Running Head: DATA ANALYSIS 1

Data Analysis
Sara Palmosina
Old Dominion University
DATA ANALYSIS

2
1. Describe the enrollment at
each school.

As demonstrated by the table to
the right, the populations of the
schools are relatively similar
when compared by ethnic
groups. All four schools have a
very large population of black
students, making up nearly two-
thirds of each student body. The
next largest ethnic group is white
students, making up about one-
fourth of each student body. The
remainders of the populations are
a sprinkling of various ethnic
groups, Asian students holding a
small majority over these lower
concentrated groups.



The special education population of the four schools is also quite similar. Between 10-17% of
each schools population receives
Special Education services, the
majority of this portion falling
under the category of Specific
Learning Disability, (SLD).
With almost 10% of its
population in this category,
Levenworth claims the high spot
in the SLD category, as well as
the largest population of special
education recipients.


The largest difference between the four schools is in their populations of economically
disadvantaged students. Well over
half of each student body comes from
an economically disadvantaged home,
San Quentin claiming the highest rate,
with about 66% of its population
qualifying as economically
disadvantaged.
Population of Schools by Ethnicity
Population receiving Special Education Services

Economically Disadvantaged Population

DATA ANALYSIS

3
2. Describe the number and percentage of
students passing the 12-13 Math SOL at
each school.

Ethnicity

The tables on this page show the performance of
students, according to ethnicity, on the 2012-
2013 Math SOL. The table to the right shows
the racial breakdown of students in each of the
four schools. There is a great majority of black
students in each population, rivaled only by a
rather large number of white students, as the
remainder of each population is made up of only
a handful of students representing other
ethnicities.

To pass the Math SOL, a student must get a
score of 400 or greater. The tables below show the pass rate of each group on the 2012-2013
SOL test in number and percentage, respectively. Although neither school looks to be in good
standing academically, it is important to look further into the data. Concentrating solely on the
pass rate in raw numbers, one might assume the ratio of students passing per ethnic group was
relatively similar to the ratio in the population breakdown. Nevertheless, there are a few things
to point out. First of all, when looking at the pass rate in percentage form, the random
scatterings of 100% are slightly misleading, as some of those results represent ethnic groups with
a very small number of students. More notable, however, is the gap between passing white
students and passing black students. San Quentin holds the smallest gap of 14% between passing
white and black students and Levenworth holds the largest at 19%. These percentages indicate a
need for further investigation into teaching methods and greater support of these ethnic groups to
lessen the achievement gap in upcoming years. It might also prove helpful to look into average
scores of each of the ethnic groups to see if the gap between actual scores is equally large.


Population by Ethnicity (#)

Math SOL Pass Rate by Ethnicity (%)


Math SOL Pass Rate by Ethnicity (#)


DATA ANALYSIS

4
Gender

With the exception of Rikers, the included
schools have a more heavy population of male
students. Although it may not seem like much
in a school of close to four hundred students,
San Quentin boasts the largest difference with
forty-six more males than females.

In terms of Math SOL pass rates, however, the
males and females in each school seem to
perform rather evenly. In all four schools, the
difference in pass rates between male and
female students was lower than 7%. Just as
with the pass rate by ethnicity, it would be
interesting to find the average score of both
genders to see if they are just as close in
number, or if there is a greater difference than is
indicated by simple pass rates.


Population by Gender (#)

Math SOL Pass Rate by Gender (#)


Math SOL Pass Rate by Gender (%)

DATA ANALYSIS

5
Economic Disadvantage

All four schools have a large number of
economically disadvantaged students. In
fact, economically disadvantaged students
make up close to two-thirds of each schools
student body.

When taking looking closer at this data, a
huge deficiency is evident. The last table on
this page shows the Math SOL pass rate by
economic disadvantage. There is a at least a
16% difference between the percentage of
students in economic standing who passed
the Math SOL and the percentage of
economically disadvantaged students who
passed. This data illustrates a topic of much
discussion in the world of education, as
school leaders, teachers, and administrators
struggle to close this achievement gap.
Some attribute the gap to a lack of
educational stimulation beyond the school,
while others attribute it to students lacking
the most basic Maslows hierarchy of needs.
It is most important, however, to focus less
on the reason and more on the supports
offered and available to economically disadvantaged students in hopes of helping them find
academic success despite economic circumstance.

Population of Economic Disadvantage (#)

Math SOL Pass Rate of Economic
Disadvantage (#)

Math SOL Pass Rate of Economic
Disadvantage (%)

DATA ANALYSIS

6
Special Education

The performance of special education students
is another major focus in schools today. All
four schools have a similar portion of the
student population receiving special education
services. In each school, the majority of
students receive services for a Specific
Learning Disability, (SLD), and the next
largest group is that of students receiving
services for Other Health Impairment, (OHI).

