed with this philosophy and
developed goals and policies to support students' needs to be challenged and
equipped with the necessary skills to prepare them for the workplace and post
secondary study. These policy makers reduced, if not completely removed,
artificial barriers that precluded students from enrolling into challenging
programs. Others developed programs that not only actively recruited students
from previously under-represented populations at post-secondary institutions,
but supported these students with tutoring and with caring educators who
encouraged the students' efforts. These efforts forced some educators to view
adolescents with the belief that all youth could achieve to their maximum
potential which would include not only comprehending but mastering advanced
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skills and knowledge that ready the students for post-secondary work and
education.
Students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds are expected to
constitute an increasing percentage of the United States population through the
early years of the twenty-first century. These students will need a college
education for jobs that will require special certifications and/or baccalaureate
degrees. They must have college preparatory courses to prepare them for
success in post-secondary institutions (Kuykendall, 1992; Howard, 1993;
Broussard, 1996). To prepare for this future, parents and students will need to
be given the information to make informed decisions about the students'
prospects.
In this study, educational equity is reviewed within the context of a
southern California high school district. The district's attempts to reduce
segregated classes and to increase the numbers of students of color in advanced
coursework have increased due in part to the numbers of Latinos, Afiican-
Americans and Middle Eastern students enrolling into the ten comprehensive
high schools. Efforts to achieve equity have included a revision of district goals
and special program policies that included that all students should be given
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information about, and the opportunity to enroll in, advanced courses. Although
the district instituted these goals and policies, the crucial issue has been
whether or not site personnel who program the students in classes have
genuinely attempted to inform students and parents, and have allowed students
to enroll in advanced classes. Also, if teachers who developed course
prerequisites and expectations, and site administrators who have set the tone and
enforced departmental policies, faithfully incorporated the district's goals and
policies into their philosophies.
The results of a comprehensive analysis of the most current research on
educational equity and of documents from this southern California school
district are presented. The researcher examines how and why students were
placed in educational programs as well as what policies were in place at the
sites that would increase access. The study concludes with implications and
recommendations for school districts throughout the country.
Statement of the Problem
The problem of this study was to determine if barriers were still in
existence that impeded the recruitment efforts for placing students of color into
accelerated programs of studies. In the school district researched, guidance
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providers met with eighth grade students during the students' last semester in
middle school to determine in which electives the students would enroll for
their freshman year. During that same semester, high school department
chairpersons met with middle school teachers and counselors to explain how
eighth grade teacher recommendations (a form titled Socrates) should be
completed to develop a picture of each student's prior achievements and
educational levels attained. These forms were reviewed by a guidance providers
at the high school in which the incoming freshman was going to enroll and the
student was then placed in the "appropriate" levels for English, mathematics,
social science and sometimes science. Revisions were made only if the
parent/guardian of an incoming freshman requested a change during a scheduled
summer conference to review the middle school's recommendations and the
student's placement for the upcoming fall semester. Problems existed because
each school in the 22,000 student district had autonomy in deterniining the
levels and types of courses offered as well as defining a student as remedial,
applied arts, college-prep or honors. Also, each guidance provider had her/his
personal philosophy about who should be enrolled in the various levels in a
particular subject. Another issue was that not all guidance providers had been
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educated in the philosophies, theories and trends about student placement since
many providers were non-certificated employees who had little or no formal
training in counseling and/or education, and no formal post-secondary
education. Because of the lack of formal training, these providers took their
direction from a counselor, teacher and/or principal. Past practices which were
not educationally sound were commonplace among the employees who had
performed the same job for longer than the past few years.
Another issue existed in that each middle school's faculty had individual
and site beliefs that may or may not encourage students to be challenged by
placing them in rigorous courses of study. Also, not all recommendations were
completed and returned for all students, and there occasionally were no
recommendations for those students who did not attend a middle school that was
in a high school's attendance area. Lastly, not all students' parents/guardians
attended a sununer conference to review the students' recommendations, elective
choices and level placements for the fall semester. Consequently, incoming
ninth graders were often placed into levels that did not challenge the students'
cognitive abilities and did not prepare them for post-secondary work and
colleges.
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Significance of the Study
While educators and policy makers have been involved in the
development of school improvement programs, it is important for them to be
aware of how their policies have been implemented. In this present case, policy
makers need to know if individuals who allow access by students into
accelerated coursework (who may or may not agree with the district's equal
access philosophy or who may have received contradictory directions from
teachers and /or site administrators) actively presented students and parents with
reliable and complete information about accelerated programs. Further,
assuming the providers presented students and parents with reliable and
complete information about accelerated coursework, can it be shown that they
actively recruited all students for these rigorous programs?
If the policy was not practiced, policy makers and implementers would
need to ensure that educators understood the goals and policies of the district
and could develop implementation plans that were attainable. If policy-based
implementation plans were not developed, new personnel would need to be
recruited and hired for the sites so that the district’s policies and goals would
become realities. If the plans did not emerge, the district would have significant
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problems of non-compliance at the site level and would be vulnerable to legal as
well as ethical issues. Conversely, if the equal access policies were being
practiced, an assessment of the success of the students in the accelerated classes
and how well the student support programs were assisting the students would be
needed.
Research Questions
To discover if the district's goal of allowing all comprehensive high
school students equal access into accelerated classes was being achieved, the
following questions needed to be answered by this study.
Based upon the documents obtained and analyzed, surveys conducted at
selected high schools, and interviews:
1. What criteria were used for selection to participate in accelerated classes?
2. Were the accelerated program entrance standards the same for all students,
regardless of race and ethnicity? If the standards were the same, were they
good entrance standards?
3. Were students of color provided the same access into accelerated classes as
White students?
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Methodology
This descriptive research systematically describes the facts and
characteristics of a given population and area of interest, factually and
accurately. The purpose of this type of study is to:
■ collect detailed factual information that describes existing phenomena,
■ identify problems or justify current conditions and practices,
■ make comparisons and evaluations, and
■ determine what others are doing with similar problems or situations and
benefit from their experience in making future plans and decisions (Isaac
and Michael, 1990).
The documents analyzed were received primarily from the district's
curriculum and assessment department. The department had gathered data over
the past seven years to assess the programs of the district as well as to document
trends occurring within the district. There had been a demographic shift since
1985, and four schools noted drastic changes in their student populations'
ethnicity and socio-economics. Although Latin-American students have always
comprised the largest minority of each school's student population, their
population had increased since 1985 as did the African-American and Middle
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Eastern (in particular Iraqi) student enrollments. From 1985 to 1995, the overall
ethnic diversity of the district had changed. The percent change in ethnic
categories over that ten year period includes Native American at +1.08, Asian at
+ 1.38, Latino at +9.38 and Afi*ican-American at +3.40, while Other White
declined at -18.40 (Appendix A).
A student survey was developed and conducted by the researcher with
assistance from the district's directors of curriculum and assessment. The survey
process was to telephone current ninth graders in the fall of 1994, and ask
questions that dealt with their pre-ninth grade summer conference. The
researcher wanted to discover if the students attended the conference and, if so,
what information was given to each student, and how each student felt about the
conference and the person providing them with the information. The survey was
developed by reviewing past student survey questions that had been used by the
district and the county office of education. Additionally, survey and interview
questions from various counseling assessments were reviewed to develop the
types of questions that would evoke the responses needed. Once the questions
were developed and approved by district directors and the assistant
superintendent of educational services, the researcher field tested the questions
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with a group of entering freshman students during the summer of 1994 to
discover if the adult terminology translated into what the students thought they
were being asked. A final revision was performed and the survey was
completed (Appendix B).
Selected informal interviews were also conducted with key district and
site personnel to complete the assessment of the students and programs
developed at the sites. Counselors' notes were reviewed in some cases to
discover why some students were placed in various levels and classes when the
students during their survey could not recall such information from their
conferences.
Limitations
This study provides an analysis of the data collected and compiled by the
district's assessment department, and from student surveys that were conducted
with students from four of the district's ten comprehensive high schools. There
were some limitations that were imposed on the researcher. In a qualitative
study, missing data stems from its ex post facto design.
1. All counselor notes were not accessible to the researcher. At site A,
the notes were discarded after students' second semester as freshmen.
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2. The identification of the student’s track or ability group level for
purposes of this study was based upon school district records of actual course
enrollments as of the completion of the first semester of the 1994-95 academic
year. Records did not reflect student enrollment in courses from which they
may have been dropped or withdrawn during the semester.
3. The researcher was limited as to the students who were available at
their homes between the hours of 4:00 and 7:30 pm.
4. The students who participated in the survey did not all have total recall
of their summer conference. They were unaware that there would be a follow-
up survey.
5. Due to the limited availability of a Spanish-speaking assistant, not all
Spanish-speaking students who were initially contacted by the researcher were
available to be surveyed when the Spanish translator attempted contact.
Assumptions of the Study
As the researcher began to develop this proposal and discuss the options
with district personnel, some assumptions were necessary to move forward with
this study without first having to survey every guidance provider who
programmed incoming freshmen during the spring and summer of 1994. All
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providers could not be surveyed because some no longer worked for the district,
while others only programmed during the summer and continued other
occupations within or outside of the district. After meeting with district
personnel who directed student programming and discovering what types of
information were furnished to guidance providers who programmed incoming
ninth graders, the following assumptions were made by the researcher.
1. The guidance personnel involved in student programming were aware
of the implications of student placement for matriculation.
2. The guidance providers were aware that the district's philosophy and
goals had been modified to include open and equal access for all students into
the accelerated classes.
Definition of Terms
In developing this research there were elements and terminology that
were either unique to the district studied, or to the field of education. Those
terms are defined so that this dissertation is clear to the reader.
1. Accelerated Programs which are sometimes known as gifted and talented
education (GATE) are rigorous programs of studies. For the purpose of this
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study, the programs included college preparatory, honors and Advanced
Placement coursework.
2. Students of Color includes students who are members of racial and ethnic
groups who have been labeled as minorities in the educational arena because
they are not members of European ancestry (e.g. majority members. White,
Anglo). These groups include African-Americans (Blacks), Latinos (Hispanics,
Latin-Americans), Native Americans (American Indians and Eskimos), Asian-
Americans (Chinese-, Japanese-, Vietnamese-, and Cambodian-Americans),
Pacific Islanders and Filipinos.
3. Recruiting is used to explain the request by guidance providers or other
faculty or staff members that students enroll in specific classes or programs (i.e.
Honors English, AVID).
