Expanding Student Opportunities: Prime 6 Program Review, Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada
Summary
The Clark County school district promised the leaders of the West Las Vegas region of the “Prime Six schools,” which includes important areas of African American settlement, that it would make a serious effort to provide equal education for students in those schools. In spite of substantial investments over the years, the results have been disappointing. Because of this, the District took the unusual step of asking for an independent assessment of the area’s trends in population, educational choice and educational success. District officials produced the data we requested for this task and made no attempt to control this report. They should be commended for risking an outside evaluation of a very sensitive subject. Too often districts wait until problems become massive and the community becomes polarized before seriously recognizing a problem. When this data was initially presented to the district’s senior staff by our research team, with the participation of two national experts on these issues, Professor Robert Peterkin of Harvard and Professor William Trent of the University of Illinois, we were all impressed by the frank and wide-ranging discussion by the district’s top administrators concerning the need to find ways to produce better results.
All of the schools in Prime Six have populations that are very poor with virtually no students whose family income is above the free lunch level; there are almost no white students attending these schools. Across the country, there are a handful of remarkable schools that manage to produce high achievement in the face of all the problems of intense, isolated and persistent poverty. But the vast majority of such schools perform poorly because the children come to kindergarten far behind, many are lacking basic essentials at home, health care is inadequate, the families often face involuntary moves or even homelessness, and experienced teachers typically leave such schools, which are often threatened by state and federal sanctions. None of the Prime Six schools are among those rare “break-the-mold” schools that produce strong results in the face of such entrenched problems. Most Prime Six schools have failed to meet the goals of NCLB.
Key Findings
District-wide School Population Change by Race/Ethnicity, 1987/88- 2006/07:
- The number of students enrolled in Clark County School District (CCSD) schools went from 100,027 students in 19s87/88 to 303,448 students in 2006/07, an increase of 303% in the number of students served.
- Between 1987/88 and 2006/07 White students made up a declining share of CCSD enrollment, while Latino students made up an increasing share of enrollment.
- Between 1987/88 and 2006/07 African-American students comprised a fairly constant share of 14%-15% of total CCSD enrollment.
Demographics of Prime 6 Schools, 2001/02, 2003/04, 2005/06 and 2007/08:
- Prime 6 schools serve fewer than 2% of the CCSD’s 1st through 5th graders.
- Prime 6 schools enroll disproportionately high percentages of African-American
students.
- Prime 6 schools enroll extremely low numbers of White students.
- The Latino composition of Prime 6 schools increased to slightly exceed the District’s Latino composition.
- Prime 6 schools serve extremely high percentages of Free and Reduced Lunch students.
- Approximately 1/3 of students in Prime 6 schools and the District are English Language Learners.
Grade 1-5 Enrollment of Students Residing in the Prime 6 Kindergarten Attendance Areas, 2001/02, 2003/04, 2005/06 and 2007/08:
- In the 2007/08 school year less than one-tenth of 1-5 grade students residing in a Prime 6 kindergarten attendance area enrolled in an Assigned school outside of West Vas Vegas, a drop from 17% in the 2001/02 school year.
- Nearly one tenth of African-American students residing in a Prime 6 kindergarten attendance area enroll in an Assigned school outside of West Las Vegas for grades 1-5.
- Students eligible for free and reduced meals were less likely than their more affluent counterparts to enroll in Assigned schools outside of West Las Vegas in 2001, 2005, and 2007, but not in 2003.
- Most Assigned schools enrolled very few, if any students from a Prime 6 kindergarten attendance area. In fact, over 1/3 of Assigned schools did not enroll a single student assigned to a Prime 6 school for kindergarten.
- Students who enroll Assigned schools are less segregated by race and poverty than if they had all remained at their local Prime 6 school.
- Only 3%-8% of students residing in one of the six Prime 6 school kindergarten attendance areas enrolled in a local magnet school in West Las Vegas.
Teacher Experience in West Las Vegas Schools, 2001/02, 2003/04, 2005/06 and 2006/07:
- Teachers at Prime 6 schools average less years of experience than the District average.
Student Outcomes, 2001/02, 2003/04, 2005/6 and 2007/08:
- Students enrolled in Prime 6 schools perform well below the District average on math and reading tests.
- Students at Fyfe Elementary and Gray Elementary, the Assigned schools with the most students from West Las Vegas, average higher math and reading test scores than do students at Prime 6 schools.
- African-American and Latino students enrolled in Prime 6 schools average lower math and reading test scores than African-American and Latino students enrolled in other District schools.
- Free and Reduced Lunch students enrolled in Prime 6 schools average lower math and reading test scores than Free and Reduced Lunch students enrolled in other District schools.
- Among West Las Vegas students, those enrolled in Assigned schools outside of West Las Vegas average higher math and reading test scores than those enrolled in Prime 6 schools.
Suggestions for further research
- More research may be necessary to determine whether West Las Vegas students have enough information about Assigned and Magnet schools, whether available transportation provides adequate access to Assigned schools, and whether they feel welcome at all Assigned schools.
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