The two tables below show the number and
percentage of students receiving special education services and passing the Math SOL. Although
the percentages seem alarming, it is important to remember that the population size is much
smaller than that of the entire school building. One student in a special education can represent a
whole population set. Nonetheless, it is equally important not to downplay results. 25-50% pass
rates are definitely statistics of note, so there is a huge need in each school to look into different
ways of supporting students with special needs in preparation for and taking of standardized
testing.
Population of Special Education
Students (#)

Math SOL Pass Rate of Special
Education Students (%)

Math SOL Pass Rate of Special
Education Students (#)

DATA ANALYSIS

7

3. Describe the number and percentage of
students passing the 12-13 English SOL at
each school.

Ethnicity

To pass the Reading SOL, a student must get a
score of 400 or greater. The tables below show
the pass rate of each group on the 2012-2013
SOL test in number and percentage,
respectively. These tables look relatively
similar to the tables showing the Math SOL pass
rates sorted in the same fashion. Although there
looks to be little consistency across the schools,
it is important to remember that the random
100% rates scattered amongst the extremely low
rates of 40% signify ethnic populations with
only a few representatives in the school. Nevertheless there is a noticeable achievement gap
between the largest ethnic groups in the school. Just as with the Math SOL, the biggest
achievement gap occurs between the white and black populations. With a difference of about
14% between passing black students and passing white students, Rikers boasts the smallest gap.
Just as in math, Levenworth holds the largest achievement gap with a 22% difference between
black and white passing population. Although there are groups with even bigger differences, the
gaps between white and black students are of extreme significance, as they represent the largest
portion of the school student body.




Reading SOL Pass Rate by Ethnicity (%)

Reading SOL Pass Rate by Ethnicity (#)


Population by Ethnicity (#)

DATA ANALYSIS

8
Gender

These tables show the pass rates of students who
took and passed the 2012-2013 Reading SOL, as
sorted by gender. Although the differences
between the gender groups are relatively small,
one observation of note is that, in all four
schools, the females outperformed the males.
Nonetheless, the numbers show, in the area of
reading, that there is no major achievement gap
between genders.

Population by Gender (#)

Reading SOL Pass Rate by Gender (#)


Reading SOL Pass Rate by Gender (%)

DATA ANALYSIS

9
Economic Disadvantage

The tables to the right display the pass
rates of students passing the Reading SOL
as separated by economic status. Just as in
math, there is a significant gap between
the pass rate of economically
disadvantages students passing the
Reading SOL as compared to those
students not economically disadvantaged.
All four schools had achievement gaps
over 20% between their populations of
economically disadvantaged and non-
disadvantaged students. San Quentin has
one of the largest pass rates among
students that are not economically
disadvantages, but has the lowest pass rate
of students that are economically
disadvantaged, making its gap of 29% the
largest of all four schools.

Reading is a critical skill that must be
mastered to achieve in all areas of life.
Consequently, these large gaps are
indicators that there is a great need for
reading support for students of
economically disadvantaged families. It is
also feasible to say that if this gap was
decreased and students were performing
better on reading tests, they could also do better in other subjects as well.

Population of Economic Disadvantage (#)

Reading SOL Pass Rate of Economic
Disadvantage (#)

Reading SOL Pass Rate of Economic
Disadvantage (%)

DATA ANALYSIS

10
Special Education

The tables on this page show the pass rate of
special education students on the 2012-2013
Reading SOL. One notable difference between
this data and the Math SOL data for special
education students is that the reading pass rates
are much lower overall. Particularly in the
groups of OHI students and SLD students, the
areas of largest special education concentration,
pass rates well below those indicated in the
tables describing math, some even reaching
single digits. These generally low pass rates
indicate a great need for additional support for all special education students in the area of
reading.
Population of Special Education
Students (#)

Reading SOL Pass Rate of Special
Education Students (%)

Reading SOL Pass Rate of Special
Education Students (#)

DATA ANALYSIS

11
4. Describe the relationship between various data measures using correlation coefficients.
What do you make of the values? Did any of them surprise you in any way?

Below are the correlation coefficients for various measurements taken from each school.

