KSD Data (Demographics)

We will see in the OSPI data below that 80.2 % of teachers in the Kent School District (KSD) are White, and Kent is one of the most diverse districts in the nation. Where are the Black and Brown teachers? In the homes of KSD families somewhere near 138 different languages are spoken. Teachers and all educators are under a great deal of pressure to make sure “all” their students meet the expectations set out in standardized tests. The data below will show that educators need help just to get Black and Brown students, on average, to perform as well as White and Asian students on the tests, discipline, attendance, and other measurements that indicate success in schools. Frankly, teachers, principals, and other educators cannot do it alone. There are ways that families and communities can help. 

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Kent School District

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·       KSD Student Enrollment: How many students were enrolled at the beginning of the school year?  When compared to other data, the total percent of students in the KSD by race and ethnicity can, to some extent, be used to determine how well a student group is performing compared to other groups. It can also be used to determine disparities and areas that need attention or support for improvement. Keep that in mind as you examine the following data. It is interesting that the KSD data from about 40-45 years indicate White students were around 80% of the student population. Look at King County demographics and trends and ask yourself, why and how did that change? Do the research before starting to spend narratives that can’t be supported by concrete evidence. A possible hypothesis might be: “People of color in King County, including many immigrates of color, were deliberately channeled to South King County.” If you want to research or prove this hypothesis, type “King County Mapping” into your browser. Regardless of your research results, consider KSD as one of the most diverse school districts in the nation. Consider it also an opportunity to show the world (in this KSD microcosm) that people from all over the world, “can get along.” Get involved in that, instead of yielding to some politicians and others who would exploit your identity differences rather than bring you together for the common good. Get involved and support your schools. 

·       KSD Student Assessment Summary: What percent of students met grade level standards? Black and Brown students as a group are not performing as well as Asian and White students. We also know from the “School to Prison Pipeline” data that there is a strong correlation between lack of success in school and entering the pipeline to prison. So, what do you do? The easiest thing to do is to paint a target on the back of teachers, principals, the schools, and the system, and then carry on as usual. Before doing that, do a little research. Start by breaking the day down into a 24-hour day. Students are generally in school about 6 hours a day. Give them 8 hours of sleep every night. There are generally 10 hours left in the day. There is research indicating that during that 10-hours, in general, White and Asian students spend about twice as much time or more studying and preparing for school the next day (Use your browser to verify or challenge that statement). If that is the case, perhaps we should look more to parents, community, and low performing students to help close the achievement gap. Thus, doing what is proven to work. Besides having students only 6 hours a day, schools only have them 180 days out of the year, whereas parents and community have them 365 days in the year.  Other research indicate that one of the best indicators of how well a student will perform in school, is what the family and the students do at home to support classroom learning at school. Frankly, this information is obvious from mere observation. Teachers have enough issues as society tends to put too many of it’s problems on educators and the education system. We need students, parents, and community to do their part. Besides the teachers and other educators there are community organizations that can tell you how to help your student improve. In the KSD, Community Network Council (CNC) comes to mind. Thanks to the parents who struggle and do their best, as well as the community organizations who support them and the schools. 

·       Regular Attendance: What percent of students had fewer than 2 absences per month, on average? Here again we find Black and Brown students attendance rate is substantially lower than Asian and White students. Attendance is necessary if what the school and teachers offer academically and socially will be learned. Of course, we can blame the teacher and the school, but after decades of trying to close the achievement, not just in Kent, but across the nation, it’s far past time to direct a heck of a lot more attention where it belongs, to help educators help Black and Brown students. That attention should go to Black and Brown students themselves, their parents, their communities. We need to do our part, even it means learning how to help. Teachers and schools can’t do it without home and community support.

·       Student Growth: How has student learning grown? The Race and Ethnicity measurement appears to be consistent with the other measurements, showing Black and Brown students not doing as well when compared to White and Asian students. Rather than raising the issue of intellect to account for these disparities at this point, the evidence would suggest it is a matter individual students applying themselves, and lack of support for the classroom learning at home and in the community. Consider the notion that children become good at what they practice. What do they practice when they come home from school or while in the community every day? Do they spend a substantial amount of time studying? If not, provide structures for them to do so, restrict television and other forms of entertainment, provide a space in the home for studying, and let them know you are pleased and give positive feedback when they use  good study habits. There is much more parents can do, all of which only require the will to do so. Be sure to contact the teacher either online or in person to see how your student is doing, long before report cards come out.

·       Discipline Rate: What percent of students are excluded in response to a behavioral violation? Now we come upon a measurement where Black and Brown students have higher percentages in spite of all the work that has been done to reduce excluding students in general, and, with major focus on reducing the exclusion of Black and Brown students from class. In fact, to some extent educators feel their hands are tied in terms of discipline because of new discipline policies. Yet, the KSD schools I have entered in the past few years are clean inside and out, orderly, and productive. Keep in mind, it’s always fair to inquire when disparities are noticed in any of the measurements and reports.  

·       Exclusion Days Rate: What percent of students are excluded in response to a behavior violation?  Ditto.

·       KSD Grade On Track ninth Grade: it appears a much larger number of Asian and White students were on track, indicating they passed all their courses in the 9^th grade.

·       Graduation: What percentage of students graduated in 4 years? Standing alone these percentages look great compared to other Black and Brown student performance indicators. The main question here would be, how do you explain that? Between 9^th grade and graduation were there a lot of excellent Interventions? Did a lot of Black and Brown students go to other districts or find better programs in the district? Be certain not to create any narratives without concrete evidence to back it up, and even though every parent’s child is important, this data looks at populations of students.

·       Classroom Teachers by Demographics: What is the percent of classroom teachers by demographics? A very interesting point to make about this data is that 72.6 % of classroom teachers in the KSD are female and 80.8% of all the teachers are White, in a district where only 27.6% of students are White. I used to be among the strongest advocates for having a school’s and/or district’s teacher demographics reflect the demographics of the population they serve. However, it doesn’t appear Black and Brown college graduates have in large numbers chosen education as a career, at least in the Pacific Northwes. As we speak, White women remain the predominant group choosing education as a career and many are choosing to continuing serve in zip codes similar to some of those in the KSD. One thing I learned over the years is to support the people who want to serve the community’s children, now. They need student, parent, and community support, as do “all” educators.