Federal Way School District Releases Data Showing Gap in African American, Hispanic, and Native American Students’ Achievement

Board Approves Dansby as Director of Equity & Achievement

TOTEM JR. HIGH SCHOOL, Federal Way, Wa. – At the May 29th school board meeting, Federal Way School District Superintendent Tom Murphy released newly available data showing disparities in African American, Hispanic, Native American students’achievement, and requested that the School Board establish an Office of Equity & Achievement to make improvements. Murphy recommended the appointment of Alma Dansby to head the Office of Equity & Achievement. The Board unanimously approved Murphy’s recommendation. Dansby will begin her new duties July 1.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson was on hand and endorsed his request.

Currently, Dansby is principal at Lake Dolloff Elementary School in Auburn, a position she has held since 1997. Prior to this position she served in teaching and administrative positions at elementary and junior high schools throughout the area. Earlier in her career she served as a cultural enrichment specialist and developed, implemented and taught a multi-cultural curriculum to elementary school students. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics and her teaching certificate from Pacific Lutheran University. She also obtained a Masters in Education from Washington State University and a K-12 Administrative Certificate from the Danforth Principal Preparation Program at the University of Washington.

The District recently reviewed data showing how its underachieving student population is achieving compared to other groups, using four criteria: academic performance; advanced programs enrollment; special needs programs enrollment; and disciplinary actions. "Frankly I was appalled by the data," reported Superintendent Murphy. "There are wide disparities in these students’ performance compared to others in terms of these four standard educational measurements," he said.

African American students are the lowest performing group in all areas. The Federal Way School District has a population of 22,541 students. Of this number 2,740, 12.16 percent, are African American.

For example, in academic performance as measured by WASL tests and high school completion, as well as in advanced programs enrollment, African American students are significantly under performing and under represented. Conversely, their representation in special needs programs is significantly higher than their percentage of the population would indicate. Further, in the area of discipline, African American students are disproportionately represented and are suspended or expelled at a rate almost twice as would be expected given their percent of population.

"We need to really understand what is causing these disparities," said Superintendent Murphy. He noted many factors could be involved including misunderstandings and cultural issues. "We know that many students who are suspended are more likely to fall behind academically and may become candidates for dropping out of school or more serious behavior issues than the action that led to the suspension," he added.

Four factors are typically cited for students’ poor performance in school: poverty, mobility, cultural barriers and parent access and involvement. According to Superintendent Murphy, "We feel these factors are behind at least parts of this data."

Nonetheless, Murphy cautioned the School Board to avoid jumping to conclusions and to resist broad generalizations. "These are very complex issues, and represent societal problems and a system that has been in place for many, many years -- a system that may not have changed with our times. What’s important to do now is to close the gap, and create an environment where all students have the access and equity needed to succeed."

"Additionally," said Murphy, "we know this is not just a school issue, but rather a community issue. For this reason we are creating a special Equity & Achievement Task Force to work closely with me and Ms. Dansby over the next several months."

The Task Force will include parents, community leaders and educators, and is expected to make recommendations in three primary areas: curriculum enhancement, staff development and parent involvement. The Task Force is expected to work through the summer, and begin reporting recommendations in the fall. Activities will include student forums and community forums.

Murphy explained, "We want to identify the link between academic performance and discipline. For example, can better academic performance reduce frustration that sometimes leads to disciplinary actions? We also need to identify if there are instances where one student is suspended for an action that another student might commit and not be suspended," he added.

Murphy said they also will examine the role of communication, and identify to what extent gaps between teachers and students trying to understand each other are at the root of some of these problems. He said perhaps differences in students’ learning styles and understanding the language of youth may be contributing factors.

Superintendent Murphy praised the hard work of District teachers and administrators in overall efforts at raising student performance. "85 percent of our schools have shown continuous improvement in math, and 88 percent have shown continuous improvement in reading," he said.

Murphy added that other racial or ethnic groups will benefit from the District’s self-assessment and improvement initiatives. "While this is not just an ‘African American’ problem, clearly the data would indicate this is where our most significant disparities lie. Nonetheless, we expect under achieving students of all backgrounds will benefit from this work."

"We will not shortchange our students," Murphy said. "We must rectify disproportionate disciplinary actions, and address the lack of achievement, that has plagued African American, Hispanic, and Native American students for decades," he said.

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