Assessing educational disparaties

Sam Abella ’24 Opinions Editor

In the previous years’ Pennsylvania Standardized Student Assessments (PSSAs), the number of students across the state that received a proficient score was low, declining from previous years. According to the PA Future Ready Index, a database providing scores and demographics of PA students, highschoolers achieved 51.4% language arts and literature profciency and 35.7% algebraic mathematics profciency. LM students performed impressively well relative to the statewide results in the previous school year. Far exceeding standards, 94.7% and 79.8% of LM students scored a profcient mark in English and math assessments, respectively. However, these numbers fail to tell the whole story.

When the data is subdivided by demographics, the numbers reveal racial disparities in the test scores. Focusing on the English exam, the scores from the white and Asian students from our school are similar. White students achieved 96.4% profciency, while Asians recorded 95.8%. Hispanics followed with 91.7% profciency on the test and Black students lagged behind, with 80% achieving profciency.

The math test data reveals this unfortunate trend to a further degree. LM Asian students topped the scores, with 93.9% of students achieving profciency, and white students fnished with 86.4% profciency.

Hispanic and Black students had signifcant diferences in scores in comparison to Asian and white students, logging only 60.9% and 33.3% respectively. In addition, both Hispanic and Black students saw drops from the previous year, indicating worsening racial disparities with regard to the test scores.

Another notable difference observed was the ways in which economic realities contributed to scores, as they represent major factors in academic performance. Different financial situations greatly affect whether students have adequate materials, books, computers, stable internet access, and other resources to facilitate learning.

However, with the generous funding our school receives, economic disadvantage seems to have less of an impact at LM than at other schools. For instance, while 80.6% of LM’s economically disadvantaged students scored proficient on the Keystone exams, only 2.4% at Overbrook High School achieved this level. The difference is that Overbrook High School is 99%

A new future for Oakwell

Olivia

Over the past several months, LMSD’s use of the Oakwell property has remained a major concern of the township. It has become a battle between School Board members planning to use the space for fields and environmentalists advocating for the preservation of the tree population. Recently, however, the School Board seems to be reconsidering their original plan for Oakwell.

LMSD’s initial plan was to cut down over 450 trees on the Oakwell property to build a baseball and softball feld as well as two auxiliary multi-sport felds. To ease the feld planning process, the school district divided the property in two sections, the front and back. The front section contains about 500 trees and was the proposed location for the baseball and softball felds. The back section of Oakwell contains around 100-150 trees and was the intended site for the auxiliary felds. To make enough room for all four felds, over 400 trees would need to be cut down. Some local citizens accepted this decision because they want Black Rock students to have an accessible place to play school sports. Some environmentalists, however, expressed outrage over the district’s plan due to its potential to add to the vicious cycle of global warming and climate change.

On January 11, former LMSD Superin tendent and current PA Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid Mumin met with LM’s Environmental Club to discuss the future for Oakwell as he left the district. Mumin came back with new ideas for the future of BRMS athletics and the environment. Upon further consideration, the School Board decided that their original plan is not wise for the district and cutting down 400+ trees is excessive. To avoid jeopardizing Black Rock athletics and the planet, the Board has been working on a compromise. The auxiliary felds are still needed and would be built at Oakwell under the new plan. However, the baseball and softball felds are no longer a necessity on the Oakwell property. Instead, the school has been looking to partner with the owners of existing felds to provide students at the new middle school a place to play. This is how LMHS and BCMS ofer their baseball and softball programs, and it has worked well for those teams. The school would not own the felds, but economically disadvantaged, and is not able to provide the resources that LM can. students would be given access to use them similar to how LM boys’ baseball plays at South Ardmore Park. Haverford Township, Lower Merion Township, and LMSD have announced an agreement that they formed that will allow BRMS students to practice at the Polo Field in Haverford Township. At the moment, this agreement is only tentative, however, some feel this decision is a huge breakthrough for the future of Oakwell.

