‘We can still have fun’: Norwalk schools adjust annual computer coding initiative
NORWALK — The city public schools’ annual celebration of coding looks a little different this year, but this doesn’t mean it’s any less fun.
Each December, Norwalk Public Schools recognize Adm. Grace Murray Hopper, a pioneer of computer programming, around her birthday on Dec. 9. During this time, Norwalk schools join those across the globe in celebrating computer science, coding and problem-solving.
At Rowayton Elementary School, the week of coding is normally expanded to a month. This year, it’ll last through February as Library Media Specialist Erin D’Elia works through different grades of students who she sees for two weeks at a time due to COVID.
D’Elia is also traveling to classrooms instead of working out of the media center and
code, can graduate from high school and be ready for college or the workforce.
ESSA is a five-year-old accountability law that replaced No Child Left Behind. It was meant to judge schools on more than a test score. States were invited to come up with a variety of ways to measure student success and assign school ratings.
Connecticut measures 12 indicators in all, ranging from test scores and growth over time, to access to the arts and graduation rates. Each year, schools and districts get scores and labels, like Schools of Distinction or schools put in a “focus” category.
The new federal law had guardrails. In Hysop’s view, clearly not enough.
The new All4Ed report finds that states have dramatically different approaches to carrying out ESSA in the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down schools and last year’s spring testing.
Called “When Equity Is Optional,” the report looked at how ESSA is being carried out in 10 states. In addition to Connecticut, data from Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio and Washington state were examined.
Key findings were that in all 10 states, Black and Latino students are still much more likely to receive a poorly rated education. Black students in Mississippi, for instance, were 17 times more likely to attend an F school than white students.
That “F,” however, translates to more federal funding. In states such as Connecticut, some of the lowest-rated schools were overlooked for any kind of federal support under ESSA, the study said.
In Connecticut, Black and Latino students were about four times as likely to attend low-rated schools than white students. Latino students were 24 percent of students enrolled across all Connecticut schools, but 44 percent of the student populations in low-rated schools.
Connecticut identified 4 percent of its schools for comprehensive or targeted support, the lowest of any state All4Ed analyzed.
Connecticut also identified fewer high schools than any state analyzed. Just one percent of Connecticut high schools were identified for comprehensive support because of low graduation rates, compared to roughly 25 percent of high schools in Arizona, New Mexico, and Washington.
In its index, Connecticut required schools to have a six-year graduation rate below 70 percent for three consecutive years in order to be identified.
Gopalakrishnan argues that is a fairer way to measure.
“ESSA looks for consistent under performance, not a one year blip,” Gopalakrishan said. “We want to help consistently underperforming schools.”
He said Connecticut is working from a federally approved accountability system that does not exist in isolation. There are other programs such as the Commissioner’s Network, School Improvement Grants and a dedicated Turnaround Office in the state Department of Education.
“It is one lever we have,” Gopalakrishnan said. “It is not the only lever.”
Hysop confirms that Connecticut is complying with the federal law but suggested that measures that identify only a handful of schools violates the intent of numerous ESSA provisions meant to ensure support for subgroups.
If Connecticut reconsidered its definition of a consistently underperforming schools or groups of students, more schools would be identified and thus eligible for more funding, she added.
Connecticut receives close to $145 million in Title I funding for schools in high poverty areas and another $10.1 million is to be used only for schools identified under ESSA, according to Hysop.
Gopalakrishnan points out that the state spends about $300 million on school improvement and that 90 percent goes to schools in so-called Alliance Districts — the ones that need the most support.
He adds that Connecticut’s accountability system — in place before ESSA — was one of the models used for the federal law.
Deborah Delisle, president of All4Ed, said that the bottom line to the analysis is that states need to reevaluate accountability systems to better serve students.
“With a new administration coming into office, this is one of the most important issues our country faces in education and will impact an entire generation of students,” Delisle said, referring to President-elect Joe Biden. “This data is a call to action for states to do the hard work now of ensuring that the students hurt the most by this pandemic get what they need to thrive. Our youth deserve the very best we have to offer them now. We need to step up and offer them hope.”
Hysop said with the country still in the midst of a pandemic, states should use the time to use data collected from the report to review accountability and make sure the are capturing all students that need those extra supports.