August 26, 2016
A traditional view of school performance in Los Angeles County suggests schools located in and near the downtown core of Los Angeles are failing to close the achievement gap.
This view rests on the premise that all schools should be judged similarly, regardless of their student population. However, the data strongly suggest otherwise.
## TableGrob (1 x 2) "arrange": 2 grobs ## z cells name grob ## 1 1 (1-1,1-1) arrange gtable[layout] ## 2 2 (1-1,2-2) arrange gtable[layout]
The traditional view also fails to account for barriers to learning that many of LAC's students face outside of the classroom - in their neighborhoods and at home.
At the same time, a closer look at the data revealed a handful of positive outliers - schools with unexpectedly high student proficiency rates.
## TableGrob (1 x 2) "arrange": 2 grobs ## z cells name grob ## 1 1 (1-1,1-1) arrange gtable[layout] ## 2 2 (1-1,2-2) arrange gtable[layout]
We used a three-step process - and two years of CAASP data - to validate the positive outliers as schools that triumphed against steep odds.
- Fit a series of multivariate regression models to determine the effect of student and neighborhood characteristics on statewide CAASP proficiency rates in 2014-15 and 2015-16:
- \(Proficiency = B_0 + B_1FRPM + B_2StudentsOfColor +B_3ELL+B_4Neighborhood+e_i\)
- Use these models to predict CAASP proficiency in Math and ELA for every school in California in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
- Compare the models' predicted proficiency rates with each school's actual proficiency rates in 2014-15 and 2015-16:
- \(Performance Against Expectations = Actual Performance - Predicted Performance\)
School Spotlight: Student Performance Against Expectations in James A. Garfield Senior High School
