![]() In 2013, the last year the state issued Academic Performance Index scores, a wide ethnic disparity existed among students there. More than half of Lubin students – 53 percent – qualify for subsidized meals based on low household income, according to state data. Though located in East Sacramento, Lubin is the assigned school for a broader area that also includes Oak Park and Elmhurst. By comparison, Latino students made up 31 percent of enrollment and 19 percent of GATE participants. That year, OCR said, whites made up 43 percent of the school’s enrollment and 64 percent of the GATE classes. Too few students qualified to fill those classes, OCR found, so the balance of GATE students were high-achieving students chosen based on standardized test results. Lubin administrators in 2013-14 followed neither model and, instead, sought to create one GATE classroom at each grade level populated only with students who tested successfully for GATE. The other, a “GATE Center” model, exists at five elementary schools in the district that primarily draw GATE-identified students from across the city: Phoebe Hearst, Pony Express, Isador Cohen, Sutterville and Peter Burnett. One model combines students of mixed abilities in a single classroom at schools serving a particular neighborhood. Students are identified starting in the first grade as eligible for GATE based in part on parent and teacher recommendations, classroom performance and a standardized nonverbal test that measures a child’s ability to recognize patterns and solve problems. The Sacramento district has operated two basic GATE models for students, starting in the second grade. The district agreed also to report GATE ethnic data from all schools and to develop a plan “that will ensure that all students are provided an equal access to the district’s GATE program” with a focus on equal opportunity for all underrepresented students. ![]() The school changed its practices in 2014-15, placing GATE students in classrooms with non-GATE students rather than separating them. In the resolution agreement, the district promised to report to the civil rights office how Lubin would implement a revised GATE program. OCR entered into a resolution agreement with the district last summer without reaching a conclusion on whether the school had complied with federal civil rights law. Before finishing that work, the district sought to resolve the complaint voluntarily, the agency said in its report. The Office of Civil Rights began investigating Valerio’s complaint in 2014. “As with any thoughtful, collaborative initiative, this work takes time and constant review,” Weeks said in an email. ![]() She said Lubin Principal Richard Dixon sought to make GATE more accessible to underrepresented students at the campus. ![]() But she said GATE changes at the district were underway well before parents filed the suit and OCR complaints. Sacramento City spokeswoman Janet Weeks said the district’s attorneys had yet to review the lawsuit. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |