Education has long been an area of well-known disparities in outcomes across racial and ethnic groups, both in Oakland and throughout the country. Yet, education is also perhaps the single most powerful tool to rectify disparities in other Themes, such as Economy. This Theme includes measures that span from traditional measures of student attendance and achievement to measures of teachers, recognizing that teachers play a critical role in a child’s education.

The Teachers Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in teacher representation of the student population, teacher experience, and teacher turnover. The first Indicator measures disparities in teacher representation of students between Latinos and Whites. The second Indicator measures disparities in teacher experience between schools that are predominantly African American and Latino vs. schools that are majority White. The third Indicators measures disparities in teacher turnover between majority African Americans and majority White schools.

The Program Access Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in AP course enrollment, Linked Learning Pathway enrollment, and suspensions. The first Indicator measures disparities in AP course enrollment between African Americans and Whites. The second Indicator measures disparities in Linked Learning Pathway enrollment between African Americans and Asians. The third Indicator measures disparities in suspension rates between African Americans and Asians.

The Achievement Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in 3rd grade ELA (English Language Arts) proficiency, high school readiness, and A-G completion. The first Indicator measures disparities in 3rd grade ELA proficiency between Latinos and Whites. The second Indicator measures disparities in high school readiness between African Americans and Asians. The third Indicators measures disparities in A-G completion between African Americans and Whites.

The Enrollment Topic includes three Indicators that measure racial and ethnic disparities in preschool enrollment, chronic absenteeism, and high school on-time completion. The first Indicator measures disparities in preschool enrollment between Latinos and Whites. The second Indicator measures disparities in chronic absenteeism between African Americans and Asians. The third Indicators measures disparities in how many high school students are still enrolled after four years between Latinos and Whites.

The measurement is percent of teachers who turned over between the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years at OUSD schools (data from charters and private schools were not available). Turnover percents are calculated at a school level out of the total number of teachers at that school. Schools are placed into groups based on the racial and ethnic breakdown of their student population (see note below data table for full explanation of grouping). Average teacher turnover percent is then calculated for each group of schools.

The measurement is percent of students by race/ethnicity who are not high school ready by the end of 8th grade. High school readiness is calculated by OUSD. A student is considered high school ready when all of the following have been met at the end of 8th grade: 1) Total weighted GPA of 2.5 of better, 2) School Attendance 96% or better, 3) No “Ds” or “Fs” in their core English and Math course grades in 8th grade, 4) No suspensions in 8th grade.

The measurement is percent of teachers who were paid on salary steps 1-5 at OUSD schools (data from charters and private schools were not available). Salary steps are a proxy for teaching experience, as teachers move one step up the salary schedule for each year of teaching. In theory, teachers on salary steps 1-5 have between 1-5 years of teaching experience (not just in OUSD, but anywhere). However, it is important to note that salary steps are just a proxy and not always exactly equal to years of teaching experience.

Percents are then calculated at the school level by dividing the number of teachers on salary steps 1-5 by the total number of teachers at that school. Schools are placed into groups based on the racial and ethnic breakdown of their student population (see note below data table for full explanation of grouping). Average percent of teachers on salary steps 1-5 is then calculated for each group of schools.

The measurement is percent of children within OUSD who are chronically absent. Chronic absence is defined as an attendance rate of 90% or less (missing 18 or more days in a 180 day school year), regardless of whether the absences are excused or unexcused. It is not the same as Truancy. Alternative Education schools are not included in the data.

This Indicator measures what percent of 12th grade students have never taken an AP course throughout high school. OUSD collects data on the cumulative enrollment of 12th graders in AP courses by race/ethnicity, i.e. how many AP courses have they taken at any point in high school? Advanced Placement (AP) is a program created by The College Board offering college- level courses and tests in high school.