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1998 Community Assessment
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1998 Community Assessment |
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EducationA. Issue SummaryB. Background and Influencing FactorsC. Outcomes and Key IndicatorsOUTCOME: Increased number of students with improved school attendance and academic performanceOUTCOME: Reduced school dropout rates and increased number of students remaining in school until obtaining a high school diplomaOUTCOME: Increased number of high school graduates (85%) involved in post-secondary education/trainingOUTCOME: Increased hands-on job experiences for students.OUTCOME: Increased safety at all school campusesOUTCOME: Increased number of fully qualified and highly effective personnel working in the education systemD. Other Key Outcomes and StatusE. Terms, Concepts and DefinitionsA. ISSUE SUMMARY
The vision statement focuses on two major goals: enhancing academic performance and preparing students from all seven school districts in Travis County (Austin, Del Valle, Eanes, Lago Vista, Lake Travis, Manor, and Pflugerville) to enter the workforce. Although the key finding for all indicators of success is that students in Travis County are improving, longstanding disparities between districts and barriers to the success of a significant number of students still persist.
B. BACKGROUND AND INFLUENCING FACTORSThe future of a community is shaped by the quality of education offered and enjoyed by students. By focusing on the goals of academic achievement and workforce preparation, students will learn how to study, to effectively communicate, to use technology, to solve problems, and to develop successful careers. To understand the issues described below, it is necessary to examine some characteristics of the seven school districts in Travis County. Austin I.S.D. is the largest, with over 70% of all county students. Lago Vista I.S.D. is the smallest, with 731 students in SY96-97, less than one percent of all Travis County students. Table 4.2.1 shows the students enrolled by school district in SY96-97, including the percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged (qualify for free or reduced-price meals) and the percentage of students who are minorities. The Austin, Manor, and Del Valle school districts have the highest percentages of economically disadvantaged students and also of minority students. Table 4.2.1 Enrollment and Economic Status in Travis County School Districts, SY96-97
C. OUTCOMES AND KEY INDICATORSThe seven outcomes analyzed in the next section are:
OUTCOME: Increased number of students with improved school attendance and academic performance All school districts in Travis County have attendance rates of 93% or higher. The rate has fluctuated little the past few years. The Texas target attendance rate is 95%, and two school districts fall below that target: Del Valle at 93.0% and Austin at 93.8 percent. Figure 4.2.1 Percent Passing Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) Test
TAAS scores (reading, writing and math for grades 3 through 8 and 10) measure academic performance. Figure 4.2.1 highlights the percentage of Travis County students passing the TAAS. In all school districts, an increasing percentage of students passed the assessment from SY94-95 to SY96-97. As shown in Table 4.2.2, over a five-year period, Del Valle (31.8%) and Manor (24.5%) had the highest increases in the percentage of students passing the TAAS; however, these districts, along with Austin I.S.D., still fall below the state average passing rate of 73.1 percent. Lago Vista was the only district with a smaller percentage of students passing in SY96-97 than in SY92-93. Table 4.2.2 Percent of Students Passing TAAS
Source: Texas Education Agency, Snapshots 1. Change is measured from SY 92-93 to SY 96-97 OUTCOME: Reduced school dropout rates and increased number of students remaining in school until obtaining a high school diplomaDropout rates identify the total number of 7-12 grade dropouts reported in the school year expressed as a percent of the total number of students in grades 7-12. Dropout rates have decreased since SY92-93 for every district except Manor and Pflugerville. For the past five years, Austin has been the only district with dropout rates consistently above the state average. For one year, SY96-97, Manors rate was also above the state average. Table 4.2.3 Dropout Rates for SY93 through SY97
1. Percentage change from SY92-93 to SY96-97 Table 4.2.4 1996-97 Dropout Rates by Ethnicity and Economic Status
Source: Texas Education Agency, Snapshots In five of the seven school districts, as well as statewide, Hispanics have a higher dropout rate than other ethnic groups. Their rates are also higher than the economically disadvantaged students. Students most at-risk of dropping out of A.I.S.D. are ninth graders, followed by eighth graders. School districts are required to identify the number of students in grades 7-12 who are at risk of failing or dropping out. According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), an at-risk student is one who:
