Factors Contributing to Achievement Gap

Level of Importance

The following table shows the level of importance Montgomery County teachers place on identified factors that contribute to the gap in student achievement. The list is in order of the “very important” rating MCEA members give each factor for contributing to the student achievement gap in Montgomery County.

	Very Important	Somewhat Important	Not that Important	Not at all Important
Inadequate support at home	89%	11%	-	-
Oversized classes	69%	26%	5%	-
Poverty	67%	28%	4%	-
Lack of time to plan/implement new strategies	61%	29%	10%	1%
Insufficient support for at-risk students	56%	30%	4%	8%
Inadequate behavior/discipln policies	52%	33%	8%	7%
Student mobility	48%	29%	15%	7%
Schools that are too large	42%	29%	16%	12%
Standardized tests that are culturally biased	39%	37%	14%	10%
Lack of stratgys to differentiate	35%	38%	19%	7%
Staff preconceptions	32%	33%	18%	16%
Ineffective administration	31%	43%	16%	9%
Grouping practices	30%	32%	24%	13%
Culturally biased curriculum	16%	35%	30%	18%

Factors Contributing to Achievement Gap

Level of Importance

By Race

	Very Important		Somewhat Important		Not that Important		Not at all Important
	White	Black	White	Black	White	Black	White	Black
Inadequate support at home	90%	90%	10%	10%	-	-	-	-
Oversized classes	70%	67%	25%	28%	5%	5%	-	-
Poverty	70%	64%	26%	36%	4%	-	-	-
Lack of time to plan/implement new strategies	60%	56%	28%	36%	11%	8%	1%	-
Insufficient support for at-risk students	53%	74%	32%	23%	5%	-	9%	3%
Inadequate behavior/discipln policies	49%	67%	36%	26%	9%	5%	6%	3%
Student mobility	47%	56%	29%	23%	15%	21%	9%	-
Schools that are too large	40%	49%	27%	46%	17%	5%	15%	-
Standardized tests that are culturally biased	37%	51%	36%	39%	14%	10%	12%	-
Lack of stratgys to differentiate	31%	64%	38%	28%	22%	8%	9%	-
Staff preconceptions	26%	69%	36%	18%	20%	8%	17%	5%
Ineffective administration	25%	64%	46%	26%	19%	3%	9%	9%
Grouping practices	25%	62%	32%	23%	28%	13%	14%	3%
Culturally biased curriculum	13%	49%	38%	23%	29%	28%	21%	-

Factors Contributing to Achievement Gap

Level of Importance

By School Level

	Very Important			Somewhat Important			Not that Important			Not at all Important
	Elem	Midd	High	Elem	Midd	High	Elem	Midd	High	Elem	Midd	High
Inadequate support at home	90%	96%	82%	11%	4%	19%	-	-	-	-	-	-
Oversized classes	73%	82%	51%	25%	4%	45%	2%	13%	4%	-	1%	-
Poverty	73%	61%	62%	24%	32%	34%	3%	7%	4%	1%	-	-
Lack of time to plan/implement new strategies	74%	50%	49%	20%	33%	38%	6%	16%	12%	-	1%	2%
Insufficient support for at-risk students	67%	54%	41%	27%	29%	38%	5%	3%	2%	-	13%	18%
Inadequate behavior/discipln policies	57%	48%	46%	28%	29%	46%	10%	11%	3%	5%	13%	4%
Student mobility	65%	33%	32%	24%	29%	35%	6%	27%	22%	4%	10%	11%
Schools that are too large	52%	28%	36%	29%	26%	33%	15%	20%	15%	2%	27%	16%
Standardized tests that are culturally biased	56%	23%	24%	26%	36%	54%	11%	19%	18%	6%	21%	5%
Lack of stratgys to differentiate	40%	40%	23%	42%	9%	53%	15%	47%	4%	2%	4%	19%
Staff preconceptions	38%	31%	24%	22%	32%	50%	24%	16%	10%	14%	21%	15%
Ineffective administration	41%	32%	15%	40%	32%	56%	15%	14%	20%	4%	21%	9%
Grouping practices	36%	30%	20%	36%	22%	33%	20%	32%	26%	7%	15%	21%
Culturally biased curriculum	16%	10%	22%	39%	37%	29%	31%	28%	29%	13%	26%	21%

Teaching Improvement Factors

The following table shows a set of identified factors that may help teachers in Montgomery County. The list is in order of the “significantly improve” rating MCEA members give each.

	Significantly Improve	Moderately Improve	Wouldn’t Improve
Smaller class sizes	83%	13%	4%
More parent support	77%	22%	1%
More behavior mangmnt support	76%	24%	1%
More prep time for adapting materials/instrctn	74%	21%	5%
More planning time	73%	23%	5%
More time for teachers to collaborate	65%	35%	-
Fewer interruptions	60%	35%	5%
Peer assistance and review	45%	48%	7%
Greater teacher involvement in decisions	44%	49%	6%
Improved school facilities	44%	43%	13%
More access to computers	40%	38%	23%
More secretaries for paperwork	36%	44%	20%
More professnal development	35%	55%	10%
Looping	24%	42%	19%

Teaching Improvement Factors

By Race

	Significantly Improve		Moderately Improve		Wouldn’t Improve
	White	Black	White	Black	White	Black
Smaller class sizes	83%	87%	12%	13%	5%	-
More parent support	77%	77%	23%	23%	1%	-
More behavior mangmnt support	74%	90%	26%	8%	-	3%
More prep time for adapting materials/instrctn	78%	46%	16%	54%	6%	-
More planning time	73%	70%	21%	31%	6%	-
More time for teachers to collaborate	67%	59%	33%	41%	-	-
Fewer interruptions	61%	56%	34%	41%	5%	3%
Peer assistance and review	43%	51%	49%	41%	8%	5%
Greater teacher involvement in decisions	44%	56%	51%	36%	5%	8%
Improved school facilities	47%	31%	40%	54%	14%	15%
More access to computers	38%	46%	39%	41%	23%	13%
More secretaries for paperwork	35%	44%	44%	51%	22%	5%
More professnal development	36%	31%	53%	62%	12%	8%
Looping	24%	28%	41%	59%	21%	8%

Teaching Improvement Factors

By School Level

	Significantly Improve			Moderately Improve			Wouldn’t Improve
	Elem	Midd	High	Elem	Midd	High	Elem	Midd	High
Smaller class sizes	85%	82%	82%	13%	18%	8%	2%	-	11%
More parent support	72%	77%	87%	27%	22%	13%	1%	1%	-
More behavior mangmnt support	78%	64%	83%	22%	35%	17%	1%	1%	-
More prep time for adapting materials/instrctn	85%	52%	72%	13%	35%	24%	2%	13%	4%
More planning time	81%	69%	61%	18%	25%	28%	-	6%	11%
More time for teachers to collaborate	72%	63%	55%	28%	37%	45%	-	-	1%