Happy New Year! We are back with the last post in our three-part blog series about 2016 SBAC results for subpopulations in Oakland public schools. This post is focused on Latino and African American students, two groups of students who historically have been underserved.
Hispanic/Latino students make up biggest ethnic subgroup in Oakland – 45% of students in public schools citywide. The following schools serve more than 80% Latino students and outperform the district average.

Have to offer kudos once again to Acorn Woodland, whose Latino students outperformed the citywide average for all students in both ELA and Math! This was the only OUSD school to achieve this “two-fer”, though Life did in ELA.
The Latino students at Lighthouse High and Oakland Unity High far outperformed not only the city average in both ELA and Math, but out-performed the statewide averages for all students (59% in ELA, 33% in Math)! Families who consider leaving Oakland because they believe the high schools are bad are missing out on these two high schools.
African American students comprise about 25% of Oakland’s public school student population, and have also historically been underserved. Here are five schools in which African American students outperform the city average:

Hidden Gems: Schools with High AA Population whose AA Population Outperformed Citywide Average (sorted based on highest aggregate differential between school’s ELA and Math scores and citywide average)

The performance of COVA’s African American students in ELA is the 30th best among the 129 public schools in Oakland. Maybe it’s something to do with giving students a well-rounded education that includes the music and arts?!
Many of the schools listed in this post today don’t get named in the usual lists of academic high performers but I believe they deserve recognition for the demonstrated quality of education they are providing to groups of students who are historically underserved, not just in Oakland but across the country.
Absolute performance is just one measure of academic progress, but growth in SBAC scores will be an equally insightful measure on student progress, as well as inspecting the achievement gap in schools to see if schools are serving all students equitably. To be continued in future posts!

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My name is Carrie Chan, and I’m Educate78’s newest staff member. I joined the organization as an Analyst, and I LOVE data (feel free to call me a data geek). As a former OUSD student, I also care a lot about Oakland public schools. That is why I am so excited about this new blog series, “Crunched!” which will take a data-driven approach to important, relevant questions facing Oakland public schools. Please email me with ideas or requests.