>>>>> "MA" == Michael Atherton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
MA> Robert P. Goldman wrote:
>> With all due respect to Mr. Atherton, As a parent of public school
>> children, I haven't seen a lot of evidence of public school employees
>> being obstacles to my children's education. My experience is pretty
>> limited to Jefferson Community school, but I have been very, very
>> impressed with the teachers, principal, vice principal, and even the
>> much-maligned office staff.
>>
>> I am not happy with everything, but my impression of the employees I
>> see in day-to-day contact with students and parents is very favorable.
MA> Jefferson Community School
MA> Minnesota Basic Skills Test Percent Passing
MA> Grade 8
MA> Reading 51%
MA> Math 33%
MA> Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Percent Proficient
MA> Grade 3
MA> Reading 39%
MA> Math 58%
MA> Grade 5
MA> Reading 51%
MA> Math 55%
MA> Percent of Students Making A Year's Growth
MA> Reading 53%
MA> Math 59%
MA> Tests scores are not everything, but they are general indicators
MA> of typical performance. My personal opinion is that the performance
MA> level at Jefferson Community School is unacceptable, but I'm sure
MA> there might be a lot of nice people who work there. Nice and
MA> student achievement don't always correlate, neither do management
MA> style and organizational success. Mr. Goldman's disconnect with
MA> the overall performance for students at Jefferson illustrates why
MA> testing is so critical for educational reform, without it we could
MA> go on for years believing that everything is just fine and dandy.
It's worth pointing out that Jefferson is a location that takes a
large proportion of students who do not speak English as their first
language, and so they have a real uphill push. The question we should
be asking is "how are these numbers trending?" If they are trending
down, then Michael has a good point, and my partial view is probably
wrong. If they are trending up, then maybe my perception is the more
accurate one. Anyone know how to find this information? I did a
little preliminary googling, but could find only the single data
point. If we have only a one-year snapshot, then it is impossible to
say which of us is more correct.
--
Robert P. Goldman
ECCO
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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