The TEA found that while 40.5% of the students in the state had been identified as at-risk in SY94-95, only 43.5% of actual dropouts had been identified as at-risk. In comparing the characteristics of dropouts to those in the general school population, the TEA found that over-age students and students with limited English proficiency were over-represented in the dropout population: "In 1994-95, 76.4 percent of dropouts were overage for grade compared to 33.0 percent of all Grade 7-12 students." Eight percent of dropouts were in bilingual or English as a Second Language programs (the characteristic, limited English proficiency, covering the smallest percentage of dropouts), while only five percent of all students in the state participated in such programs in SY94-95. Thirty-four percent of dropouts were economically disadvantaged; 32.4% were in vocational education programs; and 14.2% were in special education. OUTCOME: Increased number of high school graduates (85%) involved in post-secondary education/training Currently, there is not a good measure of the number of high school graduates who enter training to learn a trade such as carpentry or massage therapy. Perhaps this data gap could be addressed through exit surveys with high school seniors. Figure 4.2.2 shows the percentage of senior students expected to graduate who took either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the enhanced American College Testing program (ACT) assessment. These tests are taken by high school students who plan to pursue post-secondary education. The largest percentage of test takers are found in Eanes and Lake Travis: 90% of seniors took one of the two tests. In contrast, fewer than half of Del Valles graduating seniors took either test, and the percent of test takers has diminished each year. Figure 4.2.2 Percent Tested for College Admissions
Information unavailable for Eanes District for 1994-1995 or 1996-97. Figure 4.2.3 Percent of Students Who Scored Above Criterion, SY95 to SY97
The schools with the highest percentage of test takers were also those with the highest percentage of students scoring above the TEA criterion of 1,000. All districts in Travis County, except for Manor and Del Valle, surpassed the statewide figure of 26.3% scoring above the criterion. For the past three years at Manor I.S.D., only between 10 and 11% of students who took college tests scored above 1,000. At Del Valle in SY95 and SY96, the percent scoring above the criterion was even lower than that of Manor. However, in SY97, Del Valle saw a significant increase from 8.2% to 19% of test takers scoring above the criterion. Figure 4.2.4 SAT Mean Total Scores, SY96 and SY97
Table 4.2.5 Average SAT Scores for School Years 1992-93 to 1996-97
1. Percent change between SY93 and SY97 For the past five years, Del Valle and Manor students have consistently scored below the state average SAT scores. All other districts in Travis County have exceeded the state average. Manor, with the lowest average scores, would have to experience a 28% increase to meet the average score in the Eanes School District (the district with the highest average score). Given that the increase over the past five years at Manor has been nine percent, this appears to be quite a daunting task. Lake Travis had the highest increase in average SAT scores over this 5-year period, rising 19.3 percent. Pflugervilles average scores had the smallest increase: 4.7% during this same time frame. OUTCOME: Increased hands-on job experiences for students. There are various ways by which students can gain hands-on job experience to prepare for the workforce (e.g., career and technology courses, internships, work study, etc.). The focus of this section will be on career and technology courses. Career and technology courses are offered to students in grades 9 through 12, and include industrial technology education, trade and industrial education, agricultural science and technology, marketing education, business education, health science technology education, computer science, agribusiness, and home economics. Figure 4.2.5 shows the percentage of students who have taken career and technology courses in the seven Travis County school districts over a five-year period. Figure 4.2.5 Percent Students Taking Career and Technology Courses SY93 - SY97
Four of the districts show increases in SY96-97, while the other three show declines. Only Eanes and Manor school districts show any discernible trend, both toward increased enrollment. Manor consistently maintained its position as leader in the percentage of students taking career and technology courses. Both Manor and Del Valle I.S.D.s surpass the percentage of Texas students taking career and technology courses (17%), with the two districts at 23% and 22% respectively. Outcome: Increased safety at all school campuses All schools in Travis County are required to report incidents of violence against students, teachers, and other staff, as well as disciplinary incidents related to tobacco, drugs, alcohol and vandalism. Table 4.2.6 shows the number of violent incidents by school district, including the number of firearms and other weapons confiscated. Table 4.2.7 details the types of violent incidents in elementary, middle and high schools. Table 4.2.6 Incidents of Violence in Travis County School Districts SY95-96 and SY96-97
