Fort Worth Education Partnership

Committed to High Quality Public Education in Fort Worth

Regina Wilken

Education Matters: Great Expectations

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September is National Literacy Month, a time to foster dialogue about literacy in the United States.

According to a report that we at Fort Worth Education Partnership released a couple of weeks ago, only 43% of kids who attend school in the City of Fort Worth are performing at grade level on state reading assessments.

It is not uncommon for us to hear local education leaders respond to low academic achievement numbers by pointing out how many of our students live in poverty—implying that we shouldn’t expect schools with large numbers of children from low-income families to achieve academic excellence.

I find the “but our kids are living in poverty” justification for low levels of student achievement discouraging and alarming—especially when it comes from our education leaders. As Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker has said recently: “We cannot allow poverty to be the determining factor in a child’s success academically.”

This is one of the reasons Mayor Parker did something extraordinary and unusual on August 27. She attended a Fort Worth ISD board meeting and addressed the board during public comment. She brought with her a letter signed by a large and diverse group of community leaders.

As the letter states, “A great city demands a great public education system, and our future depends on it.” Unfortunately, Fort Worth lags far behind most other large cities in Texas on educational outcomes, including cities with almost identical levels of poverty and emerging bilingual students. Mayor Parker’s letter speaks strongly about what this means: “These results are unacceptable. For our city’s children, these results can significantly narrow their ability to access the life and the opportunities that they want and deserve. And for our city, there are significant long-term consequences in the areas of workforce, economic development, poverty, public health, and much more.”

No one would deny that in a large urban environment with high levels of poverty, educational achievement can be extremely difficult to obtain. Students experiencing poverty have many significant challenges to overcome. I would never minimize how difficult it is to support high academic achievement in high poverty schools.

However, having low expectations for students is also a highly significant barrier to academic achievement.

The “Pygmalion effect” describes situations where someone’s high expectations improve our behavior and therefore our performance in a given area. It suggests that we do better when more is expected of us.

Many studies over the years have shown how adults’ expectations greatly influence students’ academic performance. In 1964, Harvard professor Robert Rosenthal conducted a famous study that demonstrated that when students are labeled “high IQ” at random, adults’ expectations of those students lead to higher test scores.

My colleague Leila Santillan points out recent research that has repeatedly uncovered the link between high expectations and student achievement outcomes.[1] In fact, TNTP’s The Opportunity Myth found that no resource was more impactful on student achievement than high expectations and a belief that students could meet grade-level standards. In fact, when high expectations were present, students gained more than four months of additional learning progress.[2]

Further, the effect of high expectations was even stronger when students started off the year behind, like many of our kids in Fort Worth are.  It makes sense intuitively; when we believe students can meet the bar set by grade-level standards, we offer stronger assignments and instruction. In classrooms where students started the year behind their peers – students with adults who held high expectations and a belief that they could meet grade-level standards saw an additional eight months of achievement growth.

We do better when more is expected of us. That is why it is so important that our educational and city systems and, particularly, the leaders of those systems, operate with the belief that all kids can and should succeed. Many of our kids in Fort Worth are experiencing poverty, and they can learn and achieve at high levels.

It is National Literacy Month, and we recognize that only 43% of Fort Worth kids are reading at grade level. And those numbers are much lower in certain parts of our city. But we cannot allow poverty, zip code, or family situation to be the determining factors in a child’s success academically.

Writer and activist Jim Wallis likes to say, “Hope means believing in spite of the evidence and then watching the evidence change.”

The numbers can be discouraging. But let’s have hope for Fort Worth kids.

Believe in them, and watch the numbers change!

[1] https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/high-expectations-drive-student-success

[2] https://tntp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TNTP_The-Opportunity-Myth_Web.pdf

The Key to Tomorrow: Investing in Child Literacy Today

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The founders of the United States believed an educated public was key to preserving American democracy. This meant educating the public on political and social issues. It meant participating in civic life, voting, and protecting their rights and freedoms. It also meant standing up to those who might misuse power.

What do all these principles have in common? Literacy. If the public can’t read, they can’t take part in civic life, they can’t vote, and they can’t… Well, you get it. The early architects of American democracy knew that educating people needed a better approach than the one they had. So, they created a formal, unified system of publicly funded schools.

Now, let’s fast forward nearly 200 years. Does the American public school system meet the hopes of the founders, especially for the 170,000-plus children in Fort Worth public schools?

Looking at the results above, I think everyone can agree that the goal of a publicly funded school was not to have 57% of children reading below grade-level standards. Literacy is a civil right. Literacy is a human right. Investing in literacy has never been more important. Consider this: We are in the information age. How are our children supposed to succeed if they cannot read the information? How are they supposed to engage in civil discourse, know their rights, and fight for their rights and the rights of others if they cannot read and understand them?

