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Last year, students in the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District tested above the state average on the New York State Regents exam. While only 81% of students statewide scored proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) 93% of J-DCSD achieved a proficient score. But within the district, average scores among white and Black students are stratified.

Where 96% of white students achieved scores deemed proficient in ELA, only 78% of Black students reached the same benchmark.

“We see pretty significant achievement gaps between our Black (students) and our white students,” J-DCSD superintendent Peter Smith said. “So that’s the basis of a lot of the work that we’ve done for many years is to try to close that opportunity gap.”

J-DCSD in recent years has started to direct resources toward improving the success of its Black students. In 2020, the district published a five-year strategic plan highlighting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as a priority. From the time of the plan’s publishing, leaders in the district said they’ve been committed to improving experiences and opportunities for Black students in J-DCSD.

“We need to make sure that we care about our kids and our community, and that we address that,” school board President Lori DeForest said. “We need to make sure all students feel represented, that they feel included, that they’re challenged, that there’s no bias impacting their education.”

Since the creation of its strategic plan, the district has implemented some changes. Two years ago they created a new position in the district, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Equity.

In line with the plan, the district in 2020 implemented the role of Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Equity, which is focused on ensuring the execution of the plan in all areas. Nathan Franz, who currently holds the position, is focused on establishing “appropriate culturally responsive” practices and resources, as well as implementing these values in the district’s curriculum.

The district also held focus groups with Black students and families to understand how to help improve their experience within the district. It also invested in training to help teachers to recognize their internal biases.

Despite these efforts, test scores among Black students fail to improve.

“We are a majority white staff who have been exposed to majority white people for a long time, and that is going to shape what we think is normal and acceptable,” Franz said. “Also just (thinking) more broadly around what it is that school can be for students. What we may see as something that’s different may actually just be a different way of showing the same sort of skills, or understandings that a student may have.”

Inner-city schools comprised largely of Black and brown students have historically been underfunded. In a 2019 report, EdBuild.org found that city school districts received roughly $2,100 less per student than suburban districts.

Compared to rural schools, city schools receive on average $4,000 less per student. But in suburban school districts like J-DCSD, where roughly 70% of students are white, Black and brown students continue to fall behind.

“As far as suburban school districts we’re probably one of the more diverse within our region, which is really scary,” DeForest said. “It doesn’t matter whether we have one percent of a certain population, … every student matters and we should be making sure that we’re meeting the needs of each and every one of our students.”

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Even when Black students are overrepresented within their district, they’ve still faced challenges. The New York City School District, which is over 70% Black and Hispanic, only admitted ten Black students into the Stuyvesant High School – one of the most elite public schools in the city – 2020 freshman class of 760, the New York Times reported.

“I think that there are huge reasons…why these opportunity or achievement gaps exist,” Smith said. “It begins with building connections and feeling safe in school… and that’s not just a physical safety, but that’s a social emotional safety as well as academic safety. Are students willing to take risks, ask questions when they don’t understand material or do they fear being judged or looked at differently.”

Though achievement gaps are a nationwide problem, J-DSCD administrators said, the district wants to acknowledge the issue and continue to tailor the solution to J-DCSD in its attempt to minimize the gap. Its latest undertaking is a district-wide climate survey.

“We are seeing some significant changes that we’re excited about,” Smith said. “We implemented last year a school climate survey, to help us better understand how we’re doing… And I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re going to continue to see some trends upward on feeling more connected, more empowered in school.”

Following its second year conducting the survey, the district released a report on Dec. 19 analyzing the survey’s findings and setting objectives based on the data collected. The report concluded that desired outcomes for the survey include greater engagement and connectedness in school, as well as improved feedback about the district’s communication.

“I think the biggest thing for me is just that we use the data from the survey. Students, families, and staff took the time to share their thoughts about how they feel, so we just have to look at the data and view it as an important piece of information,” Franz said. “We need to use it to then drive some sort of really meaningful change, and then keep engaging with it. Hopefully, we see continuous improvement across those same sets of questions.”

In the future, DeForest hopes to see no difference in academic results among Black and white students at J-DCSD. She said she wants each student to graduate from the district on an even playing field.

“My dream is that there is no difference in numbers and results (and) that every student is able to achieve their maximum potential and their goals,” DeForest said.

Published on January 15, 2023 at 11:50 pm

Contact Shantel: [email protected] | @shantelguzman2