4. Abilitv Grouping is a phrase used to explain the placement of students in
levels of study wherein the coursework is below, at, or above a particular grade
level. In the district studied, the levels included special education, English as a
Second Language (ESL), remedial, applied arts, college preparatory, honors
and advanced placement. A student's placement could be based on objective
criteria such as tests conducted by certified psychologists, past classroom
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performance, and/or subjective criteria such as a teacher's, parent's or guidance
provider’s perception of the student's ability. Ability grouping is also known as
tracking,
5. Guidance Provider in the district studied included state certificated school
counselors and psychologists who would meet with students and parents during
the summer to review the program of studies developed for the student. Also,
teachers who were in need of fieldwork hours to complete their counseling or
school psychologist certification were asked to meet with students during the
summer to review student programs for the following fall.
In addition, a classified employee known as a Guidance Information
Specialist (GIS), who was a lay person with little or no formal training met with
parents and students and reviewed student programs. The position of GIS was
originally developed to assist the counselors at the sites with the clerical tasks
involved with programming students. But as the district's philosophy (and
economics) changed fi*om maintaining fi’ om four to six counselors at each site,
the guidance information specialist developed into a quasi-counselor. These
"para-professionals" were programming the students and meeting with them to
develop four-year graduation plans and post-secondary career and college plans.
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Many have written college letters of recommendations in place of the
counselors, the bulk of whose daily work consisted of dealing with students in
special programs such as special education, and with crisis counseling and other
group counseling. The GIS worked with the mainstream student populations at
most sites. They had eleven month contracts, while the counselors had ten
month contracts, thereby allowing the GIS more time to meet with students and
parents during the summer months.
Other terminology that may be unique to the district studied or to the field
of education may be incorporated, but it will be defined when used. Some terms
appear in the following chapter which is the literature review.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The goal of this review of literature on educational equity and
recruitment for accelerated programs is to support the findings of this
research study. Equal access into America’s public schools by Afiican-
Americans (and other students of color) has been a social, political, and
educational issue since the establishment of public education (Eastland
and Bennett, 1979).
Although this study focused on the micro level of equal access, a
historical review is needed to assist the reader in better understanding
how the equal access issue has evolved in the United States. A brief
explanation of how the "education leads to superior opportunities" myth
gained popularity in America begins the review. Legal issues and rules
that have historically been associated with educational equity and equal
access, especially as it pertains to students of color and accelerated
programs will then be examined. Next, ability grouping practices in the
United States will be explored. Identification of gifiedness and selection
criteria for accelerated programs are then reviewed. And finally, some
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programs and the need for advisement will be addressed. Although all
students of color are the focus, many of the legal issues and rules have
focused specifically on Afiican-Americans (also referred to as Colored
and Negro). This does not in any way negate the needs, oppression, and
opinions of other people of color.
EQUITY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Mvth
The notion in America that a good educational background will
give one access to superior post-secondary opportunities has been a fable
that has been perpetuated for many decades. Colin Greer exposes in The
Great School Legend (1972). that most immigrants in America achieved
financial success and "bought" their way into superior educational
institutions. The tale that has been the impetus for Afiican-, Latin-, and
Native-Americans to achieve academically in order to gain access into
professional middle- and upper-class arenas is just that. As educational
historians research every ethnic group that entered into the United States
during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they discovered that
each group was not accepted into, and once allowed entrance, was not
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successful in public educational institutions (Greer, 1972; Sowell, 1986).
Each ethnic group had to accumulate wealth, usually through illegal
means, then purchased the influence for their off-spring and other next
generation kinfolk to enter legitimate institutions to accumulate wealth
legitimately. Families like Duponts, Kennedys, and Fords, who have had
successful, legitimate businesses in recent times, did not begin their
family businesses that way.
The legend that has been supported and launched as truth to
AÊican-Americans and Hispanics is not only untrue but difficult to accept
by many members of these groups. The myth has not been realistic
because these two groups, along with Native Americans, are not from
Europe and they did not arrive to the United States as voluntary
immigrants (by free choice). Land was taken from Latin- and Native-
Americans; they became foreigners in their own worlds. Additionally, the
history of Africans being taken from their lands has been well chronicled
(Broussard, 1992). Some youth from these groups have started to
accumulate wealth, illegally, as other past iimnigrants, but have been
unable to purchase their way into legitimate institutions. Conversely,
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there are many success stories of individuals from these groups and those
individuals are held in high esteem by the middle-American populace (i.e.
Dr. Maya Angelou, Secretary Ron Brown, Secretary Henry Cisineros,
California Representative Loretta Sanchez, Colorado Senator Ben
Knighthorse Campbell). With popular success figures, the "outlaws"
continue to be highlighted by the media (in forms that previous
immigrants did not even conceive of ever being) in ways that do not allow
for their acceptance by middle-America as prior groups had been
welcomed. As the recent decades unfolded non-European immigrants
have continued to discover that the "American Dream" is difficult to
achieve. As long as educational institutions have continued to develop
and maintain barriers that do not allow equal access into programs that
provide individuals with the power to gain access into post-secondary
opportunities, "the Dream" has continued to be unrealized.
Separate But Equal
In addition to not being of European ancestry and not being
voluntary immigrants to America who were able to gain access to public
education within a generation of the immigrants arrival, African-American
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education has been the subject of controversy since the Jamestown colony
(Bowles and DeCosta, 1971). Segregation in public schools effectively
denied equality of educational opportunity to African-Americans. In
Plessy V. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), the Supreme Court ruled that
separate but equal accommodations did not violate the Fourteenth
Amendment.
"The Plessy standard subsequently was extended to public schooling. In
Gong Lum v. Rice, 275 U.S. 78 (1927), the Supreme Court, almost without
analysis, treated the separate but equal rule as an orthodox constitutional
principle applicable to public education" (Yudof, p.473).
Not until sixty years later in Brown v. Board o f Education, 347
U.S. 483 (1954), did the Supreme Court consider the possibility that
separate might be unequal. Until Brown, school districts maintained
separate institutions for their Black and White clientele. The facilities
were theoretically equal, but as history is reviewed, the discrepancies
were enormous in the revenues spent on majority members’ institutions
compared to the money spent for minority students’ facilities and
materials. Black students who lived a few blocks away from a school
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were bused for miles to join their racial group for school lessons.
Formal education for Black students could be anywhere from five to
eight years of schooling, compared to eight to twelve years for White
students. The expectations for Black students’ post-secondary
achievement were considerably lower than for their White counterparts.
Farming and lowest level factory work and other menial jobs were the
goals set for Black youth, while White graduates would expect mid-
level and management factory positions, if they did not own their land
for agricultural endeavors (Ellis, 1985).
Separate Is Unequal
In the 1954 Brown decision, much of the argument that persuaded the
court to decide that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal
rested upon the belief that separation, solely on the basis of race, generates a
feeling of inferiority for Negro students.
We come then to the question presented: Does segregation
of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even
though the physical fecilities and other "tangible" factors
may be equal, deprive children o f the minority group of
equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.
{Brown)
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NAACP attorneys discredited the Plessy decision by showing how
separate educational institutions promoted superior/inferior myths about the
races.
Segregation of white and colored children in public schools
has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The
impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for
the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as
denoting the inferiority of the Negro group. A sense of
inferiority eiflfects the motivation of a child to leam.
Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a
tendency to retard the educational and mental development
of Negro children and to deprive them of some benefits
they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system.
{Brown)
The representatives of the Negro children continued to maintain that
the "equal" facilities were not equal as long as they were segregated, and,
therefore, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment. The Amendment states:
All persons bom or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens o f the United
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges
or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law; nor deny any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The clause in the amendment, "... nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law” is used to
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protect a child’s right to an education. Courts consider the state provision of
schooling as a property right. As school districts found ways not to enforce
the court-ordered desegregation, Brown II {Brown v. Board o f Education,
349 U.S. 294 [1955]) was necessary to direct districts to dismantle the
entrenched segregation policies and to act with "all deliberate speed"
(Yudof p.478).
Segregation Within States
As the complexion of schools began to tan, the issue of segregation
within schools began to surface. New pupil assignment laws, "interposition"
plans, and other ingenious schemes demonstrated the truth of the popular
saying, "as long as we can legislate, we can segregate" (Yudof p. 479). I.Q.
testing was used to recognize superior cognitive abilities of Anglo students
and the inferior innate ability of Black students (Singham, 1995). College
preparatory courses had an overabundance of "genetically superior" Anglo
students, while vocational and remedial classes consisted of most students
of color (Oakes, 1985).
The continuation of overt segregation within states gave way to the
federal government finding it necessary to assist states in the development of
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sound, equitable educational programs. Because the federal government
took notice that states would not move on their own to desegregate,
numerous laws were passed and court decisions rendered with purposes to
assist all states with equal educational opportunities for all youth. The
federal government’s interest in stimulating change and improving quality in
public education at the pre-coUegiate level had been increasingly visible in
four fields: (I) desegregation; (2) education related to defense and to
vocations; (3) aid to research; and (4) education of the economically and
culturally disadvantaged, and of the handicapped (Bailey and Mosher,
1968).
De Facto Segregation
Yudof defines equal educational opportunity as the rights of students
to be free of racial discrimination (p. 469).
School systems can remain segregated even after a court-
ordered desegregation plan has been implemented. Through
practices such as ability grouping and the use o f exclusionary
disciplinary measures, minority children may continue to be
isolated from white children. These practices can bring about
resegregation among schools, within a school, or even within
a classroom. One diflSculty is determining whether these
practices are intentionally used to segregate or whether they
are educationally motivated and racially neutral, but have the
effect of segregating students. If the latter is the case, do such
practices still violate the 14th Amendment?" (Yudof p. 562)
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Not only did this resegregation occur shortly after the Brown I and II
decisions, but segregation of students within schools continues as current
practice in most school districts. Although the current educational research
strongly supports the grouping of students in heterogenous classrooms,
many educators continue to find reasons to segregate students according to
perceived cognitive abilities. At issue is not only the question of a
Fourteenth Amendment violation, but also possible violation of the Equal
Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, section 204, which states:
No State shall deny equal educational opportunity to an
individual on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national
origin, by ... (f) the feilure by an educational agency to take
appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede
equal participation by its students in the instructional program.
Cultural and linguistic minority students were grouped in separate
settings to assist the needy students. In an attempt to meet those needs,
segregated classes flourished in integrated schools and districts. This type
of grouping led to ability grouping. Teachers and other site personnel
placed these students together assuming if the students were "minorities" in
one or more areas that they were unable to meet the challenge in higher level
academic classes.
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The basic premise of school classification is that treating
children who have identifîably diSèrent needs differently,
will increase the educational opportunities available to all.
That premise has been questioned by critics who assert that
particular classifications diminish, rather than enhance,
educational opportunity. (Yudof p. 566)
The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.A., section
2000 c,d (1970), shifted the burden of litigation firom minority litigants to
the federal government. This legislation empowered the Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare to withhold federal funds fi-om school
districts that continued to discriminate against Blacks, and gave the Attorney
General authority to file desegregation suits on the complaint of private
citizens.
Subsection 2000 d, better known as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act:
Prohibitfs] gainst exclusion from participation in. denial of
benefits, and discrimination under federally assisted
programs on the grounds o f race, color, or national origin.
No person in the United States, shall, on the grounds of
race, color, or national origin, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits o f or be subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity receiving
federal financial assistance.
Title V T of the Act is the legal rule under which courts have reviewed
discrimination cases in the area of public education. Public schools receive
federal funds, so when discrimination has been foimd. Title VI is
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applicable. As Judge Wisdom noted in United States v. Jefferson County
Board o f Education, 372 F. d.. 836, 847 (5th Cir. 1966), “[A] national
effort, bringing together Congress, the executive, and the judiciary may be
able to make meaningful the right of Negro children to equal educational
opportunities. The courts acting alone have failed. ”
The courts had not been successful with ensuring equal educational
opportunities in the United States, due in part to a belief system by many
state and district policy makers that Black people were cognitively inferior
to White people. These policy makers developed barriers to programs that
would have encouraged students of color to enroll in the college-prep
classes which would have directed the students towards post-secondary
education after high school graduation.
In 1990, Joel Spring, professor of Education at New York’s College
of Old Westbury, highlighted how local school boards have continued to
support policies that produce racial segregation within schools. In Selma,
Alabama, the school board's policy consisted of placing ninety percent of
all White students in college preparatory and advanced placement classes
compared to three percent of all African-American students. When the
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African-American superintendent attempted to increase the African-
American student representation to ten percent in these tracks, the Selma
school board, reflecting its members' desire to maintain segregation, asked
for his resignation (Spring, 1993, p. 9).
Political Struggle over Schooling
Consumers of education want schools to serve their particular needs.
A major concern of school stakeholders involves struggles by dominated
racial groups to have schools serve their particular interests. One such
example would be where there has been a clash between the White
establishment wanting to serve its interests by maintaining a segregated
social order and Afiican-Americans seeking to end that social order by
gaining equal educational opportunity (Spring).
Human capital theories ..., suggest that tracked schools
serve primarily for preparing students for productive work.
Because the workforce is differentiated, schools offer a
wide array of opportunities that students invest in as they
prepare for different sectors of the workforce. With such
investments, students increase their human capital —
knowledge and skills — which determines how much they
can attain (income, status, etc.) as adults. Human capital
theory recognized that all educational options do not
provide equal returns. (Oakes and Guiton, 1995, p. 5)
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Conflict over the type of knowledge distributed represents another
political struggle over schooling. Schools can be used to control others by
distributing knowledge that builds allegiance to ruling elites and convincing
individuals to accept the existing power relations and their resulting
subordinate position in society. Elite groups will impose their culture and
religion in the schools in order to establish their cultural superiority and
more important, to destroy the cohesiveness of other cultural groups
(Spring).
Other structurally oriented theorists argue that the matches
made between students and courses represent, more than
anything else, schools' central role in maintaining a society
that is stratified by race and social class. Like the human
capitalists, they see the differentiated curriculum
opportunities in high schools as mirroring differentiated
occupational opportunities in the larger society. ... Such
theories find support in work showing that counselors'
judgments are influenced by social class background —
students' dress, speech patterns, and behavior ... .(Oakes
and Guiton, p.5)
At present, there is a resurgence of educators and policy makers who
are developing ethnic- and gender-specific institutions. The individuals
believe that students of color, in many instances African-American males,
can not be best served in integrated schools (Peterkin, Kunjufii, Hilliard).
Many schools have been opened and are being planned for openings with
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gender-specific populations and Afi*ocentric curricula to better meet the
needs of students.
Whether schools should be fully integrated and all students be given
the same curricula, or separate schools developed for gender- and/or ethnic-
specific populations continues to be debated. But the basis of American
society and the foundation of public education rests on equal access for all.
As Mortimer Adler once argued, “a separate curricula is undemocratic
because it denies equal access to knowledge for all students” (1982).
Throughout the twentieth century, students from lower income families
have been channeled into vocational and technical curricula. Assuming that
a relationship exists between social class and political power, such
differentiation does not provide lower income students with the knowledge
required to exercise political power (Spring). Additionally, educational
credentials provided by a school system with a differentiated curriculum
sort lower income students into the bottom levels of the labor market and
higher income students into the top rungs. But as Adler has stated, a truly
democratic education gives everyone the same fund of knowledge and
intellectual skills.
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ABILITY GROUPING IN THE UNITED STATES
The practice of ability grouping has been widespread in public high
schools in the United States. The district that was studied had more than
five tracks into which a student could be placed. There is ever increasing
evidence that the practice is responsible for many negative consequences
for students who are placed in the lower track courses.
[E]nroUment in low-track classes increases the chances
that a student will fail to complete the high school course
of study. Since placement of the student in a low track
course of study was found to have a stronger negative
effect on the student’s chances of completing school than
did prior achievement, the notion that placement of low
achievers in low track classes enhances the student’s
chances for academic success was found to be
indefensible. (Kitchen, 1990)
As early as the 1890's, educators were concerned about differentiating
the high school curriculum in order to accommodate differences in student
abilities and interests and in the roles students would assume after high
school (Kitchen, p. 14). But as the masses entered public schools, teachers
sorted the students into groups according to their perceived capacities for
learning.
By 1910 educators everywhere were arguing that high
school studies should be differentiated, with easier, more
practical work being offered to students not bound for
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college. By 1920 the changes in curriculum, school
organization, and coursework were well under way. And
by the early 1930's the reforms were firmly in
place...American educators quickly built a system around
the assumption that most students didn't have what it took
to be serious about the great issues of human life, and that
even if they had the wit, they had neither the will nor the
futures that would support heavy-duty study. (Powell,
Farrar & Cohen, 1985, p. 245)
Prior to World War I, students were openly classified into various
programs by their ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds. This
procedure was supported by social Darwinism and considered scientific,
efficient and egalitarian. But by the end of the first world war, this
blatantly race- and class-biased assignment of students to different
educational programs was being called into question because it so clearly
conflicted with the American rhetoric of an open and classless society
(Oakes, 1985, p.36).
The development of IQ tests provided “scientific” evidence for the
belief that students were vastly different in terms of innate intelligence
(Howard, 1994). IQ tests would provide both a mechanism and a
validation for the practice of sorting students by ability.
The early advocates of using IQ tests in school
administration urged that they be employed to segregate
students by ability, to aid in vocational guidance, to detect
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unusually able or retarded students, and to diagnose
learning problems. In 1925 the U.S. Bureau o f Education
told how 215 cities used intelligence tests. The group IQ
tests were most heavily used in the elementary grades, and
the primary purposes: 64 percent of the cities used these
IQ tests to classify students into homogeneous groups (62
percent used them to supplement the teachers' estimates of
ability); 46 percent used them to diagnose the causes of
pupils' failures as opposed to 19 percent to diagnose the
causes of success; tests were more often used to compare
the eflBciency o f teachers or of school systems than to
guide changes in curriculum or methods. In junior high
schools and high schools group tests continued to be used
to organize classes by ability, but they also became
important in guiding students in the choice o f courses and
careers...In 1926, a U.S. Bureau of Education survey
discovered that 37 out of 40 cities with populations of
100,000 or more reported that they used ability grouping in
some or all elementary grades and a slightly smaller percent
used ability grouping in junior and senior high schools. As
[Lewis] Terman had predicted, the intelligence testing
movement was transforming administrative practice in
urban schools. In 1932, three fourths of 150 large cities
reported using intelligence tests in assignment of pupils.
(Tyack, 1974, p. 208)
Differentiation of students' educational programs continued to gain
momentum. Many educational historians point out that ability grouping in
high schools was at least partially due to the size of the comprehensive
schools. Comprehensive schools had the tasks to educate all students that
arrived at their doors, and to ready their clientele for the world of work, and
a select few for college. Causing even more divisions in the schools, the
vocational education movement continued to expand to accommodate a
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previously elite educational institution - the high school. "Particularly
important in this respect was the use of the ideology of vocationalism to
justify a tracking system which would separate and stratify young people
loosely according to race, ethnic origins, and class backgrounds" (Bowles
& G intis, 1976, p. 194).
Whether one is inclined to attribute the development of a
stratified system of secondary education to a conscious
conspiracy to repress the lower classes, or to take a more
tolerant view o f educational reformers as seeking to
construct a system which eflfectively accommodate the
diverse masses, the fact remains that stratification was an
undeniable characteristic of the system that emerged.
(Kitchen, 1990, p. 22)
In 1939, Newton Edwards warned: "If formal educational
attainments condition entrance to some economic and social sphere, and if
great opportunities for educational advance are open to some groups while
the educational facilities for others remain meager,
it is obvious that education becomes an instrument of social stratification
and of regional and racial inequality... Public schools may in fact become
an instrument for creating those very inequalities they were designed to
prevent" (p. 152).
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As World War II ended, migration to the cities from the rural south,
Appalachian mountains, Californian fields and Puerto Rico rapidly
increased, as did the persistent pattern of differentiation in the schools. The
National Defense Education Act, which was prompted by the launch of
Sputnik in 1957, created a new track within high schools: college prep.
The post-Sputnik reform focused on the academically talented student who
could excel in math, science and foreign language education (Kitchen,
1990).
In his influential report on the American high school, Conant (1958)
advised against the classification of students as "college preparatory,"
"vocational," or "commercial." He suggested that each student should have
"individualized" program of study (p. 46). Conant viewed ability grouping
as highly controversial. He suggested:
In the required subjects and those elected by students with a
wide range of ability, the students should be grouped
according to ability, subject by subject. For example, in
English, American history, ninth-grade algebra, biology, and
physical science, there should be at least three types of
classes— one for the more able in the subject, another for the
large group whose ability is about average, and another for
the very slow readers who should be handled by special
teachers. The middle group might be divided into two or
three sections according to students' abilities in the subject
in question. This type o f grouping is not to be confused
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with across-the-board grouping according to which a given
student is placed in a particular section in aU courses.
Under the scheme here recommended, for example, a
student may be in the top section in English but the middle
section in history or ninth-grade algebra, (p. 49)
The Need for Recruitment
In 1954, the United States Supreme Court in Brown v . The Board o f
Education o f Topeka, ruled that separate is not equal in public schools.
Nevertheless, within school differentiation provided for continued separate
and imequal classrooms (Rachlin, 1989; Oakes, 1985; Kitchen, 1990).
