Editorial: Find cause of shrinking achievement gap for Hispanics at ECC and spread it

As the Daily Herald's Poverty Achievement Index has borne out, whether in previous standardized state tests or the just-released results of the new PARCC test, there is an inescapable conclusion that the poorer the children in a school, the poorer they will perform on standardized tests. It's been that way for all of the last 10 years, according to our examination of test scores and demographic statistics found in school report cards.

Our study earlier this year showed that every year - at every economic level - suburban schools performed within rigidly defined strata when measured against the percentage of "low-income" kids at a school.

Hispanics and blacks in general face greater economic challenges, and test scores bear that out. Our analysis found that on the whole in Illinois, when looking at statistics for the new PARCC scores, there is a slight tendency for elementary schools with higher percentages of Hispanic students to have lower test scores. And there is a greater tendency for elementary schools with a higher percentage of black students to have lower test scores.

As Elgin Community College President David Sam puts it, performance is a national problem for blacks and Hispanics. So, it was refreshing to hear from Sam that Elgin Community College is managing to buck the trend by narrowing the achievement gap between Hispanic and white students.

Sam met Monday with the Daily Herald editorial board to discuss this development - and its potential implications. He said that ECC's progress has caught the eye of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"We are one of four case studies they are doing this year," Sam said. "We did not approach them. They sought us out. Gates Foundation doesn't put its money (just) any place."

A group of researchers from the philanthropic foundation, which works to fund projects that help people better themselves, whether through improving education or health opportunities with grant program, has visited ECC to see just how the college has achieved this change.

Sam was quick to note that there is no drop in the performance of white students that is driving this narrowing of the achievement gap. He said test scores are rising for both whites and Hispanics, but that Hispanics' scores are rising faster.

We find that very encouraging.

Furthermore, Sam said, ECC has seen a 19-percent gain in college completion rates among its Hispanic students, followed by white students at 16 percent, Asian students at 11 percent, and black students at 5 percent, according to the college's Institutional Research Department.

For Sam, it's all about college readiness: working with its feeder districts to ensure students are college ready when they walk into ECC for their first classes; and a three-week boot camp for freshmen who need to bring their skills up so they don't languish in developmental classes for a year.

We eagerly await the Gates Foundation report, which is expected later this school year. Perhaps some funding will be on its way to help further study whatever is making ECC tick, so that it can be applied to black students and other colleges.