COMPASS II-2.0 Education Key Findings

School Providing Preparation for Work and College

Generally, resident and key informant survey data indicates our county schools are doing well to prepare students adequately for college. Only 28% of residents and 21% of key informants said that "schools providing poor preparation for college" is a perceived critical problem. Considerably more respondents (36% of residents, 50% of key informants) believed that "schools providing poor preparation for work" is a perceived problem in the community.  

Income is a significant factor in residents' perception of school preparation. Lower income respondents were much more likely to identify problems than respondents in other income categories.

This data is supported by school report card data which uniformly shows that fewer economically disadvantaged students meet learning standards with distinction than non-economically disadvantaged students.

Respondents of color were also much more likely to perceive that schools are not preparing children for work or college. Comments from residents identify local schools as effective at preparing non-disadvantaged students well for college, but that there are issues supporting children of color, children with disabilities, and children from economically disadvantaged households in both preparation for college and for work.

The Ithaca City School District (ICSD), the Village at Ithaca and Cornell University have collaborated to develop the Equity Report Card in 2005. The Equity Report Card utilizes a set of wide-ranging indicators to describe the degree to which the ICSD is meeting its Board of Education goal of eliminating race, class, and special needs status as predictors of student performance and participation. The fourth annual report card shows significant improvement has occurred in several goal areas, including improvements for students with disabilities, students of color, and economically disadvantaged students in Grade 3-8, English Language and Math Performance Index Scores, Suspension Rates and Graduation rates for students with disabilities. However, Graduation Rates for students of color and economically disadvantaged students and Number of Days Absent for both elementary and secondary students across all three groups have not improved. 

Unsafe School Environment

28% of residents and 31% of key informants reported unsafe school environments were a perceived critical problem in their community. 10% of residents indicated that "children being unsafe at school" was viewed as a problem within their household. 

The Student Life and Culture Survey was administered to Ithaca City School District students in grades 6-12 in 2005 and 2007. In 2008, Dryden, Groton, Lansing, and Trumansburg school districts participated in addition to ICSD. Results across all surveyed years show that a majority of students have not experienced bullying. In 2007, 23% of all students said they had been physically bullied in the past 12 months. In 2008, 12% of middle school students and 9% of high school students said they had been physically bullied in the last month. Interestingly, in 2008, only 46% of middle school students and 56% of high school students said that in general, they feel safe at their school. This is a significant contrast to 2005 and 2007 data where 84% of all students said they felt safe in school most of the time or always.

Race is a relevant factor in resident survey responses with nearly 27% of respondents of color indicating that "children being unsafe in school" was a perceived critical problem in their households compared to 8% of white respondents.

Illiteracy

Tompkins County has a highly educated population and illiteracy is not ranked highly as a community issue. However, a small percentage (8%) of respondents indicate difficulty reading well enough to get along, particularly among 20% of low-income respondents. These figures correspond with the National Assessment of Adult Literacy which estimated that 10% of the Tompkins County population lacked basic prose literacy in 2003.

Assets

With Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College, Tompkins County has a unique distinction with respect to education. And as with the distinct nature of each township in the county, each school district has its own unique personality and strengths.

The Ithaca City School District provides education to nearly half of the county's students. The efforts put forth by the community to address equity in the ICSD have been substantial over the past several years and have included increased professional development, efforts toward recruiting and retaining a diverse staff, targeted academic support for students, ensuring the curriculum alignment with student needs and cultural perspectives, supplemental programs to supplement classroom instruction, and family and community involvement.

Literacy is a key focus for several organizations, including Tompkins Learning Partners which provides tutoring services for residents needing help reading, writing and speaking English, and computer training. Family Reading Partnership works to create a culture of literacy in the county by promoting family reading practices. TST BOCES offers a variety of adult education classes including GED classes, ESL classes, and the "Even Start Family Literacy" Project. The Tompkins County Library has an adult literacy collection to serve adults who are learning to read and/or are learning English as a Second Language.

Resources
Tompkins County Youth Services
New York State Report Cards
Equity Report Cards
Tompkins Learning Partners
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES
Dryden Central School District
Groton Central Schools
Ithaca City School District
Lansing Central School District
Newfield Central Schools
Trumansburg Central School District
Tompkins Cortland Community College
Cornell University
Ithaca College