FYI from BSF, 04.09.21

Some things we have read through recently...

Exam Results

On Tuesday, at Boston’s Moakley Courthouse, there was a hearing concerning the city’s one-year plan to admit students to the three Boston exam schools using only grades (no test) and preferences by zip code.  We wrote about the plan in the fall.  Summaries of the court hearing here, here, and here.  

Plaintiffs, the Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence, argued the plan limits access to exam schools by using race as a factor.  The defendants, BPS joined by civil rights groups, argued the plan aims to create socioeconomic diversity at the schools.  The Court, essentially, will have to decide if the admissions process passes constitutional muster relative to the 14th Amendment.

The presiding judge, William Young, offered a timely response, but that does not mean a speedy resolution.  Judge Young may require additional hearings.  Or he could rule, and either party could appeal.  

Despite this process beginning in October, 2020, thousands of families and students have no information on what next year holds for them.

However, the general public now has information it did not have before.  The court documents included data that had never been released by the city on exam school applications and invitations.  You can pore through the grainy pdf tables yourself, but we pulled up a few big insights from the data for you.
 

1) It appears initiatives to increase access for exam school applicants are working.  Last year, the exam school applicant pool was very similar to BPS enrollment by race.

2) However, that improved access did not translate to actual invitations.

3) Why? By racial group, in 2020 there was a wide variance in the percent of students receiving an invitation.

4) The overwhelming percentage of students invited to attend exam schools over the past three years were from BPS (62.7%), rather than non-BPS schools (37.3%).

One would naturally go next to the school level, but the data is incomplete; many fields are recorded just as “below 10”, meaning an accurate analysis is not possible.

There are some things to notice. Some schools report zero invitations, while others report 50 or more. Invitations by school, race, and neighborhood appear inextricably linked. The neighborhoods with the most invitations - Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and West Roxbury - appear to have a school or cluster of schools that drive their invitations. If there are additional hearings, we would expect more data on this topic, given neighborhood preference is central to the proposed admission process.

Reams of paper and analysis. Perhaps hundreds of lawyers and organizations engaged. Enrollment in the three exam schools in Boston is two judicial opinions away from going to the Supreme Court.

What does this say about the culture of our city, about the quality of high schools (real or perceived), or about however we choose to define equity? This case concerns the assignment of about 800 rising 7th graders. Yet, there are approximately 25,000 children in grades 7-12 in schools in Boston.

Don't those children deserve the same, if not more, more attention?

Don't their schools deserve, the same, if not more, scrutiny?

Quality and diversity should be goals for all of our secondary schools, not just three of them.

Reopening in Boston, MA, and Beyond

Boston School Committee met Wednesday, and among other things, discussed plans to reopen for five days of in-person learning on April 26th. BPS will be doing that with new people leading operations and academics, as central office was reorganized again last week.

Following the state mandate, lots of kids and educators across Massachusetts went back to more in-person learning this week, but reported COVID-19 cases were down overall. Data for school-based reporting for the year is plotted here.

As Massachusetts schools start to plan for next year, they can count on additional state funding and initial data indicates teacher retention is not yet an issue.

Research indicates that reopening schools increases risk of serious infection in families by about 0.003%. That is weighed against other concerns and risks, such as students’ mental health.

As seen in the data from Boston School Committee (page 2), even though schools are reopening around the country, that does not necessarily mean all families are going back.

Other Matters

Colleges saw a surge in first-generation applicants - but what were the admission figures? Northeastern is one of the first colleges to require students to be vaccinated to return to campus.

An educator and student lens on the trial of Derek Chauvin and race and racism in school.