Many parents and students argued that accelerated programs in the school
were set aside for European-Americans for the most part, with entrance by
students of color kept to a minimum, especially enrollment by African-
Americans and Latinos (Poplin and Weeres, 1992),
Since 1979, the California Legislature has continued to review the
Gifted and Talented statutes not only to improve the quality of programs,
but "... declared its intent that special efforts be made to ensure that pupils
from economically disadvantaged and varying cultural backgrounds be
provided with full participation in these unique opportunities" (Education
Code, Chapter 8, section 52200(a)). A 1993 article in the Los Angeles
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Times. Orange County Edition, outlined how Asians, Latinos and African-
Americans were not representative in numbers that were equal to their
proportion of the total district population in the gifted and talented
programs. Although the number of under-represented students had
increased over a twelve year period, they in no way represented active
recruitment of these students (1993, March, pi; 16). Reasons for the lack
of students of color in accelerated programs include educators definitions of
giftedness and the types of instruments used to declare a student gifted.
Giftedness
Gifted and talented programs vary from district to district. Some
include pull-out programs that enhance students' learning in a variety of
subjects, honors courses that offer accelerated subject matter and more in
depth analyses, and advanced placement (AP) classes, which are college-
level coursework offered at high schools. AP students have the option of
taking the advanced placement examination at the conclusion of the course
to obtain college credit.
The criteria for admittance into accelerated programs differ among
school districts, but most include a score of 130 or more on the Stanford-
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Binet or WISC-R intelligence examinations, past performance in classes, or
teacher/counselor referral, or any two of the three aforementioned. Using
these criteria has usually meant that students of color and disadvantaged
students were less likely to be admitted into accelerated programs because
of the intelligence tests' cultural biases, and the failure of teachers and
counselors to recognize (or to be educated to recognize) a variety of
intelligences that cannot be measured by standardized IQ tests (Gardner,
1983).
Students of color have not received the same access for enrollment into
advanced placement and honors courses as White students because most school
districts continue to operate on the intelligence model that Dr. Jeffrey Howard,
President of the Efficacy Institute, calls the “Innate Ability Model” ( 1994). As
this model assumes that fifty percent of students entering the school system
have an intelligence quotient above the norm, then obviously fifty percent of the
students would have IQ’s below the norm. Dr. Howard has explained that the
past and current educational systems amplify the theory that students can be
grouped according to ability and that their ability can be neither enhanced nor
reduced; the abilities are set at birth.
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Additionally, there are educators who continue to maintain that the
accelerated programs are designed for White, middle- and upper-class students,
with students of color having few of the faculties needed to excel in school, let
alone possessing the means to compete in any type of accelerated coursework.
Therefore, in some school districts. White students have been allowed to enter
accelerated classes with little preparation, or few of the criteria met, while
students of color have not been allowed equal access into such classes. In
some instances, they are not allowed even to attempt to meet the given criteria
(Kuykendall, 1992).
Since more disadvantaged and students of color populations will continue
to increase in public schools, particularly African-Americans and Latinos, the
implementation of changes in the educational and instrumental methods must be
addressed immediately. Mary Frasier, past president of the National
Association for Gifted Children, suggested that nominations to gifted programs
be reviewed and expanded to appraise the potential of all students. "Despite all
efforts toward equity in schools, minority and poor students remain noticeably
absent from gifted programs” (1989). Their absence from such programs can be
attributed to the selection process. In most cases, an IQ test cut-off score is
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established by a district or state department. Although IQ tests are still being
used as a determining factor, the general agreement among educators is that IQ
tests are an outmoded and biased measure of intelligence (Frasier, 1989,
Gardner, 1983). The Office of Civil Rights reported that nationally, minority
groups such as Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans are under-represented
in gifted programs by thirty to seventy percent (1991).
The National Report on Identification revealed substantial confusion
among practitioners about defining, identifying and determining which
populations should be served in gifted programs. Tests have been used for
populations for which they have not been normed. Minority groups have
been excluded systematically fi’ om gifted programs as a result of biased
procedures (Richert, et al., 1982). Assessment of students for giftedness or
their potential for giftedness, can no longer rely solely on intelligence tests.
Past performance has also been a measurement that is not completely
reliable — if the student has not been placed in the appropriate classes in the
past, the performance is not accurate (Kuykendall, 1992). As educators and
sociologists have suggested, attempting to address issues associated with
learning without first understanding the social context in which the learner
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operates is a mistake (Briscoe, 1990; West, 1993). These changes must
include eliminating real and potential institutional barriers so that all
populations strive for great achievement. These suggestions would be ideal,
but first there would need to be a clear understanding with educators and
policy makers that students of color can be gifted and in the same
proportions as their representation in the general population.
But, to engage in a serious discussion of race in America,
we must begin not with the problem of black people, but
with the flaws o f American society — flaws routed in
historic inequities o f long-standing stereotypes.
The fundamental aim of this dismantling is to replace racial
reasoning with moral reasoning, to understand the black
freedom struggle is not an afi&ir of skin pigmentation and
racial phenotype, but rather as a matter o f ethical
principles and wise politics... .(West, 1993 p. 3, 25)
There are no easy answers to the continuing dilemmas of race. As
many as half of the intellectually gifted of color are not identified (Oakes,
1994). When this occurs, children who enter school with high motivation
and great anticipation experience fitistration and/or boredom and eventually
come to regard school as dull and uninteresting (Kimjufu, 1985). Frasier
maintains that a child's potential for giftedness would be better assessed with
instruments other than traditional IQ tests; tests such as Torrence's test for
creative thinking and Gardener's multiple intelligences assessments.
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Additionally, nomination forms that include applying knowledge of
behavioral indicators by which children of different cultures dynamically
exhibit giftedness and student assessments that would include nominations
from a variety of persons inside and outside the school would more
completely assess all students for giftedness (1989). When gifted children
are not properly identified they can suffer from educational and emotional
handicaps as a result of the failure of the educational institution to provide
appropriate curricular and social modifications. These modifications need to
start as early as pre-school level. Clearly, school districts are aware that
students of color have not been actively recruited (Ukeje, 1990). Therefore,
programs like AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) have been
developed to recruit students for college preparation.
Programs and Advisement
AVID is a San Diego-based program that identifies students in
middle and high schools as able to pursue rigorous high school
programs of study to prepare them for university studies after high
school graduation. The students who are targeted are students of color
who have traditionally been under-represented in post-secondary
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education. The AVID program actively recruits students who have
shown promise in middle school to enroll in accelerated coursework in
high school. The accelerated coursework is rigorous and the students
are supported in their endeavors by enrolling in an AVID course
which is taught by specially trained teachers who instruct the students
in study skills, note taking, goal setting and test taking strategies. The
teachers also tutor students who need assistance in particular
coursework.
AVID students must maintain a 2.0 grade point average to remain
in the program at most schools. The program is designed to support
the students throughout high school, so that the students are
academically prepared to enter universities and can be successful in
college classes. Untracked students from families of low income and
low educational levels in San Diego County’s AVTD program are
found to enroll in colleges as frequently as untracked students from
families with high incomes and high educational levels (Mehan, 1992).
It would seem that AVID gives low income students the cultural capital
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at school that is equivalent to the cultural capital that the more
economically advantaged parents give to their children at home.
A similar program to AVID is the Assessment, Programming,
Planning and Intervention (APPI) process that was started in the
Evanston (Illinois) school district and replicated in a few southern
California districts. This process identifies the top forty-five percent
(45%) of entering fi-eshmen to a high school and places the students in
college-prep classes with the support of advisors and peer tutors. This
program has produced merit scholars (of color) as well as high school
graduates who matriculated to post-secondary institutions and have
been academically successful. Like the AVID program, the APPI
process targets traditionally under-represented populations in post
secondary institutions and prepares and supports the students to be
successful in college-prep courses. The programming and advisement,
as well as the support classes and tutoring are crucial for student
success. The other key component is parent participation. Parents are
expected to provide the students with the supports at home to ensure
student success. Parents are required to attend monthly meetings that
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keep them aware of the program goals and student objectives. The
participating schools have discovered when students and their parents
are given the information as to the advantages of enrolling into
accelerated classes, parents will support their children with the
materials, study space and time needed for the student to be successful.
There are concerns that in addition to the lack of access in
enrollment in accelerated programs, students of color are not advised
of the advantages of enrolling in and completing advanced placement
coursework. When a transcript includes coursework labeled “AP” for
advanced placement, it is taken as proof of rigorous, academic
preparation that is given preference at colleges, regardless of the
performance on the advanced placement examination in May (Dillon,
1986). Many high school students have enrolled in advanced
placement courses without taking the May examinations because of the
realization of the strength of the course designation for college
admissions. Sophomores and Juniors have little to lose by enrolling in
advanced placement courses - mere enrollment qualifies them for
preferential treatment for college admissions (Dillon).
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High schools are unlikely to discontinue advanced placement
programs even though the current trend is toward heterogeneous
groupings. Dillon points out, "A school which offers advanced
placement courses on its transcripts reaps the benefit of an enhanced
reputation. A school’s roster of advanced placement courses carries
virtually as much weight as the school’s average SAT scores” (Dillon,
1986, p 14).
The San Diego Unified School District has long used the
advanced placement program as an equity tool (Payzant, 1993). The
courses work towards equity, not elitism. They no longer require cut
off scores or special certification for entrance. Any willing student can
enroll, and any teacher can take up the challenge to teach the advanced
placement classes (Payzant).
Where Blacks and Latinos have been directed to enroll in AP
classes, they are excelling inside the classroom, which allows them to
qualify for core slots at colleges and universities traditionally deemed
off-limits to a large number of students of color (Wiley, 1989). Dr.
Donald Stuart, President of the College Board, has noted that more
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students of color have entered into professional and graduate programs
after being enrolled in advanced placement programs.
In order for students to be academically challenged and
successful, academic advising in crucial. Advising assists students
with making appropriate curriculum choices and mapping out a plan of
action for high school (and college) studies (Phillip, 1993). Academic
advisors meet with their clientele and explain the benefits and
requirements for accelerated coursework. A concerted effort to recruit
students of color, specifically Afiican-Americans, Latinos, and Native
Americans for accelerated programs has been needed. In most
instances the academic advisors are the gatekeepers to entrance into
accelerated classes. If they have not been trained in recruitment
techniques or do not understand why such recruitment efforts exist, it is
unlikely that they will openly recruit students of color for accelerated
classes to prepare them for post-secondary institutions.
The California Department of Education recommends that
schools desiring to become more college oriented for all students
institute the following programs:
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1. Develop and implement a model which is effective in the
instance of college preparation. This model should include:
Personal and supportive instruction; High expectations for
student achievement; Effective program of school organization.
2. Inform and involve staff members, especially teachers, and seek
their commitment to the goals and activities of the project.
3. Allow changes in school rules, norms, and operations which
support the goals of the project, to extend across the school.
4. Promote accountability (1993).
Since advisement and student programming are crucial to student level
placement at the high school level, these were the foci of this study.
