Elementary Charlottesville Schools:
A Study of Demographics
Laurie Klotz
Laurie Klotz PLAN 512 12/15/05
Charlottesville Elementary Schools: A Study of Demographics
I. The School System This study focuses on six elementary schools in the Charlottesville area. Children in Charlottesville are zoned geographically to go to one of these six schools (there are some exceptions in which students may select their school, but for the purposes of this study, those students were not addressed. This study uses 2000 Census Data at the block level to geographically link a variety of demographic data to the school districts.
II. Income Levels and Children in Poverty A comparison across school regions was made regarding both income levels, and the number of children living in poverty. Income levels are for taken for all families living in the census block. Greenbrier Elementary School pops out as pulling children from the wealthiest census blocks. Although the other schools are generally uniformly distributed, it is also worth noting that Johnson Elementary School also is surrounded by several blocks with higher income families. The number of children living in poverty in Charlottesville are somewhat evenly distributed throughout the city. It does appear that Jackson Via and Burnley Moran Elementary Schools are likely to have the most children living in poverty in attendance. (It would be useful to check this information directly with the schools themselves).
III. Single Parent Households Again, single parent households are represented throughout the entire city, but they are most heavily concentrated in the southern regions with Jackson Via, Johnson, and Clark Elementary Schools. It is important to note that this statistic does not seem to strongly correlate with income levels and children in poverty.
IV. Educational Attainment In the past, studies have shown parental educational attainment to be a major factor in how a student performs in school. This analysis shows people of all educational levels distributed in every region of the city. The educational attainment maps do show the northern regions of the
city to be more heavily populated with individuals that have a bachelor degree or more, while the southern areas are more heavily populated with individuals with a high school degree. This correlates with the income level of the census blocks, which is not surprising. It is commonly assumed that the higher your level of education, the greater you income. This appears to be the case in Charlottesville. V. English as a Second Language Students that speak English as a second language make up a small percentage of the entire population in Charlottesville. And of these ESL students, only a vast minority speak poor to fair English. Most are proficient. It is important to note that younger students in Elementary School are likely to be the ones with limited exposure to English, and therefore need to most assistance. Because these groups and concentrated in small pockets throughout the city, it is impossible to shift ESL focus to one or two schools. This should be a district-wide program.
VI. Racial Distribution The racial distribution throughout Charlottesville does form a distinct pattern. The white population is most heavily concentrated in the northern parts of the city (Greenbrier and the northern part of the Venable School Zones) while the African American population is most heavily concentrated in the southern portions of the city (Jackson Via, Johnson, and Clark Elementary School Zones). These distinctive patterns do lead to schools that are disproportionately populated by one race. The alternative, of busing students across town to another school has proven to be very in controversial the past, forcing students to take long bus rides and leave their neighborhood school.
VII. School Performance The school performance records were obtained from the Virginia Department of Education. The results are based on the percentage of students passing the Standard of Learning Tests in 2000 (administered to third, fifth and eighth graders). Greenbrier Elementary ranks at the top of all Charlottesville schools for all subjects tested (English, Math, and Science). It is interesting to note that the remaining five schools vary significantly in their ranking based on the subject tested. Clark Elementary is the only school that falls into the bottom two for every subject. In the past, it has been hypothesized that the most significant factor in a child's school performance is their parent's educational attainment. This data is consistent with this theory. Income levels in the Greenbrier area are likely higher because of this higher educational attainment. It is unlikely that income or race directly impacts the school performance, and more likely the educational attainment of parents that is influential.
IIX. Conclusion This proved to be an interesting geographical study of the neighborhoods that fall within the Charlottesville School District. Charlottesville appears to do a fair job of creating economic, social and racial diversity within its schools. School performance is high for all schools in every subject. The biggest concern for Charlottesville school performance is the gap in performance levels between white and African American students. Efforts should be underway to decrease this gap and improve test scores across all races. The diversity that is present within schools is essential to the educational experience of all students.
Charlottesville School Zoning An Analysis
Charlottesville School District
Greenbriar
Venable Burnley Moran
Jackson Via Johnson
Clark
School Test Scores
English School Greenbrier Elementary Venable Elementary Burnley-Moran Elementary Johnson Elementary Clark Elementary Jackson - Via Elementary All 89 77 74 71 68 64 White 96 93 92 80 67 80 Black 71 57 46 67 68 55 School Greenbrier Elementary Johnson Elementary Jackson - Via Elementary Venable Elementary Burnley-Moran Elementary Clark Elementary Science School Greenbrier Elementary Venable Elementary Johnson Elementary Burnley-Moran Elementary Jackson - Via Elementary Clark Elementary All 89 86 82 77 75 74 White 96 100 100 93 87 79 Black 69 71 77 46 66 68 All 98 85 83 82 79 77 Math White 100 100 87 93 92 80 Black 92 80 83 71 46 73
Median Income Levels
Income Level
Legend
0 1 - 35000 35001 - 45000 45001 - 55000 55001 - 75000 75001 - 100000
Children In Poverty
Number of Children In Poverty
Number of Children in Poverty
0 1 - 10 11 - 15 16 - 20 21 - 45
Single Parent Households
Female Head of Household (no male present)
Legend
<5% 5%-10% 10%-25% 25%-50% >50%
Adult Education: Less than 9th Grade
Educational Attainment for Populations (>25yrs)
Adult Education: 9th to 12th Grade
Educational Attainment for Populations (>25yrs)
Adult Education: High School Graduate
Educational Attainment for Populations (>25yrs)
Adult Education: Bachelor Degree or More
Educational Attainment for Populations (>25yrs)
English as a Second Language
Spanish Speaking Students
English as a Second Language
Spanish Speaking Students
English as a Second Language
Spanish Speaking Students
English as a Second Language
Spanish Speaking Students
Racial Distribution
Percent of the Population that is White
Percent of the Population that is African American
Legend
<30% 30%-50% 50%-75% 75%-90% >90%
Legend
<5% 5%-10% 10%-25% 25%-50% >50%