Multiple factors present as explanations for these diferences. LM is predominately white (65.0%), and has three minority groups largely making up the rest of the student body: Asians (10.9%), Blacks (12.0%), and Hispanics (5.8%). There are multiple potential explanations for the imbalance. Perhaps LM minority students are not receiving the educational support they need. Another possibility might be the economic differences within racial groups play a major factor that is not shown in the available data, as the demographics of those considered economically disadvantaged are not available.

LM is not the only school experiencing this trend. Schools across the country have begun to observe the racial disparities in both standardized test performance and cumulative GPA. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports the following for average GPAs on a 4.0 scale across U.S. high schools: Asian (3.26), white (3.09), Hispanic (2.84), Black (2.69). Even in our well-funded and progressive school, national data remains consistent with our test scores. It would be important to know if GPA averages at LM track with the national data, but this information is not available.

Taken together, the local and national data suggest that high schools could put more efort into understanding and rectifying racial disparities. According to the National Library of Medicine, “evidence consistently suggests that schools can play an active role in the provision of opportunities for social mobility or in the exacerbation of social inequality, depending on how they are structured.” LM has taken recent strides however to promote educational equity. The district hired Shawanna James-Coles to be the new Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Director back in April. LMSD has recently also introduced initiatives and practices to close the educational equity gap. This includes the District’s Equity Policy, which will be conducted through January 2023.

It is no secret that school districts across America have struggled to close the gap in grades amongst different races. Clearly, LM and LMSD emphasize the need for educational equity. Will our new initiatives help to solve the problem, or will the cycle be perpetuated? That is left to be determined.

At one of the recent School Board meetings concerning Oakwell, the heads of LM Environmental Club, Noa Fohrer ’23 and Willa Godfrey ’24, and the heads of LM’s SAGE, Julia Dubnof ’23 and Sam Donagi ’25, handed the board a proposal, entitled Action Center for Organizing Resillience and Natural Sustainability Education (ACORNSE), that they had created with the help of both clubs’ members. The ACORNSE proposal included the use of the Oakwell property to educate students on the environment and sustainability rather than the initial designation of the property for fields. As a result of the student persuasion, the school board is planning on turning Oakwell’s greenhouse into an educational center. Fohrer reflected on this decision, “I feel so proud with how far this movement has come in such a short time, and am grateful the Board modified their original plans after taking our proposal into consideration. However, I believe there is still much that can be done. We will continue to fight for our vision until we sit down with all members of the board agreeing upon a compromise. It emboldens me to see the change we have influenced within our community, and I’m excited to continue pushing forward on this movement with my peers!” The persistent students of LMSD were integral in sparking the changed role of the Oakwell property.

These ideas and plans regarding Oakwell are very new. The logistics and legal aspects are still under discussion, so nothing is final, and information is subjected to change. A particular issue that is still being debated is parking and where buses will drop of students at Oakwell for sports practice. Such decisions still need to be considered, but more information is expected to be discussed and revealed to LMSD community members at upcoming School Board meetings.

Ardmore to Harrisburg

Continued from ARDMORE TO HARRISBURG on page

The district moved quickly in nominating the former Assistant to the Superintendent for District Administration, Megan Shafer, to the position of Acting Superintendent. In the January 23 board meeting, Shafer was confirmed by unanimous decision to the position of Acting Superintendent. Shafer expressed honor and gratitude for her selection. “I believe deeply in the value of public education and I am honored to lead a team of over 1,500 people dedicated to supporting all students at the highest level,” she commented. Prior to her time in LMSD, Shafer worked with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights while taking various positions in education along with labor and employment law. As a part of LMSD, Shafer has spent time as the Director of Human Resources and Senior Director of Policy, Personnel, and School Programs. Following her selection to the role, Shafer stated, “I’ve put a lot of my heart into Lower Merion School District.” Her various roles in LMSD have offered insight into the character of the district. “In serving in various capacities over the past 10+ years, I’ve seen the power of teamwork and our collective resilience through challenging times,” Shafer acknowledged.

While her appointment to the position is merely temporary, Shafer will definitely aim to provide security and consistency for the district. She offered, “My immediate goal is to provide steady