Comparing School District Alief Essay Example

can see in Figure 2 below the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American, and White in Alief ISD did not significantly change since 2007. On the other hand, there is a more accentuate change observable for Hispanic and African American students. We can see a 7% increase for Hispanic students whereas there is a 9% decrease for African American students.

Figure 2: Percent of student body by ethnicity between 2007 and 2010

3. How difficult is the academic challenge facing the district? Write a paragraph in which you compare and contrast district students with students statewide in terms of academic risk factors. Based on the data, would you conclude that the district faces a particularly challenging academic environment or not? Explain. (15 pts.)

As clearly visible in figure 3 below, students from Alief ISD are much more exposed to academic risk factors than the rest of their fellow comrades statewide. In fact they are 2.5 times more likely to be economically disabled or to be at risk, and almost 3 times more likely to have limited English proficiency. Based on this data, we can say that this district faces a particularly challenging academic environment.

Figure 3: Percent of student body by risk factor. (2010)

4. How many high-school freshmen are enrolled in the district? How many seniors? What is the ratio of seniors to freshmen in the district? How does that ratio compare with the statewide ratio of seniors to freshmen? (I am asking this question because it is a back door way of measuring the dropout rate and, I think, a more accurate way than the state’s official statistics.)

(10 pts.)

There are 3,779 high-school freshmen enrolled in Alief ISD, however we find only 2,253 students in senior year. Statewide, 391,800 are enrolled as high-school freshmen and only 283,624 are enrolled as seniors. In other words, the ratio of seniors to freshmen in the district is 2 253:3 779, and the same ratio statewide is 35 453:48 975. By comparing the ratio we can conclude that the dropout rate is slightly higher statewide than in the Alief District. Which is the opposite from what the Texas Tribune data shows; it shows in fact that the dropout rate between high-school freshmen and high-school seniors is 3.5 in Alief ISD while it is only 2.9 statewide.

5. How do you rate the academic performance of the district? Write a paragraph in which you compare and contrast the academic performance of district students with students statewide. Use several of the measures given on the website, discussing why each is important. Discuss the performance of the district in light of the data discussed in question 3 above. (15 pts.)

There is many data to crunch so let’s start with a direct comparison of passing percentages of three major tests. We will use TAKS test scores as well as ACT scores and SAT scores.

Figure 4: Passing rate by test. (2010) Each and every one of those tests is important for the college career, and even if we notice a slightly lower passing rate per test for Alief ISD students in comparison to students who passed the same test statewide there is additional data to take into consideration. When we compare graduation rates Alief District

students score at 80.8% and statewide students at 84.3%. There is not much of a difference. Moreover, the percentage of graduating students who take advanced courses is almost two times higher for Alief ISD students than for students statewide. With this information in mind and knowing the fact that Alief ISD students are more exposed to academic risk factors we can infer that Alief District students perform a little better than one would have expected. 6. How do you rate the quality of the district’s faculty and staff? Write a paragraph comparing the strength of district personnel with statewide averages using data found in the database. Be sure to identify the measures that you consider most appropriate for assessing the quality of faculty and staff. (15 pts.)

It is very hard to quantify the quality of faculty and staff. Nonetheless, looking at the data you realize that statewide 63% of the teachers have more than 6 years of experience compared to 55% in Alief District. The fact that the district teachers earn on average $3720 more than their statewide counter-parts is justifiable with the fact that they are in higher academic risk district with stronger minorities (figure 3). But looking at the passing rate (figure 4), and considering the variability of the data, one must acknowledge that the faculty and staff are doing a good work with the students because with less experience and more difficulty they are getting closer to the statewide passing rate.

7. How does district spending compare with spending in districts statewide? Does the district spend more money per student than the state average or less money per student?

Write a paragraph in which you compare and contrast district expenditures with the statewide average using the data reported at the website. You should note any significant variations in spending on the various spending categories listed. (15 pts.)

Spending per student in Alief District is on $120 higher than the statewide average, but looking deeper we notice that Alief District spend $321 less per student for regular program, $105 less for career and technical program, $93 less for athletics program, and 46% (about $47 on average) less for gifted and talented students program. On the other hand, Alief ISD spend 35% more than the other districts statewide on bilingual and other programs, which is explainable due to the fact that Asians and Hispanics account for more than about 60% of the districts demographic profile. We also note that even if the expenditure per student by school function is 1.5% greater statewide than in this particular district, the actual expenditure reserved for instruction purposes is 5% higher in Alief District.

8. Assume that you are a parent considering purchasing a home in the district. Would you be comfortable having your children attend its schools? Write a paragraph giving your overall evaluation of the district based on the data found at the website. (10 pts.)

Based on the date found on the website I infer that the teachers in the district are slightly disadvantaged and less experienced but their students still manage to get respectable scores. The teachers have higher salaries and the expenditure reserved for instruction purposes are greater than the statewide average. Students tend to perform less than the statewide average but

the passing rates are getting higher. But, Alief district students are also at a higher academic risk than average. In conclusion, even if Alief ISD would not be my first choice; if I had to buy a home in the district I would be fairly comfortable having my children attend its school hoping for a better future.