Princeton schools take aim to reduce achievement gap

Superintendent says programs must be widened and deepened

By: Hilary Parker
   Programs, research and discussions aimed at narrowing the achievement gap of students in Princeton Regional Schools must be widened and deepened, Superintendent Judith Wilson told the Board of Education in a report Tuesday night.
   Noting that multiple factors lead to the marked differences in student academic accomplishment — including race and ethnicity, income level and gender — Ms. Wilson said research in the last decade has demonstrated the importance of changing instructional strategies and programs to target and eliminate the gaps.
   "Time by itself does not matter," Ms. Wilson said. "More time doing the same things in the same way makes no difference."
   One of the biggest factors predicting future student academic achievement is reading on grade level by third grade, Ms. Wilson said, citing the district’s pre-kindergarten program — established in fall 2005 for 3- and 4-year-olds — as one step taken to minimize discrepancies in vocabulary and literacy at an early age.
   The grant application for the pre-K program’s third year was submitted on Wednesday, according to Assistant Superintendent Jeffrey Graber, who assisted Ms. Wilson in her presentation of current school district programs established to narrow achievement gaps. In its first year, the pre-K program was held at Johnson Park Elementary School and subsequently expanded to include a program at Riverside Elementary School.
   Summer academies to provide extra assistance in math and literacy for third- through eighth-graders were also established in 2005. Dr. Graber said they received positive feedback and will be held this summer at Community Park Elementary School from July 31 through Aug. 18. Teachers and guidance counselors work together to identify and select those students in need of the "extra boost," he said.
   For older students, the district introduced the Generation One program at Princeton High School in the 2004-2005 school year to help support students who will be the first in their families to attend college. There are currently 38 students in the program, which Dr. Graber said has received strong support from the community and institutions of higher education, including Princeton University.
   Other measures taken in recent years include the establishment of guidance counselors and early intervention literacy teachers in each of the district’s four elementary schools in fall 2005 and a strengthened relationship with Princeton Young Achievers to provide after-school tutoring to elementary school students.
   This coming fall, the district will pilot a math and literacy program at the middle and high school level to identify students in basic skills and general education courses who would be able to move into accelerated or Advanced Placement courses with "pre-teaching" academic support.
   "This is an effort to be more aggressive in leveling the playing field for all our youngsters," Dr. Graber said.
   Additional changes at the high school — including a College Center and the development of individualized learning plans — are planned to target students’ needs throughout their academic careers, Dr. Graber added. The district is currently conducting a search for a special-education supervisor for grades K through 12, and Dr. Graber said the candidate selected for the position will be "well-grounded in early literacy."
   While Ms. Wilson and Dr. Graber spoke positively of the changes already in place and planned for the schools, Ms. Wilson said there is "quite a while to go" in terms of both professional learning and establishing a "model of practice."
   This was the district’s first year as a member of the Delaware Valley Minority Student Achievement Network, and its membership in the national Minority Student Achievement Network is ongoing. An announcement of MSAN’s partnership with the University of Pennsylvania is expected within the next month, Ms. Wilson said, and she indicated her hope that Princeton Regional Schools will take advantage of the opportunity to have doctoral and post-doctoral academic researchers affiliated with MSAN conduct research in the schools.
   Collecting data and understanding its implications is a key focal area for narrowing achievement gaps, Ms. Wilson said.
   "Does it matter that we have pre-K? We need to know — that’s a big investment for us," the superintendent said.
   She said she plans to present a wide array of data on student achievement at the August board meeting. The report will serve as a baseline for future analysis of trends and a measure of program success and efficacy, she said.
   The Rockville Centre schools in Long Island, N.Y., mirror Princeton’s schools in terms of student population and demographics, Ms. Wilson said, citing the district as one of few in the country that have achieved noticeable, long-term reductions in achievement gaps. Given the similarities to Princeton’s schools, Ms. Wilson said the district might serve as a model as Princeton works to bolster its efforts to narrow the gap. Last week, a cohort of faculty and staff visited Rockville Centre and met with faculty, staff, administrators and students to discuss the "bold moves" the district took to successfully boost student achievement.
   "They built in a very, very strong network of support for teachers and for students," Ms. Wilson said. "They didn’t do it by adding administrators; they didn’t do it by changing contracts."
   On June 25, 14 Princeton Regional Schools employees will hear a presentation by Rockville Centre at the MSAN conference in Philadelphia, and additional faculty will attend the remainder of the conference on June 26 and 27.
   The visits tie into the district’s multi-year goals — called "long-term and overarching" by Ms. Wilson — aimed at narrowing the achievement gaps by aligning curriculum and improving professional development and learning.
   "It’s serious business," Ms. Wilson said. "It’s hard work. It’s cultural, sociological and certainly educational. We have a lot of learning to do."