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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the methodology utilized in conducting the
study. This was a qualitative study. Qualitative research is rich in the
description of people, places and conversations and not easily handled by
statistical procedures (Bogdan and Bilken, 1992). Students were surveyed,
selected site and district personnel were interviewed, and district data
reviewed to discover why and how students were placed in different levels
of academic classes. Although descriptive statistics are included, the
researcher followed primarily a descriptive study as defined by Isaac and
Michael (1990). The commonalities of this approach to research are:
1. recognizing the value of qualitative designs and methodologies,
studies of human experiences that are not approachable through
quantitative approaches;
2. focusing on the wholeness of experience rather than solely on
objects or parts;
3. searching for meanings and essences of experience rather than
measurements and explanations;
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4. obtaining descriptions of experience through first-person
accounts in informal and formal conversations and interviews;
5. regarding the data of experience as imperative in
understanding human behavior and as evidence for scientific
investigations;
6. formulating questions and problems that reflect the interest,
involvement, and personal commitment of the researcher
(Moustakas, 1994).
Research Processes
The researcher relied on descriptive statistics that were compiled by
the researcher as well as the district's department of assessment and
curriculum. The assessment and curriculum department produces Profiles in
Performance annually. The data that were compiled included district-wide
statistics, as well as profiles of every comprehensive secondary school that
comprise the district.
Informal interviews were conducted with key personnel within the
district to develop a complete picture of the guidance and other student
support services available throughout the district. The information gathered
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in those interviews assists the reader with understanding the processes and
programs that were integrated into the school district's offerings.
Next, the researcher developed a student survey that was conducted
in 1994, by telephone, during the first semester of the student's ninth grade
year. A random sampling of the fi*eshman class that entered secondary
school in September of 1994 was surveyed. The survey was designed to
discover whether and to what degree the students felt comfortable with the
guidance personnel with whom they met, and to find out if they made
students feel like active participants in the development of their program of
studies. Finally, the students surveyed responded to questions as to what
types of information was given to them about courses and accelerated
programs.
Four of the ten comprehensive high schools were selected for the
student survey. The four schools were selected because of the significance
of the diversity in the student population when analyses of the data
occurred. The four schools had numbers of Afirican-Americans and Latinos
that were adequate to allow the researcher to draw conclusions about the
findings.
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Questions to be Answered
The questions that the research addressed were developed to discover
if students of color had been recruited for accelerated programs. Also, if
barriers that had precluded some students from accelerated enrollment in the
past had been removed so that all students received equal access into
rigorous educational programs. The questions addressed were;
1. Are all students given the opportunity to enroll in accelerated
coursework?
2. What are the criteria for students to enroll in accelerated
courses?
3. Are the criteria the same for all students at every school? If
so, is it good criteria?
Student Survey Questions
The student survey questions were designed to discover if all students
and parents/guardians entering the school district were given the same
information and choices in developing their ninth grade programs of studies.
The questions were selected to elicit responses that allowed the students to
express their comfort level with the guidance provider with whom they met,
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as well as to discover if the students believed that their opinions were taken
into consideration when their programs were being developed. All entering
freshmen and their parent(s)/guardian(s) were strongly encouraged to attend
a thirty (30) minute appointment with a guidance provider to review the
eighth grade report card and the teacher recommendations from middle
school that assisted the provider in developing their programs of study, and
to orient the family members to the school and all of the opportunities that
were available.
Student Survey Descriptive Statistics
Four schools were selected for the student survey. The four schools
were selected due to their significant student of color populations. The
target group was the Class of 1998, who entered the district as ninth graders
in September of 1994. This meant that any student who was selected had to
be a first year freshman for the study. Assistance from a native Spanish
speaking guidance information specialist was secured for those students who
needed a Spanish translation of the survey.
The "class key" denotes the fall semester that the student enrolled as a
freshman. The four schools "class key of 1994" (94) totaled 2,040 students.
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The gender breakdown was 48 percent female and 52 percent male. The
total ethnic distribution for the four schools for "class key" 94 was 11.5
percent Afiican-American, 27.1 percent Hispanic, and 61.2 percent White.
In selecting the sampling, fifty (50) African-American students from
two hundred thirty-five (235) were randomly selected, then a sample of two
hundred (200) Hispanic and White students were selected from one
thousand eight hundred one (1,801). From the two hundred fifty selected,
seventy-five students were actually surveyed via the telephone.
Table A - Class Key 94 Survey Statistics
SCHOOL # class
key
94
# from
250
Sample
# Actually
Surveyed
A 496 49 17
B 507 57 18
C 512 78 21
D 521 66 19
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Table B - Surveyed Students Ethnie and Gender Statistics
School Black Hispanic White Female Male
A 4 3 10 9 8
B 2 5 1 1 11 7
C 4 5 12 16 5
D 1 9 9 15 4
TOTALS 11 22 42 51 24
Student Background Characteristics
Many student background characteristics were incorporated into the
survey. Among these were each student's age, race, and primary language.
Age was calculated as the age of the student when programmed for the ninth
grade. Often, older students (age fifteen and above) are not perceived as
bright as others who are fourteen years or younger and might have been
programmed into lower tracks.
Race was derived from the student's self-described identity and was verified
by the completed student information form that was filed by the student's
parent/guardian at the time of enrollment. Race was asked to determine if
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differences in information given by guidance providers and track level
placement existed.
Pn’marv Language was represented as the language that s/he was taught to
speak in the home. If the student and/or the adult that attended the ninth
grade conference did not speak and/or understand English, the survey
question was asked if the guidance provider spoke their language. If not,
then who translated during the session? These questions were important to
discover if all information given to English-speaking students was also given
to Limited English Proficient (LEP) students and parents.
Middle and High Schools that the student attended and was currently
attending were verified by the student and the district data. Information was
gathered to determine if guidance personnel at specific schools tended to
program similarly and if students fi*om particular middle schools were
programmed with particular patterns.
How long at Present Address/in Neighborhood was estimated by the student
and verified by the parent if one was available during the telephone survey.
Frequently, students who are new to a community are not aware of the high
school programs, procedures and cultures, and are not placed in accelerated
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classes because they were not enrolled with specific teachers at feeder
middle schools.
Parent(s) education was calculated by the student's recollection of
information if it could not be provided by the parent(s). This was asked to
investigate if a parent's level of education affected the information provided
to the student and parent and the level placement.
Data Analysis
In this study, the district's efforts to recruit students of color for
accelerated programs were analyzed. The approach to the problem was one
of ex post facto analysis of extant data rather than use of an experimental
design. Such an approach lends itself to inevitable challenges to its validity
since cases were not randomly assigned to the differentiated English,
mathematics and social science courses. The students' assignments into the
differentiated classes were based on perceived and real academic abilities.
The students who participated in the telephone survey also had their
eighth grade teachers’ recommendations reviewed by the researcher. A visit
to each of the four campuses took place, where the researcher searched and
located each student’s cumulative file to review teacher recommendations.
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Notes written by the guidance providers who met with the students for
program m ing were also reviewed to discover any other information that
would be applicable to this study. Additionally, the researcher could
verify/discover which guidance provider met with each student for the
programming session.
The district data, student surveys and informal interviews and
counselor notes review, were analyzed to determine if students were
allowed to enroll into accelerated coursework and to discover if guidance
providers supplied the same information about levels of courses and rigorous
classes to all students that attended ninth grade conferences. The findings
are in the following chapter.
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CHAPTER 4
FINDINGS
Based upon the documents obtained and analyzed, and surveys
conducted at selected high schools, were students of color provided equal
access into accelerated classes as White students? What were the criteria
for entrance and was it the same for all students?
District findings from documents obtained and analyzed;
The types of courses offered at each school at the ninth grade, as
listed in the district’s Master Course Titles, varies from school to school. In
1994, the district listed numerous levels of classes in English, Mathematics
and Social Sciences.
Some of the schools offered English courses at four different levels:
remedial, applied arts, college-prep and honors. Other high schools
attempted to de-track or blend classes at the ninth grade level and only
offered college-prep (English 1C) and honors (English IH) courses.
Additionally, at all of the schools, there were specially labeled English
classes for non-mainstreamed special education students as well as for
ESL/ELD students.
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Table C - Freshman English Placement for Fall. 1994
School # of Fresh. English lA English 1C English IH
A 552 n/a 474 78
B 579 42 484 53
C 426 173 181 72
D 505 n/a 425 80
TOTALS 2062 215 1564 283
The range of levels in mathematics that an entering ninth grader could
have been placed was quite broad. The lowest level was Math 1, which was
a course designed for students functioning significantly below grade level to
prepare them for Math A, a pre-algebra course. Most schools had attempted
to dismantle the Math I program since most of the feeder middle schools
insisted that their recent eighth grade promotions were ready for the Math A
placement, at the very least. Freshmen were also allowed to enroll in Basic
Algebra which was a four semester sequence OR Algebra 1C/2C which was
a one year (two semester) course.
For students who were recommended by their eighth grade teachers
for accelerated honors coursework. Algebra 1H/2H and Geometry 1H/2H
were offered. The figures for mathematics placements were unable to be
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established since all mathematics courses (except Algebra 1H) were multi
grade levels and some students who were designated as freshmen, were
actually down-graded sophomores, juniors and seniors who lacked the
adequate number of accumulated credits to be labeled otherwise.
The social science requirement for freshmen was one semester of
geography, unless the student was enrolled at the honors level, in which case
the course was two semesters. At some of the schools, the one semester
course was exchanged with Technology (tech) Discoveries (half of the
freshmen were enrolled in geography while the other half were placed in
tech discoveries, and at the change of semesters, the groups exchanged
classes). At other schools, a year-long course was designed to incorporate
geography, tech discoveries, and family studies; this core would then meet
three of the district’s graduation requirements in two semesters instead of
three semesters.
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Table D - Freshman Geography Placement for Fall. 1994
(Note: the number of students enrolled in each level, except for the
honors level, include non-freshmen students who were either transfers from
other districts or students who needed to repeat the course.)
School # of Freshmen Geog. IR Geog. lA Geog. 1C Geog. lU
A 552 n/a n/a 473 79
B 579 n/a 21 294 19
C 426 67 122 112 32
D 505 n/a 36 268 81
The four schools that were surveyed varied as to the levels offered for each of
the courses. The variation was due to the district's goal to eliminate ability grouping
of students at all of the comprehensive schools. Each school was at a different stage
in their de-tracking efforts, due in part to the philosophies of each site's personnel
and parents. Prior to the district's goal, most of the schools sorted students into
four levels: Remedial, Applied Arts, College Preparatory, and Honors. The goal at
most of the schools has been to eliminate remedial and applied arts courses in
English, math and social science so that students were able to meet four year college
admission standards.
