Speaker Reflection 2 Blaise Bowman Dr.

Adams from Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) came to speak on information about state education in Alabama. PARCA works in all areas of public policy such as jails, highways, taxes, but mainly education. Research found in the state of Alabama is done all by one team because Alabama does not have a research staff. However, they have found and put together much research about all schools testing along with drop out rates and demographic regions. Some of the challenges PARCA discovered in Alabama are economic disparities, resources, and educational outcomes. The economic disparities focused one the number of free and reduced lunch percentages. PARCA found that the lower the income the usually higher percentage of free and reduced lunches. The financial resources focused on millage rates and core expenditures per student. The educational outcomes dealt with test scores from 3rd graders and then 8th graders. They also correlated this data with graduation rates and college attendance. They found that the longer a student is in the system the less likely it is for them to graduate. From this presentation we concluded that despise the data presented every child can learn and every school can improve. To make progress we must, raise expectations, measure performances, take ownership of the results, and to link resources to an improvement plan. We should never loose hope about any child or any school, it may just take a little extra work.