In December, ICSD hosted several “conversations” around the community to discuss the latest edition of the ICSD Equity Report Card. The Equity Report Card measures metrics within the student body, ranging from graduation rates to suspension rates to involvement in co-curricular activities. The report card compares these metrics for students of differing races, economic statuses, and classifications. According to its website, “We will have achieved equity when all measures indicate an absence of disproportionality in participation and achievement in terms of race, class, disability, and gender.” The report card measures progress toward that goal.
This year, ICSD made an effort to include students in the conversation over equity. An event aimed towards teaching students about the report was held at IHS on December 6. Students were shown tools for navigating the website, including how to view trends among particular demographics. Each metric can be viewed for a particular ethnic group, gender, or classification of special education versus general education. Data for each metric is also available to compare free or reduced price lunch (FRPL) students and non-FRPL students. These distinctions can serve as proxies for socioeconomic differences when comparing student outcomes.
The Equity Report Card indicates that in 2017, the latest year for which data is available, graduation rates fell after several years of growth. In 2017, the rate of graduations from high school in four years was only 86 percent. The decline in graduation rates was more pronounced for FRPL students, whose four-year graduation rate went from 87 percent in 2016 to 74.3 percent in 2017, while the rate remained steadier for non-FRPL students. The increased discrepancy between these two groups represents a growing socioeconomic achievement gap.
In addition to the statistics provided, the Equity Report Card includes links to pages detailing the district’s plans for meeting its goals with each metric. Already implemented policies to raise graduation rates include “data-informed decision-making structures” such as strategic reviews of grades and attendance to see who is in need of additional support, as well as the use of a “district data team” to keep students on track to meet graduation requirements.
In 2017, 2.5 percent of all ICSD students received out of school suspensions, an increase from just 1.78 percent in 2016. The disparity between FRPL and non-FRPL students is large: in 2017, 4.97 percent of FRPL students received out of school suspensions, while only 0.83 percent of non-FRPL students did. This means that in that year, an FRPL student was almost 6 times more likely to get suspended than their average non-FRPL counterpart, a significant socioeconomic gap.
As part of efforts to decrease the suspension rates, ICSD lists “restorative justice” as a priority in finding alternatives to suspension. Additionally, a plan called the ICSD Professional Development Framework is being implemented to create a more inclusive district as part of plans to reduce the need for out of school suspensions.
As a metric for attendance, the Equity Report Card measures the rate of “chronic absenteeism,” the number of students missing more than 10 percent of school days in a year. This metric has remained steady over the three years for which it has been measured, as has the persistent gap between FRPL and non-FRPL students. The threshold of 10 percent comes from the New York State Education Department, which has stated that missing that much class can have an effect on academic achievement.
ICSD says it is currently working on ways to identify and intervene with students chronically absent. Additionally, the district lists the creation of more meaningful curriculums as a way to reduce chronic absenteeism.
All data for the previous graphs comes from the Equity Report Card, available on the ICSD website. It can also be accessed at sites.google. com/icsd.k12.ny.us/erc, where statistics are available for other equity metrics as well as for specific racial groups and other classifications.