Math Correlations
Math Averages and Math Benchmarks
0.59121416
Math Averages and Math SOL Scores
0.583195439
Math Benchmarks and Math SOL Scores
0.792648554

The correlations above show that there is a definite correlation between math class
average, math benchmarks, and math SOLs. In particular, math averages have a notable
correlation with math benchmark scores and Math SOL scores, calculates at 0.59 and 0.58
respectively. However, the strongest correlation is between math benchmark scores and
Math SOL scores. With a correlation coefficient of 0.79, the benchmarks meet their
intended purpose of gauging a students readiness to perform on the associated SOL.


Reading Correlations
Language Arts Averages and Language Arts Benchmarks
0.406070643
Language Arts Averages and Language Arts SOL Scores
0.41283298
Language Arts Benchmarks and Language Arts SOL Scores
0.78556332

As evident from the correlation coefficients above, language arts averages have little
correlation with either language arts benchmark or Language Arts SOL scores.
Nonetheless, the language arts benchmark mimics the math with its strong correlation
coefficient of 0.78, indicating that the benchmark is a good gauge of student performance
on grade level Language Arts SOLs.


Attendance Correlations
Attendance and Math Averages
0.299669062
Attendance and Language Arts Averages
0.285440463
Attendance and SOL Scores in Math
0.211432255
Attendance and SOL Scores in Language Arts
0.183327808

Unlike the previous tables, there is minimal correlation between attendance and performance on
class averages and grade level SOLs.

DATA ANALYSIS

12
5. What percentage of students took the student climate survey at each school? Was the
sample similar in makeup to the overall enrollment at the school? Describe any
differences.

The table below shows the numbers and percentages of each schools student body that
completed the 2012-2013 Climate Survey.

Climate Survey Participation
School Alcatraz Levenworth Rikers San Quentin
Total Number in Student Body 389 387 392 398
Number of Students
Completing Climate Survey
267 279 266 273
Percentage of Student Body
Completing Climate Survey
69% 72% 68% 71%

As the table shows, each school had a significant number of students complete the climate
survey. Representing over two-thirds of each population, the sample size is large enough to
be representative of the overall enrollment of the school.

The tables below show a comparison of the racial distribution of the population of one of the
schools in comparison to the population of students completing the climate survey. Both the
population of the entire student body of Alcatraz and the population of students completing
the Climate Survey show relatively similar percentages of each ethnic group. Data could be
analyzed further to see that the sample completing the Climate Survey was similar in make-
up according to gender, special education population, and economic status.

Population of Alcatraz
Completing Climate Survey

Population of Alcatraz

DATA ANALYSIS

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6. Compare the responses of students (% agree and strongly agree) on each of the 6
survey questions by school. Are there any notable trends or differences between
schools?

A sample of students at each school completed a school Climate Survey. Below are the
collected responses for each.

Climate Survey Question
This chart is surprising in the
number of responses that each
school collected stating that
students are rarely challenged at
school. For the relatively low pass
rates at each school on both Math
and Language Arts SOLs, it is
shocking that such a large number
of students do not feel as if they are
challenged enough in school.
I am challenged by the work at school.

The responses in this chart are
relatively similar across the board.
Nothing is surprising; except for the
fairly large number of students that
say teachers rarely give extra
help. Also interesting is the larger
number of students that chose not to
respond to the question.
My teachers give me extra help when I need it.

The numbers of students responding
rarely and sometimes to this
question fluctuates more than any of
the other numbers. These numbers
are slightly shocking in relationship
to the data-driven world education
has become. It is important for
students to understand whether or
not their performance is of quality
or is in need of improvement.
There should be many more
usually and always responses.
My teachers tell me how well I do on my assignments
and tests.

DATA ANALYSIS

14

Climate Survey Question
Although San Quentin falls a little low
in the agree column, the schools 32%
of responses of strongly agree is much
higher than that of any of the other
schools. If combining the two measures,
however, Levenworth trumps San
Quentin with 77% of responses of either
agree or strongly agree. It is
obvious that both of these schools do a
good job at creating an environment that
is safe for teachers and students alike.
My school provides a safe environment for teaching
and learning.

At first glance, this data shows a rather
even spread of responses. When
combining positive and negative
responses, always and usually
versus rarely and never, it seems
that San Quentin and Alcatraz may need
to increase support and care offered to
students.
The adults in my school are caring and supportive.

It is refreshing to see that the majority of
students selected either agree or
strongly agree when responding to this
statement of I like my school. Most
shocking, however, is the number of
dont know responses. Such a simple
question seems to warrant a simple
answer; nevertheless, a large number of
students chose to not favor the positive
or negative side. These responses
indicate a need to improve something in
the school to make it memorable and
meaningful before these students teeter
to the negative side of the statement.
I like my school.