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Reviewing the levels offered at all ten of the comprehensive sites showed that
English at the remedial level was offered at four of the high schools — none of the
surveyed schools. Applied Arts English was offered at eight of the ten — one of the
surveyed schools did not offer the level. All of the schools offered college
preparatory and honors ninth grade English. It should be noted that various levels
were offered at the schools but first-year ninth graders were not the only students
placed into these levels. Many times students repeating courses or transferees from
other districts were placed in non-college preparatory levels (see Figure 1).
Math 1 was offered at seven of the ten schools. Only one of the surveyed
schools no longer offered this class — the same school that did not offer remedial
and applied arts English (see Figure 2).
Remedial geography was only offered at three of the ten schools, with only
one surveyed school offering such a class. Nine of the ten offered applied arts and
all offered college-prep geography. All ten schools also offered the year-long
honors level course.
Of the 106,904 classes offered during the 1994-95 school year districtwide,
3% were AP classes, 7.4% were Honors, 45.8% were College-Prep, 15.3% were
Applied Arts. School-wide mathematics and English levels of placement at the
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surveyed schools illustrate that the majority of students were placed in
acclerated courses. Access into college-prep levels appeared to be open
throughout the district (see Figure 3).
Another district indicator that helped to explain if equal access was
achieved for all students, regardless of race, was the ethnic distribution of
graduates completing the University o f California A-F requirements. The A-F
requirements include four years of English, three years of social sciences, two
years of a foreign language, all of which must be at the college-prep level (at
the very least). In each year reviewed. Latino and Afiican-American
graduates were always at least ten percent lower than their White
counterparts in meeting A-F requirements (see Table E).
Schoolwide English Levels
Surveyed SchooCs 94-95
■ A pftM A rtft
■
H H«n«r«
□ AP
«0
7 0
00
50
40
30
20
1 0
0
S » W A School 0 School C School O
Figure 1
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permission.
Schoolwide Mathematics Levels
Four Surveyed Schools
70
60
Legend gg
H Applied Arts
I College P rep 40
I Honors
n AP 30
20
10
0
Figure 2
School A School B School C School D
District Levels Offered
1994-85
Honors 10.0% A.P.4.0%
ApplM Arts 21.0%.
CoSogO Prop 05.0%
Figure 3
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permission.
Year Latino African-American White
1992 Graduates
UC/CSU Met 82 24 868
Grads 462 112 2508
% Meeting UC/CSU 18 21 35
1993 Graduates
UC/CSU Met 90 32 924
Grads 448 137 2556
% Meeting UC/CSU 20 23 36
1994 Graduates
UC/CSU Met 119 30 900
Grads 584 132 2483
% Meeting UC/CSU 20 23 36
1995 Graduates
UC/CSU Met 151 42 1115
Grads 558 137 2594
% Meeting UC/CSU 27 33 43
Additional data on the number of students enrolled in the AVID
program assisted in discovering how some students of color were recruited
for accelerated programs. Since AVID was designed to increase
opportunities for historically under-represented students at four-year
institutions, a district's goal was to increase the number of students in this
program.
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Reviewing the last five years for enrollment figures was helpful
(see Figure 4).
Figure 4
A V ID Enrollment
L eg en d
■é 1S92
1991 100
School A School B School C School D
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Table F - Percent AVID Enrollment bv Ethnicity and Year:
Year Latino African-American Other White*
1991 30 11 45
1992 35 14 38
1993 35 15 37
1994 38 17 33
1995 38 16 33
*Other White does not include Middle Eastern population.
Finally, a review of the racial and ethnic distribution for the district and
the schools that were surveyed was beneficial to discover if strides had
actually been made in providing equal educational opportunities for all
students, or if numbers had increased only because the populations for
students of color had grown.
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Racial/Ethnic Distribution
1894-85
Figure 5
Findings at Individual Sites
Site A
At site A, all students were placed into accelerated classes. Site A
had made great strides in dismantling differentiated classes at the ninth
grade level. With this change, the students were given the opportunity to
prepare themselves for post-secondary education and they were enrolled
in coursework that would satisfy some of the four-year university
admission standards.
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Since all students did not arrive at Site A fully prepared to enter college
preparatory classes. Site A developed a summer program that was designed
for entering freshmen who were Chapter I students. These students met with
school personnel who had been trained to work with the students to help the
freshmen develop and build self-esteem, social skills, and academic skills.
For the fall semester, all regular education students were placed into
college-prep or honors English, Math A or higher, and either honors
geography or a social science course that met the district's geography, family
studies and computer graduation requirements. The notes that the guidance
staff had written during each student's pre-ninth grade conference had been
discarded before the researcher could review them. Hence, the information
obtained about the students was either self-disclosed (by the student) or
information gathered from district data. Fortunately, Site A had programmed
all of their students into accelerated classes, so their notes were not a
necessity as with other schools where students were tracked into different
levels of coursework.
Of the seventeen students who were surveyed, all were placed in
college-prep English and social science except for one student who was
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placed in the honors level of English, geography and geometry. This student
was an Anglo male whose middle school achievement clearly exceeded all of
the other surveyed students. The other students' math levels ranged from
Math A to honors Algebra 1. Other levels of math included Basic Algebra
and Algebra 1C.
All of the surveyed students agreed with the statements that they were
given good advice at their ninth grade conference, that they were satisfied
with their ninth grade counseling session, and that they felt comfortable with
the guidance provider (except for one who could not remember his provider).
Most agreed that they were told about college-prep and AP and honors
classes, as well as being told about science, foreign language and arts
electives (over eighty percent). All but one student agreed that the provider
listened to the student when planning their ninth grade program of studies.
The only statement about their guidance providers that most surveyed
students did not know if it was true or not, was the statement, "My counselor
has high expectations for me." This should be of some concern for the site
administration since students’ beliefs that all school personnel expect for
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them to achieve to the best of their abilities assists with motivating students
to perform at higher levels.
The site principal has been one of the trend setters in the district as far
as attempting various daily schedules, the teaming of teachers and
implementing the "village" concept to increase student achievement because
the school's student achievement scores have declined slightly over the past
three years. Student demographics have continued to shift so that students of
color numbers have continued to increase.
The school year prior to the Class of 1998 entering, saw turmoil
between ethnic groups at the school. In particular, there had been a white
supremacy group who exchanged racial slurs, and eventually physical blows,
with African-American and Latino students. Negative press coverage about
the school lasted for about a week. During the fall semester in which this
survey took place, no recorded or notable racial disturbances had taken
place.
Site B
Site B had similarities to Site A in regards to demographics. In 1994,
this site had an ethnically diverse student population with a Latino
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population of twenty-seven percent (27%), an AMcan-American population
of a little less than seven percent (6.84%), and an Anglo population of fifty-
nine percent (59%). This site was a Chapter 1 school like Site A, but this
school had forty-four percent (44%) of the students' parents/guardians
receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (Site A had 18%
receiving AFDC), the highest in the district. Unlike Site A, this school had a
Latino who had been the principal of this school for the past four years and
he had made his top priority to increase student achievement on standardized
tests, and he had done so. As the other nine comprehensive schools had
seen a decline in standardized test scores over the past four years. Site B
showed marked improvement each year. This was due in part to a staff who
was unified in their efforts to develop and fully support programs that would
enhance all students' achievements.
The staffs support was also shown in the reduction of remedial and
applied arts core offerings. All students that were surveyed had been
programmed into accelerated English and geography unless they were in
special education classes or Limited English Proficient (LEP). For students
who had received Below Grade Level recommendations fi*om their eighth
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grade teachers, they received extra academic support in that they were
placed in a reading program during the fail semester of their freshman year.
Even the one LEP student who was placed into ESL English was also
programmed in the reading class. There were discrepancies as to the criteria
for honors level enrollment for some students. Two surveyed students were
placed in honors English and geography. One appeared to have met the
same standards as the one honors student at Site A in that she was rated
Significantly Above Grade Level in English and mathematics; her math
placement was honors geometry. The other student at Site B who was
placed in honors was not labeled such by his eighth grade teachers. He
received an At Grade Level English recommendation and an Honors
Algebra/Geometry math recommendation; he was placed in honors English
and honors algebra. A similar situation with another student occurred, but
that student was placed in college-prep English and Algebra 1C. Her eighth
grade recommendations were Above Grade Level for English and Average
for mathematics. One of the differences between the two students was
gender; the male was placed at the honors level. He was also placed in the
AVID program, his parents had graduated from college, and he had come
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from a feeder (client) middle school. The female student was not placed in
the AVID program, and she did not know her parent's education level when
she was surveyed (which is very likely that the parent(s) did not attend
college since most children are aware of their parent's college affiliation).
In addition to the difference in honors admission criteria, another
difference between Site A and B was that Site B offered Math I as an option
for freshmen. Math I was designed for students who were Below Grade
Level. Two males were placed in this level; one was a student who received
special education services, and the other was a Latino who received a Basic
Math recommendation. One reason why Site B still had this offering and
Site A did not, would be that Site B's feeder middle schools could have
different math achievement and requirements for students. Additionally, the
two sites received students from different elementary school districts.
The range of math classes that the surveyed students were placed
covered from Math I to honors Geometry. Most students were placed in
Math A (seven), two were placed in Basic Algebra, five were in Algebra IC,
and one, each, was placed in honors Algebra and honors Geometry.
Although Math I does not meet a college admissions requirement, a student
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would then have three years (including three additional summers) to
complete a three year college-prep math sequence.
Survey results showed that a majority of the students could not agree
with the statement, "The counselor advised me to enroll in college prep
classes." Nine of fifteen did not agree while five did agree with the
statement. This seems ironic since most students were placed in accelerated
classes. Conversely, ten students did agree with the statement that the
counselor told them the benefits of taking Honors and Advanced Placement
classes in the future.
A great majority agreed that their counselor listened to them, gave
good advice and was honest when putting together their program of studies.
All except one were satisfied with their first counseling session, and all
students agreed that they felt comfortable with their guidance provider.
This school appeared to be moving towards the district's goal of
allowing all students equal access into accelerated coursework. More
clarification as to the criteria for honors admission was needed. If the
criteria is that every student who would like to attempt it should be allowed
entrance, then the staff would need to ensure that students and parents were
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informed about all accelerated courses and the benefits and requirements for
each accelerated level.
SiteC
Site C had the largest student of color population in the district. In
fact, it was the only school where Caucasian students were not the majority
of the total student population. In the fall of 1994, the demographics of Site
C were twenty-nine percent (29%) Latino, over fourteen percent (14.64%)
Afiican-American, over forty-two percent (42.26%) Caucasian, and just
under fourteen percent (13.95%) was the total for other ethnic groups. Site
C was also the only surveyed school that continued to track students by four
categories—Remedial, Applied Arts, College-Prep, and Honors.