Table 4.2.7 Violent Incidents in Travis County School Districts by School Level SY 95-96 to SY 96-97
Source: TEA Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Annual Evaluation Reports, SY 95-96 and SY 96-97. In both school years, the number of violent incidents per 1,000 students in Travis County fell far below the state rate. While the rate of violent incidents increased in the state as a whole, Travis County experienced a decrease from SY95-96 to SY96-97 from 12.3 to 11.8. Increases in violent incidents per 1,000 students in Austin, Manor and Pflugerville I.S.D.s were offset by decreases in the other four districts. Del Valle and Lago Vista I.S.Ds had rates above the state in both school years. They were joined by Pflugerville I.S.D. in SY96-97. Lago Vista, the district with the smallest enrollment in the county (731 students in SY96-97), had the highest rate of violent incidents both school years. In SY95-96, it reported 183 assaults against students in elementary schools. In SY96-97, this figure decreased to ten. The increase in violent incidents in Pflugerville was significant, with 129 assaults against middle school students in SY96-97, compared to 24 the previous year. Most of the incidents reported in Travis County and the state as a whole occurred at the middle school level, as shown in Table 4.2.7. OUTCOME: Increased number of fully qualified and highly effective personnel working in the education system Figure 4.2.6 Teachers Average Years of Experience, SY 96-97
Statewide, teachers had an average of 11.7 years of experince in SY96-97. All Travis County districts fall below the state average except Austin and Eanes. Figure 4.2.7 shows the percentage of teachers in each district with masters or doctoral degrees. Eanes I.S.D. far surpasses the state average, with about 38% of the teachers having advanced degrees. Manor I.S.D. has the lowest percentage of teachers with advanced degrees, at less than half the state average of 27 percent. Del Valle and Pflugerville I.S.D.s also fall below the state average. Figure 4.2.7 Percentage of Teachers With Advanced Degrees, SY 96-97
Figure 4.2.8 Teacher Turnover Rate
Most of the districts in Travis County have turnover rates under the state average. The exceptions are Manor I.S.D., with a turnover rate almost twice the state average in SY96-97, and Del Valle I.S.D. D. OTHER KEY OUTCOMES AND STATUSThe Community Guide identified other outcomes that are related to the vision statement. They are listed below with annotations that include clarification, availability of data, and recommendations for further use. The following outcomes are overly complex or ambiguous and require more consideration in future activities of the CAN:
A significant number of students in Travis County encounter obstacles to success. Further research must be done to identify gaps in service to these children.
The following outcomes either do not have data available or the data are unreliable:
E. TERMS, CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONSAssault: An assault is committed if a person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another or intentionally, or knowlingly threatens another with imminent bodily injury. This definition is from the Texas Penal Code and is used by the Texas Education Agency, Division of Accelerated Instruction, for reporting assaults for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program. The TEA report includes the instruction: "Minor skirmishes or incidents which do not result in a minimum of out-of-school suspension, expulsion, or assignment to an alternative education program should not be included." Dropout Rate: As defined by the TEA, the total number of students who dropped out in grades 7-12 expressed as a percentage of the total number of students in membership at any time in grades 7-12. Economically Disadvantaged: Students are considered such when they qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the national School Lunch and Child Nutrition Program or other public assistance. School Gang Violence: From the Texas Penal Code and used for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program. This term is defined as action by three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who associate in the commission of criminal activities. Teacher turnover rates: These are calculated by dividing the total full-time equivalent count of teachers not employed in the district in the fall of the current year who were employed in the district in the fall of the prior year, by the total teacher full-time equivalent count for the fall of the prior year. Teacher Years of Experience: Years of experience are calculated as a weighted average obtained by multiplying each teachers full-time equivalent count by his/her years of experience, summing for all weighted counts, and then dividing by total teacher full-time equivalent. Texas Assessment of Academic Skills: The test measures student achievement in reading and math at grades 3-8 and 10, writing at grades 4, 8, and 10, and science and social studies in grade 8. The tests are given in the spring of each year. Results on the science and social studies sections are not used in determining passing rates. |
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