Even amid poverty, some schools succeed

from The Huntsville Times

By CHALLEN STEPHENS
Times Staff Writer challen.stephens@htimes.com

Crunching the numbers with poverty factored in shows variety of winners

Most once-a-week tutors find their way into Lincoln Elementary School through a network of churches. But Joan Prewitt simply walked in the front door and asked if she could help.

Prewitt, a grandmother, had tried the same thing at another elementary school, but she never heard back. But Lincoln has a volunteer coordinator paid with private donations, and Prewitt became one of more than 50 volunteer reading tutors who help propel Lincoln's test scores into the ranges more typical of middle class schools across town.

Neighborhood poverty or affluence predict test scores for most schools across Madison County. But Lincoln Elementary students did better than expected in reading and math this year, expectations based on the fact that nearly all of Lincoln's families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

"I just wanted something to do with my time that I felt was somewhat more worthwhile," said Prewitt. "I knew Lincoln was in a neighborhood that could use some help."

"Economic background is what matters, not race," said Dr. John Humphrey, a principal in north Huntsville for more than 10 years. "I've always believed that. And then, along came Lincoln Elementary.

"They're proving you can overcome the economic barrier."

But Lincoln isn't alone. Like a 5-foot basketball player or a pianist with thick fingers, a handful of schools here defy expectations. Meanwhile, a few schools in more affluent suburbs should be doing better.

Finding school quality

Humphrey lists the obstacles for an elementary school where most students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

At Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, where Humphrey is principal, he said his kindergartners more often know fewer words on the first day of school than their counterparts across town. They are more likely to have fewer books at home, to be raised by a single parent or grandparent and to come to school hungry in the morning.

Affluent children of south Huntsville are "always the ones performing when we take our kids to see 'The Nutcracker,'" said Humphrey.

The strength of the link between family income and student achievement is surprisingly strong in Madison County.

A Times' analysis of last spring's Stanford Achievement Test scores found that schoolwide poverty levels alone explain from 60 to 90 percent of the difference in scores among schools, depending on the subject.

But a handful of schools do much better on standardized tests than expected.

Jim Williams is director of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, a nonprofit think-tank in Birmingham that has on occasion studied links between poverty and achievement.

"It doesn't matter how much poverty you've got, there are outstanding schools," said Williams after viewing the Times' data. "That's the valuable information for parents."

Agile schools

Dr. Ruth Ash believes it starts at the top.

Ash, deputy superintendent for Alabama public schools, has looked into high-flying schools from Mobile to Birmingham. She cites a few common features: high expectations, teachers who work together and teachers who break down test data showing student weaknesses.

In each case, she said, the principal understands the test results and continuously guides teachers in adjusting their lessons to cover whatever the students aren't getting. Schools need an instructional leader, she said, not a building administrator.

"Yes, someone needs to count the money from the Coke machine, but it doesn't need to be the principal," said Ash.

Superintendent Ann Roy Moore in Huntsville and Superintendent Dee Fowler in Madison also cite strong leadership and high expectations for strong performance.

"The other thing you will see in all of these schools," said Ash, "is they embrace change and innovation. I like to call them agile schools."

Army of volunteers

More than nine out of 10 children at Lincoln Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, yet math and science scores here soar past the national average.

A network of churches and an army of outside volunteers support such success.

Charlene Pinker, a former volunteer, works at the school three days a week, paid by a private charity to organize volunteers who work one-on-one with the children. Last year there were 70 volunteers; this year the school has 50, said Pinker.

"They're not our parents," said Principal Christy Jensen. "They're kind of from all over the place."

Funneled through a network of a dozen churches, most volunteers come once a week, find a spot in the hall or the auditorium or an empty class and read with the students.

"A good majority connect with the children's families," said Jensen.

JoAnne Hake became involved after Jensen spoke at her church. Her sons grown, Hake began to tutor fourth-grader DeAsia King three years ago.

"We talk about reading and math, and we talk about the weather," said DeAsia. "Sometimes she comes to my house and we go places. We go out for ice cream and go swimming."

Hake's husband, Bob, tutors DeAsia's brother, D'Kendrick. They've had both children over for dinner and sometimes see them over the summer.

Lincoln Village Ministries, representing the church network, also pays a part-time teacher to run a science lab and provides $25 gift cards for a drawing for children with perfect attendance.

The ministry isn't the only outside agency supporting the school. A nurse practitioner, a therapist and a dentist all work on campus, operating through social welfare programs. Some businesses also help: Northrop Grumman paid for students to visit the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga last year.

After school, Lincoln uses federal grants not only to provide extra tutoring, but to broaden students' lives with tae kwan do, golf and art.

The small faculty, of course, plays a large role. Lesson plans are flexible and targeted at any apparent weaknesses. Plans are reviewed each week by the curriculum specialist, the reading coach and the principal.

Plus, teachers divvy up the hardest cases, with each teacher singling out one student for consistent attention each semester.

After the tests in the spring, the results were remarkable. For example, based on schoolwide economic levels, Lincoln students could be expected to score at the 35th percentile in math on the SAT, or 15 percentile points below the national average of 50. But Lincoln fifth-graders scored at the 66th percentile this year, ranking above 29 other elementary schools in Madison County.

The third-graders had the same success, scoring well ahead of wealthier elementary schools like Whitesburg and Madison and even above a magnet school for science students.

Jensen also attributes success to her faith, faith in a religious sense, but also faith in each child's ability. "In a poverty level school that's extremely important," she said. "You can never stop believing."

Against long odds

Money affects a person's chances in life. Across the country, poor children often weigh less at birth, are more likely to die in the first year and are more likely to be raised by a single parent.

Unequal schools can increase such disadvantages. A 2006 study on achievement gaps by the Northwest Evaluation Association, an Oregon-based nonprofit focused on school improvement, found students in high-poverty schools tend to grow less academically over a school year than students in middle class schools. They measured students who began at the same level but ended far apart.

Academic studies also find public schools with more poverty tend to have less experienced teachers.

One researcher even set the odds on equal outcomes. Douglas Harris, a professor at Florida State University studying federal accountability last year, found that schools where most students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches are 22 to 89 times less likely than affluent schools to be consistent high-scorers in reading and math.

"There is no dispute that these particular differences are due to student background and not to schools," concluded Harris, "though schools do have an influence over changes that occur after students enter schools."

Average test scores don't reflect the success or failure of any one child. And neither poverty nor a bad school alone can sap the gifts of a smart child.

"I don't have bad schools. That's a misnomer," said Superintendent Ann Roy Moore. "We have schools that need help."

But if a school fails to find the help it needs, a flood of volunteers or the right principal, she said, then average students can lag behind. That's because, when facing large groups, teachers tend to teach toward the middle, said Moore.

And average test scores show exactly where the middle is in each school.

So a good school, just as a stable home life, provides academic advantages.

Finding 'their own way'

"This is an extraordinarily complicated problem," said Dr. John Dimmock in reviewing The Times' data. "It's almost as if each school has to find its own way."

Dimmock, a professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville who once analyzed city test scores for the NAACP, suspects an underlying prejudice, "a class bias," allows some neighborhoods to overlook the needs of schools with more poor students and lower scores.