What was even more apparent was that students of color were more
likely to be placed in non-college preparatory classes than not, while Anglo
students were placed in accelerated classes unless they were special
education students. There were twelve Caucasian students who were
surveyed from Site C. Four were placed in the honors English, and three of
the same four were also placed in honors geography. Three received
Significantly Above Grade Level recommendations, while one received an
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Above Grade Level recommendation. (This Above Grade Level student was
also one of the three enrolled in geography at the honors level.) Seven of the
twelve were placed in college-prep classes, while one was enrolled in an on
site alternative contract program that only offered Applied Arts coursework.
Conversely, all other Applied Arts placements were in the regular education
program at this site. There were three applied arts placements—two were
African-Americans, the other was Latino. There was also a Remedial
placement for a non-special education student. An African-American female
was placed in this lowest level of English. The four non-college preparatory
placement students received different recommendations. Two received At
Grade Level, and the two others received Below Grade Level. One African-
American and three Latino students were placed in college-prep English; all
four were also in the AVID program which required that its students be
enrolled in college-prep courses.
Another difference that was apparent, was that this site did not have a
course that students who received recommendations Below Grade Level
were placed to assist them in developing the skills needed to enroll and be
successful in college-prep courses in the future. (At sites A and B, applied
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arts students were placed in college-prep English and a reading course to
assist them.) Ironically, at Site C, where more students were enrolled at
lower levels than any other surveyed site, no supports or enhancement
programs had been instituted; only two students had been placed in reading
classes. Like schools A and B, Site C was a Chapter 1 school so there were
funds for student support classes to be instituted.
The math levels that students were placed also were broad in range.
There was one student enrolled at the Math 1 level while two were enrolled
into honors Geometry. Again, it was not clear what criteria were followed
for student placement. One of the honors Geometry placements appeared to
occur because the eighth grade recommendations suggested geometry
placement, but the other placement had received a recommendation of
Algebra. There were two other geometry recommendations but those
students were placed in honors algebra. Other math recommendations were
not followed as clearly as those at sites A and B. Where recommendations
stated Math A/Pre- Algebra, students would usually be placed in Math A.
At site C, placement was either Math A (four students) or Basic Algebra 1
(three placements, all who were in AVID). Algebra recommendations were
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not supported in ail cases. Three students were placed in the same level of
math that Site A and Site B placed their students, which was Algebra 1C.
Two others were placed in Basic Algebra and, as stated previously, one was
placed in honors Geometry.
This site appeared to not use the teacher recommendations as the other
sites did although the surveyed students agreed with the statement, "The
counselor reviewed my eighth grade recommendations. " If this site used
parent and/or student requests to place students in accelerated programs,
then all students and parents would have needed to have been informed
about college-prep and other accelerated coursework. The student survey
results implied that the information was not given to most of the students
who were placed in non-accelerated classes. Of the six students who were
not placed in college-prep classes, two agreed that the counselor told them to
enroll into college-prep classes. Two others did not agree with the
statement, while the last two declined to participate in the survey.
It appeared that the guidance providers used their judgement in the
placement of students. This should concern the administration in that all
providers did not operate the same way. There were no clear patterns as to
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student placement. Different counselors and GIS programmed students how
they perceived the ability of the student, regardless of the recommendations.
If this was the case, then the recommendations were not needed. One
assumption was that the client schools' recommendations had not been
accurate in the past. If this was so. Site A had students from some of the
same client schools and they used the recommendations as part of their
criteria for student placement. Site A had also dismantled their tracking of
students, which Site C had not.
O f the four schools that were surveyed. Site C was more likely to place
a student of color in remedial or applied arts levels, place Anglo students in
accelerated levels of study, and disregard eighth grade teachers'
recommendations. There appeared to be much work needed to reach the
point where equal educational opportunities are given to all students. Given
the diversity of the student population it would seem that the administration
and teaching staff would be trend setters in developing or implementing
programs that would increase student achievement of all students, instead of
supporting theories and programs that amplify the differentiation of students.
It must be noted that in 1994, the student population was forty-two percent
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Anglo and fifty-eight percent students of color, but the certificated staff who
described themselves as minorities was only fifteen percent.
Site D
Site D was increasing the numbers of students enrolled in accelerated
classes. Not only had this site blended all English classes (except honors
English) so that all incoming fi'eshmen would have the opportunity to begin
to satisfy college admissions standards, but this site developed a study skills
course for all students who were identified as achieving Below Grade Level.
This site had an ever-increasing student of color population but did not
receive Chapter 1 funds. The 1994 demographics showed over fiffy-eight
percent (58.67%) Anglo students, over twenty percent (21.68%) Hispanic
students, almost ten percent (9.72%) Afiican-American students, and almost
ten percent (9.93%) other students of color.
All of the regular education students who were surveyed had been
placed in accelerated classes in English, geography, mathematics, and most
were placed in foreign language or science. Foreign language and science
are highlighted at this point because only three of the surveyed students were
not placed in one or both of these types of classes. With large placements of
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freshmen in science and foreign language, this school's attempt to allow
equal access into accelerated programs and to make students college-ready
was apparent; the recruitment of all students for accelerated programs was
occurring.
There were four students placed in honors English. Three received
English recommendations of Significantly Above Grade Level, with the
fourth student not receiving any recommendations since she did not attend a
feeder school. This student was an African-American female who was the
only African-American from this site who was surveyed for this study. The
other three honors placements were Caucasian females who were also placed
in honors geography, whereas the African-American student was placed in
the tech discoveries/geography combination for the year. Additionally, this
student was placed in college-prep geometry as opposed to the other three
students who were placed in the honors geometry level.
The criteria for level placement appeared to be clear at this site. When
a student received recommendations At Grade Level, that student was placed
in college-prep English, unless that student received special education
services, in which case the student was placed in special education English.
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In a situation where a student received a Below Grade Level
reconunendation, that student was not only placed in college-prep English,
but also in a study skills class with the same teacher of English, when
possible. This was the school’s attempt to assist the student with the
development of the skills needed to be successful in the college-prep English
class. In cases where students did not receive recommendations because
they were not from feeder schools, the students and parents were questioned
and informed of college-prep and honors offerings (as verified during the
student survey). Those students were programmed in rigorous courses that
would allow them access into honors and AP courses in the future.
Only one math recommendation was not supported. This non-support
was likely due because the student could not meet the high school's
requirement of summer school attendance. The particular student was
recommended to take geometry. At this site, all freshmen students who were
scheduled for geometry as freshmen, were required to enroll in Algebra
Enrichment during the first session of summer school. It was made clear to
the counselor during the conference that the student could not attend summer
school, so this student was placed into Algebra 1C for the fall. In all other
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cases, the math recommendations were supported by the guidance staff who
placed the students in the appropriate levels.
The irony of this situation was that sites C and D received most of their
students from the same two feeder schools. Site C usually disregarded the
recommendations, while Site D frilly supported the eighth grade
recommendations without regard to race, gender or any other preconceived
notions about specific students. Although only one African-American
student took part in this study at Site D, there were equal numbers of Latino
and White students surveyed and programs reviewed (nine of each).
The survey statements which students agreed one hundred percent
were:
• The elective that I am taking in the fall was my choice more than my
counselor's or my parent's
• The counselor listened to me
• The counselor gave good advice, and
• The counselor was honest
All students recalled being told about science and foreign language offerings,
and most agreed with being told about visual and performing arts electives.
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AU of the students were satisfied with their first counseling session and
believed that the counselor had high expectations for them. AU agreed that
they felt comfortable talking with their guidance provider.
Site D appeared to offer all of its fireshmen equal educational
opportunities that supported accelerated coursework. This was without total
support fi’ om the English and social science departments whose members
were divided in their beUefs about blended classes and college-prep curricula
for aU students. With the leadership of the principal and key department
members, the site continued to remove artificial barriers that had been
developed to segregate students. Each year has seen a battle to place
students into appUed arts EngUsh and social science classes at grades ten,
eleven, and twelve. The EngUsh department had applied arts courses for
those grade levels; social science did not. The principal has continued to
hire new teachers that beUeve that aU students can achieve at high levels.
She also continues to encourage staff development so that new strategies are
brought into the school and shared with coUeagues. With these
administrative strategies, students will continue to achieve to their highest
levels at Site D.
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CHAPTER 5
Summary, Implications and Recommendations
Summary
The findings fi-om the literature review and district documents and
survey clearly illustrate how there remains the need for school districts to
actively recruit students of color for accelerated programs. Educational
equity continues to be elusive for most students of color. Although Supreme
Courts, Presidents and highly respected educators have continued to
maintain that equity in education is the basis for this society, other policy
makers continue to make equity impossible by the policies and personnel
they set in place for others to endure. While some educators attempt to
dismantle the barriers that others have placed to limit all students firom
gaining the knowledge needed to succeed, others continue to invoke policies
to keep the limitations in place.
The district that was studied attempted to reduce the obstacles and
increase programs that allow all students to attempt rigorous studies to
improve their intellectual development. Each site was in a différent time and
place. Most had developed a set of core classes that were college-prep at
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the ninth grade level. They also included a reading or study skills class for
those students who entered the ninth grade with a need for additional
academic support. Still at other sites, where students of color were in larger
proportions, there continued to be three and four ability groups in which the
students were placed. Their tracking systems seemed to be in opposition to
the district's goal of allowing all students equal access into accelerated
programs. While districts like the one studied set lofty goals for educational
equity, superintendents must ensure that the site personnel understand and
can implement the steps to make the goal a reality.
The findings at each of the sites and from the district documents
illustrate how some schools and districts have attempted to dismantle the
tracking of students into different academic levels so that all students are
allowed to enroll into accelerated classes to prepare them for post-secondary
education and work. There remains the need for school districts to actively
recruit students of color for accelerated programs. As demonstrated at Site
C, educational equity continues to be elusive for students of color. Although
programs like AVID have been implemented on the campuses, participation
in the program has developed another obstacle for students who have not
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been invited to participate. Students of color who were not a part of the
AVID program continued to be programmed into non-college preparatory
classes. There continued to be evidence of a social and economic sorting
process filled with contradictions. This suggests that race, ethnicity and
social class signal ability to educators and guidance providers.
Even schools that have attempted to de-track at the ninth grade level,
continued to battle with teachers who support differentiated programs at
grades ten through twelve. Site D has continued to debate the need for
applied arts English and social science classes since the blended fi'eshman
classes were instituted. Some opponents to heterogeneous grouping
continue to meet with administrators and other teachers to "convince" them
that tracking is needed for the students who "can't keep up." Of course, this
change would be "for the student's benefit." Accelerated classes proponents
suggest that those teachers are not interested in changing their single-
teaching strategy to better meet the needs of the students who are now
attending school. Still others believe that the opponents truly believe in the
innate ability model and support the belief that most (if not all) students of
color are not equipped with the intellect to compete in accelerated courses.
