I thought the members of ACEsConnection might want to know about an issue that's affecting our high school seniors in Washington, because this may be happening in your state, too. In fact, I was asked that question the other day by one of our legislators, so please let me know if you have faced this, or what your state does to address the different pathways for students post-high school graduation.
Washington State stands poised to add to the state’s drop-out roster because of one math exam. The new state standard for high school graduation includes the "End of Course" assessment in either algebra or geometry, and this takes effect for the graduating class of 2013. For about 16,000 students who are on track to graduate in all other requirements, and who may have the very aptitude and skill set many employers are seeking, their inability to perform complex math functions will doom them as drop-outs, closing all doors to hope and a future, and adding to the state’s economic burden.
What makes this particularly difficult is that a very large number of these students, perhaps nearly half, are impacted in their math proficiency due to the after-effects of adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress. ACEs can create significant changes in brain development, and one documented outcome is difficulty with math. While not all students are affected by ACEs, one estimate suggests that in a typical Washington State high school class, 43% are experiencing three or more ACEs.
Is this what Washington State REALLY meant to do with its drive toward rigor and standard in graduating seniors? I can’t believe that would be the case. As this network has addressed over and over again, the information from the ACE Study has not yet permeated all sectors of our working world. Remember Jane Steven’s title: ACEs -- the most important study you never heard about? That’s what I think is happening with this situation -- the newest research on disrupted neurodevelopment due to toxic stress in childhood, now extremely well researched and documented, was not on the horizon as these standards were being developed. This is what we call looking "through the lens of ACEs"- seeing the connections between the science of the ACEs and brain development, and the application to real world issues.
I am sure this is about the lack of awareness of scientific findings, and with more awareness brought forward to all sectors and policy makers, the ramifications of policy made in the absence of such science can be understood and addressed.
Jim Sporleder, principal of Lincoln High School and my personal champion of all things educational as we "look through the lens of ACEs", and I developed a briefing paper. We were lucky enough to get the attention and support of one of our district legislators who will help us get connected to the legislative education committee. We have reached out within our community and hopefully now to the legislature with this message about the disabling condition ACEs can cause.
We owe this to the thousands of competent, credible students who have a disabling neurological condition, an unseen but profound disability, and how we shape their futures. We can not judge a student’s entire K-12 experience over one math exam, especially for those dealing with the aftermath of toxic stress. This is NOT about letting kids off the hook; it is about supporting individual student success which is what education should be about. A differentiated diploma, or a "life skills" math test for those students not on a 4-year college track, are options that could be considered. A one-size-fits-all exam for math proficiency does not fit the many different doors students may choose after high school. Dooming them as drop-outs and adding to our negative economic situation does nothing to move our state forward.
We as a state cannot fail these students, it is that simple.
Supporting data used for this article:
State score press release on August 29, 2012
http://www.k12.wa.us/Communications/PressReleases2012/StateTestResults.aspx
Teicher, M. "Scars that Won’t Heal: The Neurobiology of Child Abuse," Scientific American, March, 2002, pp. 68-75.
Teicher, M et al. "Neurobiological & Behavioral Consequences of Exposure to Childhood Traumatic Stress," Stress in Health and Disease, BB Arnetz & R Ekman (eds). 2006.
Navalta et al. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 18:1, Winter 2006 http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org 45
DeBellis et al.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2009 November; 15(6): 868–878. ;
For a full list of publications, see http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ace/publications.htm
Dr. Rob Anda, CDC and co-principal investigator of the original ACE Study; see Anda and Brown 2010, ACEs and Population Health in Washington: The Face of a Chronic Public Health Disaster. (You can find this in the State ACE Response Group.) One estimate suggests that 43% of students in a typical Washington State high school classroom are experiencing 3 or more ACEs. One could approximate this number as the possible % at risk to fail the math exam due to neurological disabling conditions due to ACEs.
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