When these results are brought to light, it seems the “blame game” begins almost immediately. Some claim it’s the parents’ fault, others the teachers and administrators, and others blame the family’s income level. But when you look at the stagnant results across the city of Fort Worth, they are not limited to one area or even one council district. Not one single council district in the city of Fort Worth achieved even half of its students reading at grade level.

Another common excuse for the dismal results is that COVID changed everything. In all honesty, when schools shut down during COVID, it did impact the students academically. However, four years later the results are similar. In the 2019-2020 school year, only 39% of students school year met grade-level requirements. Compare that with this year’s results of 35%, and it isn’t much of a crutch to lean on.

Literacy is not simply reading and writing but the foundation of all other learning. Without strong literacy skills, students will struggle to comprehend complex issues, contribute meaningfully to society, and participate fully in civic life. Investing in child literacy empowers future generations and strengthens the Fort Worth community. It helps them reach their potential and sparks social change.

One may ask, “How do we invest more than we already are?” This is a great question. The first step is closing the gap in perception between what parents see on their child’s report card and their state assessment results.

For example, parents often think their child is fine academically when they see A’s and B’s on their report cards. However, report cards include more than academics. They include things such as whether your student is on time for class or if they get along with their peers. Report cards also take into account the grades for makeup tests and assignments and may be bound by a school’s restriction on the lowest grade achievable.

On the contrary, state assessments measure what students learn. It tests their ability to apply knowledge and skills at each grade and subject level. The results are purely academic. Report cards gauge your child’s educational experience, which is important, but state tests show what your child learned and retained at his or her current grade level.

The challenge before us is clear. We must ensure that every child meets or ideally exceeds the literacy standards that are foundational to their future. The disparities highlighted by the current literacy rates indicate that we must bridge the gap between perception and reality in child literacy in Fort Worth. Investing in literacy is not just about improving test scores, but nurturing informed, capable citizens who are prepared to engage fully with their community. And that begins with us. Right now.

 

 

Moving Fences, Blog, August 2024

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After the devastation of World War I, Quakers brought relief to the impoverished people of Poland. They distributed food and clothing, along with other relief measures. One of the Quaker relief workers contracted Typhus and died.  There were only Catholic cemeteries in this little Polish village, and church law at the time forbade anyone not of that faith to be buried in that ground.

So the Quakers buried their friend in a grave just outside the Catholic cemetery.

Fences keep people out and keep people in. They draw a boundary around who belongs and who doesn’t.

Fort Worth Education Partnership is releasing our annual report this week that details how students in Fort Worth schools are doing academically. As I have reflected on this year’s report, I have thought about the fences that keep people in and out—the fences that keep too many of our Fort Worth kids from access to opportunity.

Our report shows that there is a “fence” that separates 65% of our kids in Fort Worth from full opportunity. That “fence” is not being able to perform at grade level in school. This year’s FWEP report shows that 65% of Fort Worth kids are not at grade level.

Why does this matter? A recent study by the State of Texas followed 3rd graders who scored below grade level on the state assessment. As they followed those 3rd graders over the next 15 years, they found that less than 2% went on to earn a 2- or 4-year degree after high school. In other words, over 98% of 3rd graders who were below grade level did not earn a college degree of any kind.

How our kids are doing in school now matters immensely for what they will be able to do in their future. Our children who can’t read or do math at grade level are stuck behind a forbidding fence that runs between them and future opportunity.

Our FWEP report shows there are 170,000 children in public schools that are located in the City of Fort Worth. Of those students, 39% are in FWISD schools, 48% are in the 11 other ISDs that have schools in Fort Worth, and 13% are in public charter schools. Across all of those school systems, only 35% of kids are meeting grade level standards.

We have issued this report for several years, and, unfortunately, it’s not getting better for Fort Worth kids. The percentage went down one point this year from 36% last year. And when it comes to reading, the percentage of kids reading at grade level in Fort Worth has gone down 3 points in the last two years.

Think about what this means for Fort Worth kids and their ability to access opportunities in their future. Most—not some; most— of our children in Fort Worth cannot read well.

There is fence that stands between most Fort Worth kids and full opportunity. Those who are denied a quality education are denied access to a path to prosperity. If things don’t change, too many Fort Worth kids are going to be left on the outside looking in.

That Quaker relief worker in Poland after WWI was buried outside the fence surrounding the Catholic cemetery. The next morning, however, there was a surprise. During the night the villagers had moved the fence so that the cemetery now included the grave of the Quaker relief worker.

Fences are real, but they don’t have to be permanent. Fences can be moved. The boundaries of who belongs—who has access and who does not, who is in and who is out—can be redrawn.

This is the work that my organization, Fort Worth Education Partnership, is called to, and it is a work and responsibility we share with many other individuals and organizations in our city.

The future is not fixed. We can be fence movers in Fort Worth. If we have the will, we can make sure all Fort Worth kids are included in the abundant opportunities that are possibilities for them.

Let’s be about the work of moving those fences together. Will you join us?