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Implications
Schools like Site A, Site B, and Site D have a greater opportunity to
institute deep and constant change because the impetus for their de-tracking
is greater student achievement. These schools have developed support
systems for students who may enter their schools lacking the needed skills,
and their staffs have unified (except for some at Site D) behind the idea of
preparing all of their students for both college and the world of work. These
schools will continue to succeed in the equity arena unless policy makers
interfere with their goals and programs.
When districts like the one studied make educational equity one of
their goals for the system and their students, it is the beginning of a change
in the right direction. Even these districts face constant battles with
teachers, parents and even students who view the dismantling of the tracking
system as a detriment to their futures. The district that was studied, now
finds itself with a majority of ultra-conservative board members who have
forced the "liberal" superintendent to find other employment. Additionally,
they have released another dozen key district employees who helped to
develop the goal of educational equity and to dismantle the in-school
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segregation of students by tracking them into various ability levels. With
actions like these, many educators in the district fear a return to tracking of
students and the discontinuation of programs like AVID.
There is much work needed to be completed in order for all students
to receive educational equity in public schools. All stakeholders of public
education must be made aware of the standards that students in the twenty-
first century must achieve.
The complexities of the skills required by the workforce in
our country mean that we can no lo iter operate on the
assumption that completion of advanced education is for the
few. The increasing evidence that investment in the
education of humans pays off at a great rate than does
capital investment, suggests that we cannot return to a
scarcity o f educational opportunity. The question is no
longer one o f finding the few that can succeed. The basic
challenge is to determine for America how the largest
proportion o f students, ...can leam effectively the skills and
subject matter regarded as essential for their own
development in a complex society (Broussard, 1996, p. 6).
Recommendations
Even with laws, legal rules and educational research, educators have
not been totally successful in aiding policy makers in achieving educational
equity. Ongoing grassroots attempts continue. Years of depending on the
consciences of educators still find active recruitment of students of color for
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accelerated programs at a ininimum, so programs like AVID and open
enrollment for accelerated classes have been developed to assist in
achieving educational equity.
School districts would be wise in following the lead of the State of
California which is in the process of developing statewide Academic
Standards. The Association of California School Administrators suggests
standards must:
■ be rigorous and internationally competitive
■ apply to all students
■ be global, and broad
■ indicate the content — what students must know and be able to do —
performance level - how well
■ be manageable and realistic in driving priorities for instructional time,
and integrate with other standards mandates faced by schools and
districts
■ acknowledge cross-cunicular elements which will be integrated into
curricula at the school and district level
■ be clear and useable
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■ reflect broad professional consensus, as well as grassroots agreement
about what students need to know and be able to do (1996).
Similar studies to this are needed to continue to assess whether
districts are working towards and achieving educational equity for all of
their students. Equity is required by law and needed for students to be
enrolled into accelerated programs. Students need rigorous studies so that
they are better prepared for post-secondary education and careers.
The AVID or APPI approach could be used in all middle and high
schools to actively recruit students whose ancestors had been historically
under-represented in post-secondary institutions. More importantly, the
AVID program could be used to not only recruit students of color, but
should be instituted for all students so that educational, emotional and social
supports can be developed and available for all students to succeed in
accelerated classes. All students should be granted the opportunity,
encouragement and support to enroll in and to successfully complete a high
school course of studies that would prepare them for university studies and a
career.
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If the AVID program or APPI process was incorporated into ail
public schools, recruitment for advanced coursework would not be needed.
What would be needed to accomplish successful completion of rigorous
academic programs by all students would be the education of the school and
district staffs, feeder schools' staffs, parents and students about AVID.
Since most adults were afforded neither the challenging curricula nor the
student supports that would have been needed to ensure their successful
completion of such studies, it would be essential to educate the stakeholders
so that they will know and understand the goal of the program. Also, they
would understand what their roles would be to ensure student success.
Guidance providers who program high school students need to not
only inform the students and parents of the choices available and support
their decisions, but strongly encourage students to challenge themselves so
that they are thoroughly prepared for their future endeavors with the best
educational foundation that can be afforded to them. Additionally, site
administrators' policies that encourage students to master and excel in
advanced coursework are needed. Administrators' assurances that advanced
coursework in all departments will be necessary. Course offerings will not
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be sufficient; educators who have mastered the content and who can educate
students using methods and strategies that will encourage, provoke and
challenge students' thoughts will be obligatory.
Parents would then understand and agree that supporting students at
home would assist in the success of their students. Consequently, class
assignments like homework and projects would be completed by students
who were able to study at home and at libraries, alone and in study groups,
at superior levels. Parents would understand the need to send their students
to school prepared to leam. Students who are well rested, fed with
nutritional foods, clean, and emotionally calm, would be ready to focus on
the tasks in the learning environment.
Educators must be trained in AVID teaching strategies that ensure
student success. Additionally, educators should be taught to research topics
about multiple intelligences, the Development Process (as opposed to the
Innate Ability Model) of the Efficacy Institute, and gifted minorities so that
their knowledge base would be expanded and developed so that individual
prejudices would no longer impede students fi-om succeeding.
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Policy makers would then understand the need to reduce class sizes to
a workable size so that teachers are given the opportunity to truly get to
know and assist their students. Site leaders must understand the importance
of class size reduction and work so that teachers have more time to develop
lessons that are meaningful, powerful and interesting for all students.
District personnel must be willing to accept the challenge and set
entrance standards for honors and Advanced Placement coursework. Criteria
for students to remain in the programs are needed so that students and
parents understand that continued enrollment is not a right, but a privilege
that is earned through hard work. Currently, many students and parents
believe once the student has been admitted the student should not be
removed from the program, even when student performance does not meet
the requirements.
With propositions like California's 207, and changes in social
programs that will force individuals to find jobs because state aid will cease,
all students will need to have the ability to leam complex and technological
skills and lessons, as well as master everyday skills like communication to
be successful in college and in the workplace. The starting place for this
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skill development should be the public school system where all students can
develop the skills necessary to succeed. If the public system is unwilling to
treat all students with the respect and equity that the law provides, private
institutions would be need to be developed to support the students in their
pursuit towards educational excellence.
If private institutions are developed, funding would be a crucial
element to their development and and their ability to sustain. Much research
and discussion is occurring to develop race- and gender-based schools. At
first glance, they seem appropriate, but as stated previously, these types of
schools do not follow the integrated, educational equity which is the basis
for American society.
To continue to sort and discriminate against America's own children
wUl continue to impose limitations on student achievement. Therefore, all
students must be given the opportunity to succeed in accelerated classes so
that post-secondary options are many. Only then, will America be able to
totally compete within the global society that we have become.
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Appendix A
Table G - Racial and Ethnic Diversity: Recent Historv
Year Total
-Enrollment-
Nat.
— Amer.
Asian Pacif. Fili-
-Islan.— pine—
Latino Afr.-
---------Amer-
Mid.
•East,—
Other
-White
1985 20029 0.40 1.22 0.40 1.17 7.62 2.24 86.94
1986 19877 0.41 1.84 0.04 1.16 8.31 2.48 85.77
1987 19647 0.49 2.11 0.14 1.35 9.08 2.63 84.20
1988 18860 0.66 2.36 0.17 1.54 10.39 2.06 82.81
1989 18626 0.88 2.52 0.37 1.83 12.21 3.22 79.00
1990 18659 1.20 2.64 0.50 1.91 14.14 3.67 75.94
1991 19228 1.51 2.58 0.40 1.87 14.74 3.62 75.27
1992 19366 1.57 2.50 0.53 2.05 15.82 4.44 73.09
1993 20010 1.55 2.31 0.54 2.24 16.40 4.93 72.02
1994 20561 1.58 2.19 0.58 2.35 16.64 5.09 71.56
1995 2149 1.48 2.60 0.49 2.24 17.00 5.64 2.01 68.54
Begining in 1995, Middle Eastern is reported separately, although it is not a
CBEDS category
District Diversity bv Year
District Enrollment
1885
□ 00i«fWh*#
I Afr-Amw
■ Laitie
P acflcltlan.
A ik n
N aira An V.
Figure 6
109
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Appendix B
Student Survey
110
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StrenBlv BIsssree
Strensly han*
a m m oubtiom «% mwrm gmm councLtia t t s s io n
Brlaarr LAnguag*
If iwt Enalfah, did th» esiraalor
; tpMk thd priaary lan»ag«7 .
i-NIddi* dehoei ______________
^ Fail lehool? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
; Which counaalor did y w taa?
If not, w ho tranalatadT
, Nom (cng at praaant addraaa? Haighhorhood7_
W h o attandid coiawaling aaaaicnf _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
(Mala or Faaalt)
* * Parant aducaticnf
U v. Oograa Collas* Grad taaa Collas* N S Crad < H S Grad
0 „ going to rood to you a ta t of quaationa about your ninth grada couaalin s aaaaion. You will
0 haw* 5 choicaa am raapenaa to aach quaation."
% S O M aueh tia a , in arfnutaa, did you apand with your ceuaalorT
M hf ' 2S or Bor* 20*24 15*19
1
am .,4 1 . I f a it eoMfortabla talking to ay couaalor about teboel.
10*14 5*9
i W han diacuaaing mf
I 2 . M y caunaalor «
of atudiaa...
ay 8th grada rapart card with aa.
SM* 3 . m y 8th grada taaehara* racaaaandations war* raviawad with aa.
m i «% 4 . Yh* caw aalor aakad aa hau I fa it about ay 8th grada yaar.
5. Tha
go. ,
7 . M y
bi#i
[ 8 . m y
[ 9 . Tha
lo r aakad aa idwt 1 thought ara ay atrangtha and waaknaaaaa
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I that kiid of work that I plamad to do aftar high achool.
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I .
lo r aakad aa about ay hobbiaa.
eow M lor aakad aa about ay dialikaa.
ta- 1 1 0 . Tha e o m a lo r liatanad to ay parants* suggaations aora than aina.
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lier has high n * e e teti
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I will Ildar it lik ely that
college inaediately 29. I plan to
112
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Asset Metadata

Creator Jackson, Adrienne Angela (author)

Core Title A descriptive study of the recruitment of students of color for secondary accelerated programs

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Education, administration,Education, Guidance and Counseling,Education, Secondary,OAI-PMH Harvest,sociology, ethnic and racial studies

Language English

Advisor Hentschke, Guilbert (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), William, H. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c17-348459

Unique identifier UC11353965

Identifier 9902815.pdf (filename),usctheses-c17-348459 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 9902815.pdf

Dmrecord 348459

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Jackson, Adrienne Angela

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA