ONLY 13% OF BLACK STUDENTS ARE PROFICIENT IN MATH, YET ROCKWOOD TEACHERS ARE TOLD TO FOCUS ON HOW KIDS FEEL
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| Leaked photo from professional development Feb 2022. |
In case you missed it, Rockwood teachers have leaked screenshots of diversity training THREE TIMES this school year.
They are uncomfortable with approaches that Rockwood says they need in order for ALL students to feel welcome at school, and for ALL students to have equitable access to education.
The approaches focus on race and identity groups.
Example:
Teachers were told to discuss how young, white, Christian males have the most privilege, and, therefore, "...do not have to be conscious about how the rest of the world sees them."
*White students' scores across the district have dropped the most, according to standardized test results in Missouri's Assessment Program (MAP).
*Black students continue to score lower than every other racial group in Rockwood, in every core subject, every year. That ranking is reflected in all the graphics below.
DROPPING SCORES, BY SUBJECT
Scores dropped across the district in math more than the other core subjects.
ELA
Of note:
Every racial group dropped.
Just 13% of Black students are proficient or above.
White and Multiracial students have lost the most; 12 and 11 points.
Just 24% of Black students are proficient or above.
Again, White and Multiracial students' scores dropped the most.
Many parents have been saying for months that they want teachers to focus on academics instead of privilege. Hear from them in this link.
DATA DISCLAIMER
2018 is not included in the science graphic because DESE did not include science scores in its data that year. Instead, it included social studies.
We didn't include social studies, because it wasn't a fair comparison. In 2018, the only data available was for high schools, and it wasn't included again until 2021.
You can repeat our work by visiting DESE.COM and comparing the spreadsheets.
Here's the 2021 proficiency data for social studies on its own because no like comparison was available:
Note about all the graphics:
Here's DESE's data on all races (total students) combined across the district, and how much things have dropped since 2018, before Covid.
As stated above, social studies data only showed up for high schools.
DESE (Missouri's Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education) offers disclaimers about how scores can't always be compared from one year to the next for various reasons, but, employees who manage the data told us: regardless, these numbers represent how they measured students each year, for that year.
Also note: Because of Covid, these tests weren't administered in 2020.
Another Disclaimer:
We did not include the American Indian/Alaska Native racial group because too many fields didn't have values in DESE's data. It looks like that group makes up about .3% (zero point 3%) of Rockwood's student population. We are following up with DESE.
We did not include the American Indian/Alaska Native racial group because too many fields didn't have values in DESE's data. It looks like that group makes up about .3% (zero point 3%) of Rockwood's student population. We are following up with DESE.
WHY
Why is Rockwood's focus on skin color and gender, when scores are struggling?
Why is Rockwood's focus on skin color and gender, when scores are struggling?
Rockwood's "The Way Forward" plan.
It lays out the official emphasis on diversity and equity.